Insurances.net
insurances.net » Others » Bike Mods Don't Necessarily Mean Heavy Impact On Insurance Premiums
Auto Insurance Life Insurance Health Insurance Family Insurance Travel Insurance Mortgage Insurance Accident Insurance Buying Insurance Housing Insurance Personal Insurance Medical Insurance Property Insurance Pregnant Insurance Internet Insurance Mobile Insurance Pet Insurance Employee Insurance Dental Insurance Liability Insurance Baby Insurance Children Insurance Boat Insurance Cancer Insurance Insurance Quotes Others
]

Bike Mods Don't Necessarily Mean Heavy Impact On Insurance Premiums

Few motorcyclists can resist the urge to modify and accessorise their bikes

, however many do so without informing their motorbike insurance provider, usually out of fear that insurance premiums will skyrocket or out of a belief that such a move is unnecessary.

So as to avoid any confusion, letting your insurer know is in fact very necessary. If you make modifications without informing your insurance provider and they discover the fact later, the extra pounds you saved on your premium will be for naught when your insurer determines your policy is invalid and refuses to pay out on a claim. That is what happened to one hapless biker, Richard Woodruff, who recently totalled his bike in an accident. Luckily he walked away relatively unscathed, but he was not so lucky when it came to getting money from his insurer. His insurance company was unimpressed that he had transformed the bike from a dirt bike to a street bike - new tyres and rims, a modified carburettor for speed, new brakes and exhaust, a bigger gas tank, even new taillights and headlights - without informing them at the time, and they denied his claim.

If Richard had informed his insurer and obtained modified bike insurance, his premium probably would have gone up slightly since the rate for street bikes is different than it is for dirt bikes, but at least he would have received payment after the crash. As it is, he now has to do without a bike indefinitely until he can save up enough to buy one out of pocket - and in addition he is out those extra few thousand pounds he invested in the mods.

Simply put, once a bike has been purchased any changes you make to it, whether cosmetic or performance enhancing, are considered modifications and for your bike insurance to remain valid you must inform your insurer of the changes. You may even be surprised at the outcome, since despite popular opinion many common modifications have moderate or no impact on premium rates.

Modifications such as a paint job, bodywork, upgraded air filters, non performance enhancing end cans, huggers, belly pans, after-market exhausts or shock absorbers, will likely only have a slight impact at most on your premium rates, but your insurer will need to know about them for your policy to remain valid. For your own benefit, such modifications may increase your bike's value, and if your bike is damaged or stolen you will want it insured for the modified, and not the original, value.

Certain modifications, such as those that improve safety, are not only unlikely to increase your premium greatly, your insurer may even look upon them favourably. Examples include crash bungs, double bubble screens and improved braking systems.

Obviously some mods, for instance a more than five percent increase in engine capacity, will have a higher impact on your premium rate, but you are still better off paying the extra for modified motorcycle insurance and seeing a return if you do have to make a claim. Meanwhile, there are measures you can take to help reduce bike insurance premiums, such as protecting your bike with a lock, alarm or tracker device.

If you have concerns about the effect modifications will have on your premium, consult your insurance provider before making any changes, so you can find out in advance how much the modified bike insurance will cost. Remember, though, ultimately it is in your best interests to pay for the correct insurance rather than to try and save pounds on the wrong insurance, only for it to be deemed invalid when you most need it.

by: Neil M Roberts
The Easy Ideas for Insurance Affiliate Marketing - Honesty could be the Very best Coverage Insurance Attorney Jobs Insurance Business Transaction Monitoring and Performance Testing Key Benefits Of Speaking To Insurance Brokers Working With Insurance Brokers How to Investigate Insurance Companies What Do Insurance Companies Do? Are You Looking For The Cheapest Insurance Quotes? How Fishing for insurance quotes can save you money The Necessity Of Good Insurance In South Africa Financial Planner Las Vegas Propery & Casualty Insurance SDT 2010 Insurance Conference a 'Huge Success'
Write post print
www.insurances.net guest:  register | login | search IP(52.54.111.228) / Processed in 0.013761 second(s), 6 queries , Gzip enabled debug code: 16 , 3637, 975,
Bike Mods Don't Necessarily Mean Heavy Impact On Insurance Premiums