Sorn & insurance

Chiz

Chiz

Elite Member
Folks, Here is something I did not know.
My Ducati Superlight is SORNEd at present.
My insurance renewal came in today & I went to renew.

I got told as the bike is SORNed then they cannot renew the policy.
I need to get a special SORN/Laid up insurance policy as the existing policy is for a road worthy bike.
I explained that the bike is road worthy & that a large amount of bikes get sorned over the winter & the supervisor told me that the policies had changed a few years ago.
Any bike that gets SORNed needs a special "laid up" policy.

OOOOOPS! Better check this out & if any of you guys have not realised this then you better check.
I'm through Motorcycle Direct & the policy is through Equity Red Star.
 
I thought that you only needed "laid up" insurance if you DIDN'T have a normal policy already covering the bike?

The law changed so that you need continuous insurance - even if the vehicle is off the road. I would imagine a SORNed bike is less of a risk on all counts, so it seems logical that your normal policy would cover it. Would expect a laid up policy to be much less.

If you want to take your Superlight out for a wee hurl next year you'll need to cancel the laid up insurance and start another "proper" policy - which is sure to be an expensive business... "I'm sorry sir, but refunds are not pro-rata, didn't you read the small print, whatwhatwhat?!"
 
That's exactly the points i said to the supervisor. She stated the law changed a few years ago. By all means park your bike up but if you sorn it then it is a completely different insurance you need. Im not bothered by the cost as its only 102 fully comp. Im more surprised that its been sorned for 3 months and if stolen the normal insurance policy would have not been valid. I just assumed a fully comp bike insurance covered a sorned bike. IT DOES NOT.
 
Chiz said:
That's exactly the points i said to the supervisor. She stated the law changed a few years ago. By all means park your bike up but if you sorn it then it is a completely different insurance you need. Im not bothered by the cost as its only 102 fully comp. Im more surprised that its been sorned for 3 months and if stolen the normal insurance policy would have not been valid. I just assumed a fully comp bike insurance covered a sorned bike. IT DOES NOT.
Click to expand...

Chiz, mine is only £40 more than that and it includes riding, and the bike is worth a fair bit more! :eek: But the point is, if you want to ride the SL, chances are you'll have to throw away that £102 and start another policy. Then there is the hassle of arranging the insurance as well as the tax. By the time you get them sorted the summer weekend will be over.

TBH, it sounds like it would be easier just to tax the bike and not bother with SORN if there is any chance you might be using it within the next 12 months. In your case (2 bikes and not much time to ride) you can probably leave the SL off the road, but for people with one bike, these rules will make winter SORNing unviable. Which perhaps is the idea behind it...
 
Just thinking about it, I wonder if you moved your only bike to a "SORN policy" if there would be any impact on your no-claims? Since you're not able to ride, you might lose it after 2 years on SORN - which is what happens if you don't insure a bike. :confused:
 
I would have thought if your bike has a valid MOT it's deemed road worthy, the fact you do not want to tax it during our winter really shouldn't make any difference! Look forward to hearing the outcome (my bike is about to hibernate on SORN!), sounds like another insurance 'small print' scam:(
 
sounds like bollox - have a look at the motorcycle policy wording doc for equity red star...
http://www.equityredstar.co.uk/Products/Pages/Policy-Documents.aspx

no requirement for SORN insurance shown - they do offer a couple of options that are only available to SORN'd bikes which dont cover 3rd party risks, but no requirement to do so.. only requirement is that the bike is kept in a roadworthy condition. as mentioned above I'm sure the broker will love taking £25-35 to change the policy then change it back again. as for quoting 'the law' , again bollo as mentionned above- the law change was 'continuous insurance' ie if you have tax you have to have insurance. if the vehicle is SORN'd then you dont need insurance. Give Red Star a ring and get them to confirm that your broker is a muppet ! :)
 
I think you should ask your insurer to get up to speed on Sorns.
First and most important point is the validity of the Sorn, it basically is relevant to the registered owner who applied for the Sorn who declares that he will not take it onto the 'public highway' an old but probably still legal term.
Your insurers claim does not stand up to scrutiny as if you took say a wheel off, it would not be roadworthy therefore not insured?
 
Hi Chiz, I'm through the same company, that's a worry as these guys are the Ducati experts and should really know how it works better. Might be worth highlighting this to Ducati UK, not complaining - just advising. I had a claim with Equity Red Star a few years back when Rudolph's dad decided to attack me and the hyper... they were very good. I keep my bike fully insured all year, just in case a nice, dry, mild day in January pops up :-) See you for the Tayside GP in the Spring....
 
