Stolen Motorbikes and Insurance Cover
By Susan M. Keenan ©2008

The potential to have your motorbike stolen is going to impact the cost of your motorbike premium. Primarily, this is due partly to the fact that the recovery rate for stolen motorbikes is rather low. Additionally, the nicer or more expensive the motorbike is, the less likely it is that the motorbike will ever be recovered. Moreover, some of the stolen motorbikes will not be recovered in the same shape that they were in when they were taken.

If you want to lower your motorbike premium, then you must lower your risk of theft. Several simple methods exist for doing so. Securing your motorbike is at the top of the list. The options range from the simple and inexpensive to the more complex and more expensive.

The simplest method of securing a motorbike might possibly be to use a simple mechanical lock. A motorcycle tracking device is a bit more sophisticated and should make a greater impact in saving you some expense from the premium while also making your motorbike more secure. Plus, there is always an electronic immobiliser to add a bit of security to owning a motorbike.

The motorbike can also be garage kept. This definitely cuts the price of the motorbike insurance premium down to a lower amount.

For some riders, making arrangements to secure their motorbike might be essential to their ability to obtain motorbike insurance cover. Riders with bad driving records fall into this category as do riders with multiple past claims.

Motor insurance fraud 'on the rise'

Cases of motor insurance fraud have increase significantly in recent years, a spokesperson for Direct Line has revealed.

Emma Holyer said that there were organised fraud rings which took out multiple policies on one car that they then deliberately crashed, claiming personal injury costs.

Sometimes these rings crash into an associate's car and then fraudulently claim that the car had passengers in it, claiming for further personal injury costs, she added.

But it is not just fraud rings which are committing motor insurance fraud, she explained, with some normally law-abiding motorists becoming involved in crashes such as rear-end shunts and then fraudulently claiming for injuries like whiplash.

She said: "Fraud costs the insurance industry £400 million each [year] and this in turn is borne by motorists as part of the premium. On the opportunistic side doctors have become very switched on [to] false personal injury claims and will report any suspect claimants to the police."

Zurich Insurance recently announced it had set up additional motor claims investigation teams with the sole purpose of investigating the fraud.