BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Afternoon, one for the UK members of this group: 

My insurance is up for renewal soon and for a few years I've been with the IAM Surety brokers (Cornmarket I think).  Been happy with them, but their quote came in a bit on the steep side, so I got a quote from BMW (Devitt) which was a big chunk cheaper at around £160.

Any views?

insurance has gone up a lot across the board.


i pay £330 for a 2007 RT and an old Transalp (Bennets multi bike policy). London address, TPFT, full NCB


£160 sounds about right. most companies cannot even quote you below £100 these days.

Have also previously been insured with the IAM Surety bunch, unfortunately, they are no longer competitive for me.

Now have a Carole Nash six wheel policy covering 2 bikes & 1 car for £420.

£160 for one bike seems fairly reasonable to me.

I was with IAM, their quote was expensive, so I did the phoning around etc, got cheaper quotes. Rang IAM Surety to get my proof of no claims, and they immediately matched the BMW quote. So stayed with them

It is of course difficult to say just what is a good price for insurance as there are so many variables. However, my own policy which I renewed in January cost me £158. The sting in the tail is an “excess” of £400. And like David I am with Carole Nash and have been with them for about 6 years now. One of the plus points with Carole Nash is the included “UK and Europe” Breakdown and Recovery Service.

Most initial or new business quotes come in at a very good price. However, you need to do a search every renewal and you'll probably find that even your existing insurer will be offering a much lower price. It's the way its been operating for quite a few years and long may it continue.

The one guarantee with insurance renewal premiums is that the IPT (Insurance Premium Tax) will always keep rising, and therefore inflate the premiums now more than it used to before the cursed IPT came into being!

Another thing to bear in mind with us Wethead owners (in fact any RT really), is the listing of modifications and accessories. Most of us have done significant changes like:
Ohlins suspension,
Fog /spot/driving lights.
HID Headlamp conversion
LED HEadlight conversion
Aftermarket screen
Top box
Crash bars
Sidestand foot enlarger
aftermarket seat
Sat Nav
Handlebar risers
Brake hoses
Aftermarket exhaust.
Etc, etc
Once you have declared that, what is your premium now?

[size=2px]https://www.bennetts.co.uk/customer/hel ... ifications[/size]

bandytales wrote: Another thing to bear in mind with us Wethead owners (in fact any RT really),is the listing of modifications and accessories. Most of us have done significant changes like:
Ohlins suspension,
Fog /spot/driving lights.
HID Headlamp conversion
LED HEadlight conversion
Aftermarket screen
Top box
Crash bars
Sidestand foot enlarger
aftermarket seat
Sat Nav
Handlebar risers
Brake hoses
Aftermarket exhaust.
Etc, etc
Once you have declared that, what is your premium now?

Nope none of them except the GPS and that goes with me when I get off the bike.  Thanks for the reminder though.

Like Casbar above, I called IAM Surety up and after a bit of haggling they came down to pretty much the same price with a lower excess.  Result!  Seem to remember a similar dance last year.  So much for customer loyalty.......  A thing of the past!  Starting to sound like my dear departed Dad now so I'll shut up, but thanks for all the input above.

All insurance is a con.


The motor insurance market is completely dysfunctional and has been for years.

Just to make you guys from Britain feel better, thought I chip in with a few notes here:
I live in Ontario, Canada, and have a clean record for last 8 years. Last year I sold my
Triumph Sprint because we have no multi bike policy and could not afford to pay as much as
the insurance companies charge. The best I found was a 10% discount for second bike, which is
Can$ 130! You do the math! Just to make it easier for you, am converting the premiums in GBP:
2002 VW Jetta 1.8T : Can$ 1068/year That is 609 GBP And a car one has to have, since public
transportation here is close to nil, except big cities. And I use the car only when can not ride.
2008 R1200RT : Can$ 1316/year. (second bike 10% off!!) My currency converter shows
GBP 750. These two premium HAVE to be paid if I want to have them vehicles on the rod legally!
So I tend to believe you guys are not doing so bad there, as far as the insurance prices goes... :kacsint2:

£350 comprehensive with Adrian Flux  (bikesure) for a multi bike policy. That's for a 2011 Rt and a 15 streetbob. They seemed very knowledgeable and helpful after dealing with the usual bunch.

I agree with many of the posts above. Insurance is a rip-off and they are always looking for ways to make it more difficult, expensive and finding ways of getting out of claims should they arise. I have just changed my FJR for a RT1200 (2015) and I'm due to renew my bike insurance in March. Online, using the compare websites, they range tremendously from £200 - £1200; can you believe? Returning from living in France for 13 years, I found many car and bike insurance companies would not recognise my 47 years NCB (including Carole Nash), most of which were driving/riding in the UK. Would you give up that entitlement? My FJR was insured through Bikesure and I have changed this to the RT but, as next month is the renewal date, I will contact them again but want to have other quotes available to barter with. Sadly, these companies show no loyalty to their customers by offering a favourable quote, especially as there has been no claims for the past 12 months,or longer, but you are expected to knock them down by suggesting other cheaper quotes and threatening to go elsewhere. Such a farce; but necessary for legal purposes.