Best Motorbike Insurance – 5 Top Picks For 2021

Written by Editorial Team
Last updated: 14th December 2020

So you need that motorbike insurance – but you don’t need to be paying too much for it!

There are many comparison sites online that provide this service, and they can be a useful way of comparing providers to find the insurance plan that suits you and your motorbike.

We have selected 5 sites to help you get a great low cost deal.

Our 5 Top Picks To Get Cheaper Motorbike Insurance

1. Quotezone

Quotezone cover up to 20 bike insurers offering a quick quote service searching the market for you. As well some of the mainstream insurers Quotezone also incude lesser known insurers such as Mackenzie & Hodgson and Pincipal Insurance to get you the level of cover required.

You can retrieve your quote at any time with Quotezone so if you are shopping around they offer a quick and easy way to compare quotes.

Features
Search over 20 UK insurance providers - for free. You could save up to £195*
Multi Bike Discount
Compare deals from 20+ Bike Insurance Brokers across the UK market!
*51% of consumers who received a quote for Motorbike Insurance through this service provided by Seopa Ltd. in August 2023 were quoted less than £194.60. The price you could achieve is dependent on your individual circumstances.

2. The Bike Insurer

The Bike Insurer cover up to 40 bike insurers offering a quick quote service searching the market for you. The Bike Insurer was the UK’s first dedicated motorcycle insurance website when it launched back in 2006 and offer a cheapest price guarantee.

Features
Search up to 40 UK motorbike insurance brokers - cover for bikes, mopeds and scooters. Offer a cheapest price guarantee.
Multi Bike Discount
Compare deals from 40+ Bike Insurance brokers across the UK market!

3. Devitt

Devitt are one of the longest established brokers in the UK market since 1936 with over 120,000 customers with a high Trustpilot rating for their services. Work with insurers such as AXA, AVIVA and Allianz.

Features
30% of our motorbike insurance customers pay less that £100; with 69% paying less than £300!
Multi Bike Discount
30% of Devitt’s motorbike insurance customers pay less that £100; with 69% paying less than £300!

4. Confused.com

Compare cheap motorbike insurance quotes from 40+ providers including BMW, Carole Nash, Triumph and Hastings Direct.

Features
Compare over 40 motorbike insurance providers. Also provide cover for scooters, quad bikes and certain trikes.
Multi Bike Discount
Get motorbike insurance quotes in minutes with Confused.com

5. Tempcover

Temporary motorbike insurance is the flexible and affordable solution for riders who only need cover for a short period of time.

With a temporary pay as you go motorbike policy, you’re covered for the time you want, from one day to one week.

Tempcover offer a fast and easy solution for short term cover for motorbikes and mopeds.

Features
Flexible and affordable solution for riders who only need cover for a short period of time
Fast Instant Cover
Tempcover Temporary Motorbike Insurance

How much should you be paying for motorbike insurance?

The average UK motorbike rider clocks up more miles than the average car driver – 11.1 miles per average trip in 2016, compared with 8.4 for car drivers. And that’s despite the fact that bikers are less likely to be using their wheels to drop the kids off at school or do the supermarket run.

In the same way cars are classified motorbikes are categorized into separate groups which will determine the basic premium you can expect to pay.

Dependent on the insurance company there are typically between 17 and 22 insurance groups. The lower the group number the lower the bike premiums are likely to be.

What determines the group your bike will be in is based on engine power, performance level and the price as well as other factors such as the availability of replacement parts.

As with car insurance insurers will determine the insurance category by the way the bike will be used by its owner. The 4 groups are:

  • Social, domestic & pleasure
  • Commuting
  • Business
  • Courier and delivery

Special factors that come into play in determining your premium include:

  • Classic motorbikes – classic bikes are less likely to be on the road so much, typically have careful owners and are less attractive to thieves
  • Modified bikesModifying your bike to improve performance or the way it looks can add to you premium cost as repairs are generally more expensive & the likelihood of theft higher
  • Younger & new bike riders & convicted bike riders – Insurers generally will charge higher premiums for these 2 categories. Often convicted motorbike riders will need to deal with a specialist bike insurer to get cover.

1. Choose your bike carefully

25 years ago, scooters accounted for less than 1% of all two wheeled theft; today over half of all the bikes stolen are scooters and mopeds.

Dr Ken German, vehicle theft consultant 2017

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a Honda 125 is going to cost less to insure than a Kawasaki Ninja H2R. Smaller, older, and less-powerful will cost you less on your premiums, so don’t carried away in the showroom.

Having said that, with scooters now the preferred mode of transport for inner-city bike gangs, the more powerful models are now more likely to be targeted for theft.

2. Secure your bike

According to Bennetts Insurance, seven out of 10 owners still leave their machines unlocked in city bike parks.

Motorcyle insurance policy theft claims doubled from 2014 to 2016, according to Bennetts Insurance.

  • Whenever possible park your bike indoors, or in a secure garage. Check for spy-holes drilled in the doors of lock-up garages.
  • Always engage your steering lock, and use grip locks on the handlebars.
  • Use disc locks to prevent your bike being wheeled away.
  • Lock your back wheel and frame with a chain.
  • Fit an alarm and immobiliser.
  • Mark your bike frame and parts.
  • Use a bike cover.
  • When chaining a bike, keep the chain and lock off the ground. Thieves can easily use a hammer or angle grinder if a lock is on the ground.

3. Get an advanced driving qualification

74% of motorcycle insurers checked offered advanced driver discounts.

In 2014 GoCompare, 2014

Getting more training will make you a safer rider and possibly also reduce your premiums – though the savings in the first year may not be more than the cost of the course.

Contact your insurer first to find out which qualifications they recognise.

4. Don’t over-estimate your mileage

Britons are notoriously poor at estimating distance: asked to guess the distance between major UK cities we overestimate by an average 15%.

This could add up to the average motorist paying for 1,185 more miles than we actually drive each year.

More than 1 in 4 motorists guess their annual mileage when getting insurance quotes.

uSwitch, 2018

Are you a summer-months bike rider? It used to be possible to purchase seasonal motorbike insurance, but the law now requires that motorcycles must be insured year-round unless they are registered with a statutory off-road notification (SORN).

It may not be worthwhile registering SORN and cancelling your insurance – you won’t reclaim the full pro-rata of your insurance policy, and you’ll lose your no-claims bonus.

But at least estimate your annual mileage more accurately, and update your mileage with your insurer if you change jobs.

5. Tweak your job description

According to the Daily Mirror you can save almost £300 if you select “retired” or “full-time parent” rather than “unemployed”.

  • “Chefs” pay more for car insurance than “kitchen staff”
  • “Music teachers” pay more than “teachers”
  • “Office managers” pay more than “office administrators”
  • “Construction workers” pay more than “builders”

But be very careful not to actively mis-represent yourself: you need to be able to justify your job title if your insurer should challenge it when you make a claim.

Find your most competitive insurance now:

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