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[andrewcsp]

Hello,

I placed an order for a Zero SR/F yesterday. Very excited, but reading here I'll probably be waiting at least a few months for it!

In the meantime, can anyone in the UK advise who they use for insurance (on any Zero model)? I can insure my BMW 1300cc 173bhp monster for £300 fully comp, but anything in the Zero range is £777 (SR, new) to £940 (SR/F). Only Lexham will give me a price for the SR/F. The bike would be garaged at home, and ground anchored on a driveway at work (London).

For the SR/F I've tried:

GoCompare via website (no results available)
MoneySupermarket via website (no results available)
Confused via website (no results available)
Devitt via telephone (cannot find the bike)
BeMoto via telephone (too risky to have it parked in London, despite anchor)
BeSure via telephone (no results available)
Carole Nash via telephone (no results available)
Lexham via telephone (£945, fully comp, must use disk lock or chain at all times)

I'll try Wicked Quotes tomorrow, as I've seen that mentioned here.

Any other suggestions welcome. One suggestion I've had is "burn petrol, it's cheaper and easier!" Finding it hard to argue with that to be honest!

Andrew

[Fred]

Wicked Quotes for my FXS. I'm shocked that getting insurance is still so difficult. They all say they can do it when you ask up front, they take all your details (to spam you with later) and stumble at the "how many cc" question.  I notice that Bennetts did a video review of the SR/F, but I doubt they'll insure one. Might be worth a try though.

[andrewcsp]

Thanks for the suggestions Fred. I actually wonder if we’re moving backwards in regard to insurance.

I just tried Wicked Quotes. They told me they no longer insure electric motorcycles. Their underwriter no longer offers this.

Tried Bennett’s also. They don’t have an insurance rating/category for the bike so cannot insure it. This may change later but no guarantee of that.

[robbill]

Is there such a thing in the UK as a rider's policy?
I insure my SR (full no claims) on a 600cc rider policy at £139.

[Fred]

Is there such a thing in the UK as a rider's policy?
I insure my SR (full no claims) on a 600cc rider policy at £139.

There used to be rider policies - not sure if there is any more. We also moved to insurance groups for a while but now seem to be back to insuring by engine capacity - which causes problems.

If Wicked Quotes have stopped doing electric bikes then I might not be able to get insurance at all when mine is up for renewal. 

[andrewcsp]

FYI, I've emailed my predicament to Zero and have explicitly pointed them to this thread. Hopefully they can suggest some alternatives. Frankly, I'm very apprehensive to buy a bike which only one insurer/broker in the industry will cover. I'm liable to end up in a situation where I simply cannot get insurance through no fault of my own. Or to get completely shafted because there is only one company available (a monopoly).

This situation is a deal breaker for me, but let's see if any more options arise in the coming months. The SR/F is a brand new model after all. The alternative will be to look for a 600cc commuter instead.

[Richard230]

Here is a good laugh for you:  My first electric motorcycle was a 2009 Electric Motorsport GPR-S.  When I went to Progressive to insure it for $250K/$500K liability-only, they didn't know how to classify it.  So they gave it an engine size of 1cc and charged me $5 for an entire year's premium.    Since then, insurance premiums for my electric motorcycles have risen every year and now Progressive charges me 20% more than they do for my BMW R1200RS for the same level of insurance coverage. 

[Fred]

Insurance does seem to be a huge problem - in the UK at least. If Zero want to sell bikes they should be taking to insurers. I'm dreading my renewal when it comes up. To be honest, whilst I love my FXS I wouldn't buy an electric bike right now with the insurance market the way it is.

[Andrew Zero S]

I got a quote from MCE, about £750 for fire and theft £540 for 3rd party only. Lexham wouldn't quote because I had 7 points. This was a year ago. I had no no claims bonus for bikes then.

Andrew

[dittoalex]

SR rates are high because people crash them.  I pay $177/month .

[MostlyBonkers]

Hello,

I placed an order for a Zero SR/F yesterday. Very excited, but reading here I'll probably be waiting at least a few months for it!

Which dealer have you placed your order with?  UK dealers can expect both SRF models to be delivered in July.  There is a potential problem with registration though. Apparently it is taking some dealers two months to register their bikes after delivery.  Streetbike have got it nailed though so go to them if you want one on the road as quickly as possible.

[Lj66]

Your situation was similar to mine back in 2016. Only Lexham would insure my FXZ 6.5 and only 3rd party accident, no fire or theft cover. Over 9yrs no claims with a Kawasaki Z750 counted for nothing, had to start again with no claims bonus. Here's how it went, 2016 £842.00p. 2017 £711.38p. 2018 £308.74 mentioning i had 2yrs no claims bonus, so you can see they are not out to exploit their virtual monopoly, you just have to stay with them and build a no claims discount. I only got insured with them by sending photos of my rented concrete steel door garage with CCTV and security gates, then in late 2018 the council demolished it to make way for estate regeneration. The bikes in storage now.

[andrewcsp]

Interesting to hear your experiences Andrew and Lj66.

Lexham would only quote me for fully comprehensive insurance. TP and TPFT not an option due to the value of the bike. That seemed odd to me, but frankly I wouldn't want any less than comprehensive anyway. While I'm glad to hear your experience with Lexham has been good, I'm simply apprehensive of having only one insurance option available for the long term. I like to shop around each year so I can make an informed choice about how much I'm paying.

My situation is:
- Biking for 9 years
- Full licence for 7 years
- 3 years NCD on an F800GT
- 6 years NCD on my second bike (K1300R)
- 0 points, no legal issues
- one small at fault incident a little over 3 years ago (this wasn't a claim).
- I'm certainly not new to big/powerful biking.

I've ordered the SR/F through HGB in Ruislip. Not in a particular hurry, as long as it's here before the autumn.

[MostlyBonkers]

I'm in the market for SRF insurance now, so I'll share my experience. I'm going to try IAM Surety. I believe they work exclusively with people who have attained their Green Badge for passing their advanced riding course.  Or they might just be IAM friendly, I'm not sure.  I've heard that they can be competitive when pushed, but I'm also expecting them not to have a Scooby about Zeros.

[potboiler]

Just did a comparison on the meerkats site. 61 year old, 2 years no claims, live in Devon.
2016 DSR = £136.
2019 FXS = £224.
All fully comp.