I remember hearing about this a couple of years ago and reckoned then it was another clause by the insurance companies not to pay out
The only safe answer is keep it taxed as then without a shadow of a doubt you are covered .
no matter what answer you get ,will you actually be 100% confident it is correct ?
 
If the bike is laid up for the winter but Mot'd (recently in the case of my 907) but sorned until the spring then I can't see what their position is. The only thing different is the lack of road tax. No tax doesn't mean it is unroadworthy, nor for that matter does no MoT.
If they will not insure a sorned bike and it no longer has a valid MoT how the hell do you get it to the test centre for an MoT so that you can tax it?
 
Derek said:
If the bike is laid up for the winter but Mot'd (recently in the case of my 907) but sorned until the spring then I can't see what their position is. The only thing different is the lack of road tax. No tax doesn't mean it is unroadworthy, nor for that matter does no MoT.
If they will not insure a sorned bike and it no longer has a valid MoT how the hell do you get it to the test centre for an MoT so that you can tax it?
Click to expand...

If you are paying a policy for a bike that covers fire, theft AND accident damage, they should be happy that you are removing a major part of the risk (especially in Chiz's case ;)) but keeping the policy the same.

The more I read and think about this, the more I think it's the insurance broker trying to pull a fast one...
 
miloVanMultistrada said:
If you are paying a policy for a bike that covers fire, theft AND accident damage, they should be happy that you are removing a major part of the risk (especially in Chiz's case ;)) but keeping the policy the same.

The more I read and think about this, the more I think it's the insurance broker trying to pull a fast one...
Click to expand...

I agree, the broker does not seem to want the business, try Footman James
 
Sounds to me like the DVLA have got @@@@ed off with all the bikers declaring SORN on thier bikes before the onset of winter and have worked out a sneaky way of forcing us to not SORN our bikes so they dont have to process the paperwork and send us a refund.
What with all these 'ECO' cars running round paying next to naf all or no tax at all the DVLA are having to tug on the purse strings and what better way to do that than pick on a minority group who already pay through the nose for vehicles than dont damage the roads, dont do high mileages, are usually garaged up for six months of the year and dont get gas tested so dont qualify for the reduced road tax for lower CO emisions.
Makes my blood boil.
Thanks for listening..........................
 
I've just spoken to my insurers (Carole Nash) no probs at all with declaring SORN on my bike. It has a current MOT and all I've done is comply with the law in declaring SORN'd (ie not riding it on the roads!). So tucked up for winter, roll on Spring 2014 :)
 
Right then hears the low down.
Contacted Equity Red Star who are the underwriters for my bike insurance.

Spoke to a lovely lady who just laughed when I stated that Motorcycle Direct wanted me to drop their policy to get a SORN specific policy.

She stated that they were talking PISH & Equity Red Star were happy to insure my bike as stated in the current policy.

Therefore I will have great pleasure in phoning Motorcycle Direct to point their SCAM out to them.
They lady gave me her name & stated that she would gladly speak to Motorcycle Direct & highlight their error.
She could not believe it, or had ever heard of this before.

I'll wait till the weekend & search the net for a cheaper deal, as I don't want to give Motorcycle Direct my business.:p:finger:
 
Chiz said:
Right then hears the low down.
Contacted Equity Red Star who are the underwriters for my bike insurance.

Spoke to a lovely lady who just laughed when I stated that Motorcycle Direct wanted me to drop their policy to get a SORN specific policy.

She stated that they were talking PISH & Equity Red Star were happy to insure my bike as stated in the current policy.

Therefore I will have great pleasure in phoning Motorcycle Direct to point their SCAM out to them.
They lady gave me her name & stated that she would gladly speak to Motorcycle Direct & highlight their error.
She could not believe it, or had ever heard of this before.

I'll wait till the weekend & search the net for a cheaper deal, as I don't want to give Motorcycle Direct my business.:p:finger:
Click to expand...

UPDATE:- Sat down today & went on a few comparison sites. Got my insurance no problem on Go Compare. In fact got it down to £89. All through Wicked.com & underwritten by the same company as I had been using Equity Red Star.
Can you believe it.:rolleyes::D
So Motorcycle Direct has lost a customer who would have normally just agreed to the re-newal, but since they tried to be FUNNY BU...ERS they will never darken my doorstep again.
 
Sorry Chiz... did you say down to £89 or down BY £89;)...... I thought you were up to thousands a couple of years ago!
 
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