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Kobi1977
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Had my bike stolen a few days ago and been asked to submit documents for my claim etc however realised when I put date of my CBT down I had entered the date I was meant to take my test but due to being ill (I have a genuine disability) had to move the CBT back a few weeks. The bike was in storage and not driven from the day I bought it until after I had passed my CBT I only got the insurance beforehand to cover against theft. Anyway now I have to submit the documents they are just going to refuse the claim and I'm going to lose around £3k I really don't know what to do next!!!

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I'm sorry that your bike was stolen - that sucks.


You can own a bike and have it insured against fire and theft without a licence no problem. However, insurance companies will do anything they can to not pay out of course, including any inaccuracies that you entered in your policy. Thoroughly check what you put, then I would suggest contacting citizens advice.

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You maybe worrying over nothing. Speak to the insurance company first. They can be absolute theives but they also have to operate within some rules. Because it's theft related and not accident related they might have a job totally refusing your claim (although they might try their luck first). See what they say and if it's not favourable get some proper legal advice. Fingers crossed for you mate and sorry this has happened to you

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Thanks for all the replies, I'm thinking it maybe better just not to make a claim, I'm with MCE insurance and just realised my excess is ridiculous (£1,650) bike was only worth about £2,200 and if I make a claim my future insurance shoots up so going to lose out either way! It's an expensive lesson that won't be repeated and definitely won't be getting my new insurance with them! Can I just advise them I want to drop the claim and cancel my insurance? I paid it all up front rather than instalments so won't get a cancellation fee surely insurance was ending in April anyway

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Sorry to hear about this.


M C E are crooks......and that's a polite description.


They offer slightly cheaper premiums by jacking up the excess, and they put really harsh Ts&C's in the small print.


They use a fraud investigations company to trawl through anything you've told them - a date discrepancy on your CBT will likely result in a 10% reduction on the gross valuation of the claim, even though it makes absolutely no difference to the claim.


They will also value your bike at the absolute minimum they can.....eg my bike had a real world market value around £3000-£3500, M C E valued it at £1600.



So, going forward, my advice to you is cancel the insurance claim and let the last 2 months if the policy run out. Make sure you've reported the theft with police and keep records if that. SORN the bike otherwise the tax will automatically restart.

It's a bitter pill, but long term could save you money.

Best of luck

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So, going forward, my advice to you is cancel the insurance claim and let the last 2 months if the policy run out. Make sure you've reported the theft with police and keep records if that. SORN the bike otherwise the tax will automatically restart.

It's a bitter pill, but long term could save you money.

Best of luck

 

I think that's good advice. And really sorry to hear of what you're going through. That's a grim experience. But given the excess and the likely value of the bike from the insurers you would probably be better off in the long run to not make an insurance claim. I've had to deal with two incidents this year without involving the insurance because in the long run it just wasn't worth it. Neither our fault - which makes it even more annoying.


One bit to add though - has the bike been recovered? If you've got the bike back then you can scrap it and pass the V5 to the scrap company that destroys the bike. That way the link between you and the bike is terminated.


But if it is still out there just be careful that if it is still on your insurance or registered in your name and someone riding it has an accident it can come back to haunt you. As said above, report the theft to the police and keep a record of that report. But the bit I would check on is what you do with the V5 if you don't make an insurance claim (ie the V5 doesn't go to the insurers) and you can't scrap the bike (ie you can't process the V5 as the bike being dismantled). You don't want a V5 in your name for a bike you no longer have.

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One bit to add though - has the bike been recovered? If you've got the bike back then you can scrap it and pass the V5 to the scrap company that destroys the bike. That way the link between you and the bike is terminated.


But if it is still out there just be careful that if it is still on your insurance or registered in your name and someone riding it has an accident it can come back to haunt you. As said above, report the theft to the police and keep a record of that report. But the bit I would check on is what you do with the V5 if you don't make an insurance claim (ie the V5 doesn't go to the insurers) and you can't scrap the bike (ie you can't process the V5 as the bike being dismantled). You don't want a V5 in your name for a bike you no longer have.

 

Agreed - that's why I mentioned keeping hold of the police incident details - that would provide some sort of cover if the bike comes back to bite him on the arse. Although I was thinking more about speeding/parking/red light fines.

I don't know the legal position, but a police theft report would show he has lost possession from a specified date

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Thanks again for the advice, it's really appreciated as I'm a complete novice at all this! The bike hasn't been recovered but was reported to police as soon as I knew it had gone (not that they did anything but give me a crime ref) I've completed the SORN online and emailed across to MCE that I don't want pursue the claim. With regards to notifying the DVLA their website send round in circles and nothing on the V5c form to complete if its been stolen and not recovered. It's really been an eye-opener that someone can just steel something worth thousands of pounds and the one I'm penalised and out of pocket even though I followed "the law" (and they say crime doesn't pay lol) on brighter note I've just bought a new bike this morning and have gone to town on all the security possible!!! I certainly won't be using MCE

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Thanks again for the advice, it's really appreciated as I'm a complete novice at all this! The bike hasn't been recovered but was reported to police as soon as I knew it had gone (not that they did anything but give me a crime ref) I've completed the SORN online and emailed across to MCE that I don't want pursue the claim. With regards to notifying the DVLA their website send round in circles and nothing on the V5c form to complete if its been stolen and not recovered. It's really been an eye-opener that someone can just steel something worth thousands of pounds and the one I'm penalised and out of pocket even though I followed "the law" (and they say crime doesn't pay lol) on brighter note I've just bought a new bike this morning and have gone to town on all the security possible!!! I certainly won't be using MCE

 

Find the Bikesure ad's on this forum and follow the link to a dedicated number and you will get a discount :thumb:

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It would be worth giving the DVLA a call to ask how you register that a stolen bike that isn't recovered and that you are not going through insurance for can be taken out of your name.


There must be a way, but as you say neither their website or the V5 make it clear.

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Unfortunately even of you don't claim you will still have to declare this loss when applying for future insurance or risk another company finding a way to reduce what they pay out to you. Since the No Claims Bonus was made completely pointless by the insurance companies greed of offering to "protect it" for an additional premium they now ask you like questions like " have you suffered any loss or damage whether or not it was your fault or if a claim was made or not in the last 5 years". I treat insurance as nothing more than a piece of paper that keeps the police off my back as dots not worth much more than that. They constantly take the piss. The very fact that an insurance company will sell you a policy then try and convince you you need gap insurance to protect yourself by being fleeced by them just seems like it should be illegal.


The system is a mess and it doesn't pay to be legit. I once got 6 points and a £900 fine for speeding on the motorway at 4am (96mph). A local scroat who waited for a pensioner to reverse his car out of the garage, hit the pensioner over the head when he got out to close the garage door, stole the car and then went on a joyride and police chase got a one year ban on the license he didn't even have and a £100 fine. Not that I'm bitter.

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Unfortunately even of you don't claim you will still have to declare this loss when applying for future insurance or risk another

 

I don't think this is true fastbob? There's only 3 pertinent questions on an insurance quote to my knowledge : 'have you made a claim', have you had insurance invalidated, and what's your ncd...

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Unfortunately even of you don't claim you will still have to declare this loss when applying for future insurance or risk another

 

I don't think this is true fastbob? There's only 3 pertinent questions on an insurance quote to my knowledge : 'have you made a claim', have you had insurance invalidated, and what's your ncd...

 

Not my experience. Perhaps I'm using the wrong companies 🤷‍♂️

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