The Smarter Way to Compare Motorbike Insurance

Your age and riding experience, your licence type and how long you have held it, the bike’s engine size and value, where it is kept overnight, your annual mileage, your claims and convictions history, the excess you choose and how you pay.

Generally yes. A compulsory basic training certificate carries less riding experience than a full licence, so premiums tend to be higher. Passing your full test usually brings the price down, so it is worth re-quoting as soon as you do.

It is one of the most effective levers there is. Insurers price on theft risk, and bikes are stolen far more readily than cars. An approved chain and ground anchor, a disc lock, a tracker, an alarm and a locked garage all help, but only if you tell the insurer you have them.

Sometimes, often as an optional extra with its own limit. Helmets and leathers can be expensive to replace, and cover for them after an accident is not automatic on every policy, so check the limit rather than assuming.

Yes. Exhausts, filters, engine work, rearsets, crash protection, paintwork and security devices should all be declared. Some raise the premium, some lower it. Undeclared modifications can invalidate the policy entirely.

Cover for fire and theft while the bike is off the road, typically over winter, with no road use permitted. It is much cheaper than a full policy, but you must not ride while it is in place.

Yes, a multi-bike policy covers several machines under one contract, usually at a lower cost per bike than insuring them separately, and with one renewal date to keep track of. Most only allow one bike to be ridden at a time.

Usually, but not always, and some policies exclude carrying passengers for learner riders or on certain bikes. If you carry a passenger, confirm it is covered before you buy rather than after.

If the bike is kept on a public road it must be insured. If it is off the road you can make a statutory off road notification, in which case you do not need road insurance, though many riders keep fire and theft cover in place while it is stored.

Usually not. Most insurers treat motorbike no claims separately from car no claims, though a small number take some account of it. Bike no claims years are worth protecting, so ask what happens to yours when you move insurer.

Almost never on a standard road policy. Track riding is normally excluded, and damage on a circuit would not be covered. Specialist track day cover exists and is bought separately.

A few weeks before renewal rather than on the day. Prices tend to be keener in that window, and it gives you time to check what each policy includes for gear, pillions and accessories.