Modern Vespa

Ive just graduated from university and have had to move back to London, Now I need to renew my insurance but all the quotes im getting are insanely high.

my renewal quote in London is around £250 where as when I was studying my renewal would be £88.84

Im quite shocked at the jump, when I first got the bike over 4 years ago my insurance in London wasn't that high, now with 4 years experience and 3 years NCB im expected to pay £250 seems a bit mad!!

So what do I do, im currently out of work and don't think I can afford £250 to cover my bike for a year, an option would be to get it sorn and keep it off the road, tho i don't have a drive and im sure a garage would cost me more.

Any help would be more than appreciated

thanks

250 pounds for the year? I wish mine were that low!

Here in Ontario, Canada I am paying around $60.00 per month for full coverage. Not significantly less than I was paying for my car.

Typically rates will be higher where risk is higher. I am assuming that London is a much higher risk than where you were studying. More damage claims, more theft claims, etc.

If I lived in Toronto proper, I know I would be paying even more for my coverage than I am now.

That'll be per year - I assume fully comprehensive. Third Party Only may be a lot cheaper, as a huge chunk of the insurance is covering theft, which is almost a *probable* event with an ET4 left on a London street un-garaged.

Down in the wilds of the East Coast, New Brunswick, my LX 150 is $500.00 CAD per year. The crazy thing is, when I called for a quote, the question was not " how long have you been licensed for motorcycles", which I would have expected ( 25+years) but instead "when was the last time you had motorcycle insurance?", as any absence of insurance over a couple of years puts you back into the first time rider category. So I am paying exactly the same for my Lil Vespa as my buddy is for his $40,000 loaded Goldwing.

At the end of the day, its the cost of riding, so it is what it is, regardless of whether it makes any sense or not.

sounds daft and i cant believe im saying it on a vespa forum


get rid of the vespa and get a honda/yamaha 125cc scoot

the insurance will be a lot cheaper

I guess the insurance companies haven't caught on in Florida yet... $200 for the year full coverage, low deductible.
My auto ins. is $1600. per year- No accidents or tickets in 30 years.

I'll have to check, I have Geico and I know I pay much less. I just checked for both my bikes my total is less than $250? Mind you, I'm old with a long safe driving records but still........

I have pretty full coverage too

This is really the only way to go now (unless the bike is only a year or two old). Spend the savings on some good security and some crossed fingers.

Insurers will do all they can to not pay out if it gets stolen anyway, policy is hardly worth the paper it is written on these days.

another vote for third party only. i'm guessing your et4 is at least 6 years old, and probably has a replacement value of £500 or less unless it's immaculate (which it probably isn't if you've been riding it in London). assuming an excess of £200, if it is nicked, you're only going to come out £50 ahead. add to that the hassle of filing a claim and it's a bit of a no-brainer.

Welcome to London!

Here we live cheek-by-jowl and that means heavy traffic and loads of NEDs wanting to steal your ride. Also, everything is expensive here. Expensive flats, expensive cars, expensive parking, expensive restaurants, expensive everything. I insulted a few of my colleagues when I moved to Liverpool for a few years by describing London as "the centre of the universe". While I still think that to be true, I quickly realised that it has at least as many downsides as positives, including how nice and generous everyone seems to be up north. Out of interest, where did you go to Uni?

Living on a low income is even tougher here than in the rest of the country, but I feel that SORNing it would be a pity. Not only do you deprive yourself of the occasional ride, but a non-moving, neglected scoot is even more of a target for thieves.

Also, fully comp is not always more expensive than third party, as some insurers seem to think that you will take more care if you want fully comp. Though it sucks, see if there is a monthly option on your insurance. They will charge interest, but you will be protected if the worst happens.

The other option, though extreme, is moving. You never know, you could find somewhere very modest that has a nice cubby hole where you can put your scoot without worrying about it. Miracles do happen!

David

Come now, don't be cheeky...Everybody knows NYC is the CotU, more specifically Times Square. Even Wikipedia says it's so, nevermind what that crazy mayor in Idaho says.

With that said, I was shocked that my insurance was actually cheaper in NYC than it was in a smal rural town on the end of long island. I'm still convinced it is because I live in a newly created zip code which doesn't have the claim history.

What's an NED?

NED = 'non educated delinquent' - a juvenile villain, aka toerag, chavscum

Yup, correct on the NED definition, though I apologise for using a scottishism in a thread about London. For years I thought it was an abbreviation for "ne'rdowells", but this forum taught me the error of my ways. I first heard of it in the fantastic comedy "Still Game", but for anyone outside the UK, that is a majorly obscure reference.

FWIW crazyinnyc, I would include NYC with London in a short list of major world cities, where you can find just about anything you want, and people of every nationality. They are rare and fantastic places, but sadly with far too many douches who feel that loads of money is an acceptable excuse for being inhuman gits.

David

Ended up calling Bennett's, came to £160 for the year third party, my et4's an x reg so its around 13 years old and has a few bits of london bodywork. Still kinda high but its nothing compared to car/van insurance!!!

I pay $240/year full coverage on my GTS , State Farm. not that this helps the OP.
.

They charge it because they can, just likes banks here pay you 1% on your savings but 10% or more for a loan. It's a protected racket. My ten year old 50cc was going to cost $600 per year for full coverage, (same as my new 2012 car), $70 per year liability only. I use a heavy cable lock if it's parked very long and garaged at night.