Insurance and "the garage clause"

Just a quick "heads up" for those who may be unaware..

I'm shopping around for insurance at the moment - due for renewal on
Monday.

Several companies are coming back with what at first sight appear to be
really cheap quotes, with a reasonably low excess...... BUT!!!!

There's a snag... the "garage clause"..

Basically *any* time the bike is at your home address, if the bike is
not in the garage (and all locked up) and it gets pinched, the excess
doubles.

This applies even if you nip home for just a couple of minutes - the
circumstances of petrolcan's Z400 getting pinched.

As my garage is a bitch to get into and out of [1], I've decided not to
accept these quotes.

[1] A 5 minute "nip home" would turn into about a half hour after I'd
wrestled the Tig in (and out) and gone through all the locks. In any
case, the bike would be left unattended for about 2 mins as I lock the
yard up and the back door, then go through to get out of the front door
and lock that, then wander round the side of the house to the bike.

 

Hardly *news* my policies have always had this?

Pay more you will then....

 

I'm sure I read something in the small print of mine that says if it's
nicked from within 500 metres from my home, the same rule applies. Which is
a bitch, as if I'm parked outside my sisters for some reason thats about
300m away.

 

quite normal.

I've seen policies where you aren't insured *at all* if you park
within a certain distance of your house, but don't put the bike/car in
the garage.

 

My policy states that, in fact I think it may even say 'not covered' in
it unless it's locked up in the garage.

To be honest I was dubious about accepting it but it's almost never on
the drive without being in someones eyesight [1]. On the flip side it
knocked £100 of my policy last year. I'll be looking for one without the
clause in it now that I only have one bike and an extra years no claims
this year mind you.

[1] Working on the bike last Friday I popped into the house for 5
minutes and the clause popped in to my head. However I reasoned that it
would have taken so long to pick up all the bits it wasn't worth it!

 

The varlet known as Doesnotcompute did proclaim to all assembled:

Mine haven't

Auntie Carole only wants about £5 more, I found out shortly after.

 

I think my Carole Nash one is like that, except it's only "after 6pm" for
some reason.

 

yeah, that rings a bell too.

And quite frankly, I can understand why the insurance companies
stipulate this sort of thing - if you're going to get cheaper
insurance by telling them your vehicle is garaged when at home, then
you really ought to fucking garage it.

 

Fr Jack says...

Mine doesn't, it comes into force after 10pm. After that time my bike is
not insured for theft from my home address unless it is garaged.

I think you've been misled, or have read the conditions incorrectly.
That's an unreasonable clause and I don't think it would hold up in
court.

 

What if you haven't got a garage?

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

Then you won't be getting the discount for
garaging it, will you?

 

The varlet known as Lozzo did proclaim to all assembled:

You've prolly never come across it when getting quotes - there's not a
lot more can be shaved off your premiums, unless *they pay you* to have
the policy. ;-)

I was trying to shave a few more quid off my quote and got that thrown
at me.

It is different from the previous policies I've had... and they can
stuff it, especially when auntie Carole offers a lot more for an extra
fiver without putting silly clauses in the way.

That was read out by the droid.

Other folks have had similar clauses on their policy - see DnC's post,
for example

I agree, it is unreasonable, but if you knew about it and took out the
policy, regardless, you have accepted the terms and conditions laid out
in the policy, which would make it harder to argue against the clause...

As to its legality, I don't know, but I suspect the companies check this
stuff before imposing it.

But it was just a heads up for those unaware of it existence.

I'll be avoiding it.

 

TBH mate, this has always been there.

 

either you pay a fortune or end up not being able to get insurance at
all - which is a situation I was in a couple of years back.

 

Actually, the insurance isn't that steep.

But then, what do you expect for an SV?

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

I knew there'd be a catch ;-)


--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked