I don't know what's wrong in your countries... I also have the most basic insurance for the case I cause troubles to others... and it's ~20 € / year
In the UK this is called TPO - Third Party Only - i.e. your insurance only covers you for damage to other people (the third party - you are the first party and the insurance company is the second party)
I don't know what that would have cost me, but I wanted my brand new bike protected against fire and theft as well - TPFT - Third Party, Fire and Theft. Maybe because its electric the "fire" part is a high risk 🙂 ?
The highest level of protection is "fully comprehensive" - even if you crash it, they will pay. This is usually too expensive.
We have also expensive cars, with similar costs for repairs like in all other countries in Europe. I assume the insurance is 90% salaries and bonuses of those representatives of insurance companies.
Yes it seems vehicle insurance in the UK is very expensive. Lots of people making a lot of money out of us poor vehicle owners.
Just went down to 160 for 2020 after 250 for 2019. (makes it 0,6% of my yearly wage)
I have only 3rd party or it is called traffic insurance in my land. It means if I crash I have insurance but my bike is not protected. If I damage someone elses bike they are insured and protected. If they crash onto me. Their insurance - hopefully will cover damages to my ride. That ain't a to high chance is it?
The most simple rule. Keep your distance or 3 second rule called out here pretty much makes you take anything that comes at you.
I see it every day. Some weirdo doing crazy stunts with their car or walk on a red light on a busy street and more!
I was quoted £868 for TPFT on a TC Max. Provisional license, less than 1 year, 1st vehicle, North West London.
Thats absurdly expensive.
that isn't crazy expensive for a provisional license, most accidents happen within the first 2 years
i was quoted ~£3500 fully comp for my first year driving (full license, not provisional) 🤣 got it down to £1200 with some haggling; now i pay around £200 fully comp
especially for new drivers, 3rd party only can be a big risk if you depend on your vehicle for daily commute
I certainly agree about the risks for early drivers to get involved in accidents and see why it pushes insurance prices all the way up, however, +25% of the value of the vehicle for a fully comp, in my opinion, is indeed too much.
I quoted for a Honda PSX 125cc and it came at over £1100. That’s almost 30% of the vehicles value.
Even more so in bikes that are not particularly powerful.
I’m glad to learn that it will fall drastically, though, hopefully driving the cost of ownership down.
cost of the vehicle is only one part of the insurance, it is also required to cover for eg 3rd party damages as a result of injury (which can be significant), potentially long term health care in the event of a serious accident (could run to 10s of millions for the most serious), other property damage and much more
yes as long as you drive safely, it will fall fast
Clearly it's absurdly expensive.
Risk of fire... really, are electric vehicles more exposed to this risk than classic ICVs? This is absurd and these insurrance companies are allowed to do their own laws 🙁
Indeed thieves are everywhere and this is what I'm also afraid of, that's why I park it only in public spaces where a surveilance camera is spotting in my bike direction (many times very close to the entrance door of the shop or where I need to go).
Has anyone tried a GPS tracker?
[Update]
I found some time ago this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6H70C9/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=cellularpro08-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01N6H70C9&linkId=11631626fadc222525732c39d3b7fe2a
It's Chinese stuff because can be found on aliexpress and it's cheap. But I don't know if it's trustful, reliable.
Is anyone using it and can give a real feedback? Or are you using something else and proved to work fine?
[Update 2]
And one more I found, a bit more expensive:
Any review or similar trackers will be highly appreciated, as I'm really looking to buy one.
In my opinion the lack of competition is the first responsible for the crazy prices.
There are only two companies that quoted an insurance for the Super Soco here, so they can do whatever they like with no harm.
Also, this is still a tiny niche market, so we, electric motorbike owners, do not represent a slice of the cake that is big enough to catch their attention.
Hoping it changes real soon.
yes the risk of fire from lithium batteries is significantly higher, and more catastrophic (explosive, spreading burning lithium over a large area) if it happens (and impossible to control with any fire extinguisher you could fit on a bike, given the power capacity of the batteries)
The risk you're talking about is in case of overcharging, which shall not happen as long as the BMS does its job. Or worst it will happen while charging, therefore I'm away from the bike.
Do you think the risk of explosion exists while riding, when let's say batteries have 3.8 or 3.9V?
Understood batteries from TC/TS are safe and don't damage if you fell it down.
unfortunately the risk is not limited to charging, but you are right that the BMS should protect in normal operation
However, if you crash the bike and the cells in the battery are damaged, the risk of fire shoots up dramatically, and the BMS can do nothing to prevent it - it would have to be a pretty catastrophic crash, or the bike would have to be crushed under a large truck or something similar - the risk is there tho
that is a question which can't be answered without going into politics and economics, which we should probably try to avoid 🙃
