Insurance premiums set to rise

Motorcyclists reinsuring their bikes for spring should prepare for sharp premium increases after record-breaking annual hikes of 20% for cars.

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Experts warn the motorcycle market must share its burden of the biggest motor insurance rises ever recorded. 

Bike premiums had already seen above inflation rises of 10% for under-30s and 6.3% on average in the 14 months to November.

The average policy for under-20s rose £90 to £617, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence.

But that may be only half the picture.

The AA warns motorcycle insurance is under the same pressures which caused car premiums to take their biggest ever upward jump in the final quarter of 2009.

In those three months alone, TPFT policies rose 8.9% while fully comp went up 7.2% on average, according to the AA’s annual British Insurance Premium Index.

The AA’s PR manager, Ian Crowder, said those pressures included personal injury claims, fraud and uninsured drivers. 

“Where people might not have made a personal injury claim in the past, they are now encouraged to do so by after-the-event personal injury lawyers,” he said.

“You only have to turn on any commercial radio station or daytime TV and the ad slots are cram-packed with them. Those settlements feed back to increased premiums.

“I think motorcycle insurance could be affected in exactly the same way as car insurance.”

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