Motorbike update

[ffutures]

The latest on this is that it will be cheaper to fix it myself than make an insurance claim - I have to pay the first £200 of any claim, and it would probably cost more than that if I involve mechanics, vehicle transport people, etc. I would also have to pay for my travel while the bike was being repaired.

So I've replaced the license plate today, and ordered replacements for the windscreen etc. which ought to come next week. I need to order a couple of extra bits I've just noticed - it turns out that part of the plastic "glass" of the speedometer has gone milky from the heat, and the second mirror is more badly damaged than I initially thought - but the total cost shouldn't be more than £150 or so, which will be considerably less than the cost if I actually make a claim.

But it's already street legal again, with the plate replaced and the mirrors temporarily fixed, so I've only had to pay for one day of public transport. It could be a LOT worse.

Comments

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

Will your insurance rates change? Here in Ontario, if an insurance company knows about an event that could be a claim, they can count it as if you've made a claim when calculating your premiums for next year, even if you don't make the claim.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's impressively evil of them.

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

Their argument is that premiums are based on risk, not payout, and that anything that shows you are a higher risk should count in your premium.

Also, the reason premiums are increasing is because claims are increasing. Record profits, executive bonuses, and impressively luxurious headquarters towers have absolutely nothing to do with it.


Naturally I don't believe them. When I was a wee lad in Saskatchewan, insurance was run by a Crown Corporation on an at-cost basis (no government subsidy, no profits extracted) out of a one-story office building. Premiums in neighbouring Alberta, with the benefits of an insurance marketplace and for-profit companies, were ten times higher.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Not really - I'm paying less now for insurance on an 800cc bike than I did for a 100cc bike thirty years ago. Part of the reason is that £200 excess, which would be a drop in the ocean in e.g. a serious accident. I knew up front that this was part of the policy, what I couldn't remember on Thursday was the amount - if it had been £100 I might have made a claim.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't affect me - I have no claims bonus protection as part of the policy, and since I haven't made a claim anyway it shouldn't be a problem.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

sorry, I thought you meant the £200 excess.

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

That's good news. Sounds like British insurance might be a bit better than North American private insurance.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

No, they're rapacious bastards like everyone else, but but I use a pretty good insurance broker.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I did wonder when we had all that banking crisis business a while back, if the government had allowed some of the big banks to fail, if it might have opened the field for some new banks to arise, with new business models, like, the not-for-profit community-serving sorts of banks of days gone by.

I think people might quite like that idea. Small community banks, that aren't there to pay billions in bonuses. Just safe places to put money and get modest interest rate returns.