Online Insurance moan.

[Mr Gazza]

I am in the process of renewing my insurance, and getting a bit ticked off with the tedium of it all.

Apart from the endless questionaires from the call centre staff, I am getting frustrated by the internet quote forms.

I have an M900Sie and I want to insure it as such. None of the drop down boxes list an M900Sie and it seems that one is forced to choose from an option rather than state what it actually is.
The lists that the phone sales people use are the same as those on the web sites, so they don't recognise the 900Sie either...Not even Ducati Insurance.!

My previous insurer described my bike as Il Monstro 900 (which annoys me) and I don't think it's good enough.

I am tempted to just opt for the M900S '97-on description, and hope that the year 2000 is sufficient to make it an "ie" ... Would that be reasonable? Anyone else had this problem?

[Dukedesmo]

The lists that the phone sales people use are the same as those on the web sites, so they don't recognise the 900Sie either...Not even Ducati Insurance.!



I called Ducati insurance a few years back after reading good things on various forums (fora?), anyway went through the usual 10 minutes of questions & identity verification until I got to the bike details, at which point they couldn't get their heads round the fact that my 916 had several modifications (maybe no-one declares them?) and really weren't interested in insuring it. They also didn't have any kind of breakdown/recovery to offer. In the end the advisor 'advised' me to try Carole Nash.

So much for being Ducati specialists... :banghead:

[Dirty]

I had a very similar experience with Ducati insurance. Very nice chap, quite happy to admit they were far too expensive and that Carol Nash was better.

[Saint aka ML]

I have ON/Off affair with DI.

I was with them and then at one stage at renewal they sent me a quite of 9.999 from 700 with then 3y NCB. It was a **** off quote.

I am currently back with them and guy I spoke to said they had a management change and it is now much better.
Went via quote with him and insured ASAP as they offered a best deal I had so far. I do not care about recovery as got from bank, do not care about European cover as 99% of them either do not insure bikes older then 10y or if they do the rules for recovery if worst happens means it will not be economical to recover.

When I insure privately on trip basis it might be bit more expensive but I do not do that many European trips and those covers have no issues as to hold old is your bike. You select value you want to be insured under.

Mr Gazza with regards to il Monstro that was the official name of early Monsters when they were sold in UK in 1992-1993. That is what I have on my V5.

[Wildfire]

Just have to say, stay well away from Ducati Insurance. They insured my MV last year and when it came to me re-insuring this year, they got a call to say that I had had and accident on it in December. Whilst riding for Papa Johns, under a different name.

The underwriters suspended my NCB, stuck a fault claim on my file. Ducati then jacked my premium up by about £2k from their initial quote. £20 worth or premium rate calls, one threatening letter (2 weeks and an uninsured bike), 3 credit card statements and 2 signed attestations that I was not in the area later and ERS finally were convinced that I was not involved.

Queue Ducati sending me a new premium with an increase of £200, which I queried. They then stuck my details through the ginder again, an extra £100 (on top of the £200), call back again and they add a further £200 (now at an extra £500 on top of their original quote, another call and another 2 quotes through, with the wrong details on it, within 30 seconds of each other adding a further £200 increase then removing £100.

Ii was then told I was at a higher risk because I was not more likely to have a claim because of the mistake on my file (wrong number plate) WTF! So my bike gets older, I get an extra NCB, and my premium goes up by £600 from the year before and far more than the original quote.

It was something like 2.5 hours total call time to them. I know as I just billed ERS for the calls to sort out the claim.

This was last month. Ramasis/Ducati/Kawasaki etc. Absolute bunch of f******ds! Stay well clear. They are just clueless brokers and as soon as anything happens they wash their hands of you.

:Rant over:

[Mr Gazza]

All through the Eighties I would ring Mrs Nash at her home once a year to insure my collection of Ajays and whatever else was in the stable...Fully comp for the lot for a flat £80 I think it was.

I don't think she even turns up to work at her own company any more..!!....Nearly dropped off my chair when they quoted me.!

Yes Lukaz I know what Il Monstro is (Exept I have it in my head that it is Mostro?). Mine is a 2000 model though.

My problem is getting it through to them what my Model is...Just seems kind of important to me that it is described correctly on the certificate....Am I being too pedantic about it? Insurance companies certainly know how to be pedantic when it comes to claim time..

[Saint aka ML]

Frankly Gazza with name I would not bother as they go by licence plate and somewhere, somehow yours has il Monstro (or what ever it is spelled as). Could be DVLA mistake for all you know, heck that would not be a first or a 1000 even :).

Insurance companies try scare clueless people that if details do not much insurance is void.
Wrong. You can have no MOT and your 3rd party insurance bit will not be wrong and if you are not at fault you can still claim. That is one example.

Having completely different engine then state was also contested. I am not saying a 125 on paper and 1000cc in real life. I am talking engine numbers and cc differences of below 10%. There is a reason why they ask if exhaust and other modifications increase your performance by 10% max or over.

Again if you were to believe some insurance companies undeclared mods get your insurance voided.
Again not fully correct. If you do not declare heated grips it means nothing no matter how much they shout in court you win. So do many others.
I suspect if you upgraded brakes and suspension court would also throw it out if they did not want to pay.

[damien666]

Every time i get quotes for the s4rs, they all seem to have it listed as 992cc..... Unless it's a tricolour, then it's a 998! They all share the same duff info.
When you try to clarify it's 998cc, they get flustered as though your trying to pull a fast one!
Just don't want to give em a chance to wriggle out of it if i had to claim.

[slob]

... I know what Il Monstro is (Except I have it in my head that it is Mostro?).


is absolutely correct, no 'n'

[Dukedesmo]

is absolutely correct, no 'n'

'Mostro' is Italian for Monster, 'Monstro' is the whale that ate Pinocchio's Dad... ;)

[slob]

... so Disney managed the common mis-translation too?

Surely they're (insurance co.s) reading from the DVLA database, so as long as the reg number is correct and the chassis/engine are in their (largely) original configuration you're still fine.

[Dukedesmo]

The V5 for both my Ducatis states only the Make and CC, no mention of model on either the 916 or Monster...

[Mr Gazza]

Thanks for all the replies..I'm somewhat smug that I got it right with the Mostro spelling...That's most of the reason I get annoyed seeing it on my documents aswell as it being for the wrong year anyway.

I know a story about Jona and the whale ..I might tell you one day.

I think you have reassured me that my story is fairly typical, and I will just tell them it is an "S" and be done with it.....Fanks.

[Dirty]

... so Disney managed the common mis-translation too?


Actually no, Disney completely changed the 'character' and renamed it. In the original book it's a giant dogfish nicknamed the 'scourge of fishermen' or something similar. Disney changed it to a sperm whale and named it Monstro which is the Portugese word for monster.

[Dennis menace]

Lord Reith of the BBC would be proud - "To educate and entertain" is the BBC's motto.

I learnt something new today:
Actually no, Disney completely changed the 'character' and renamed it. In the original book it's a giant dogfish nicknamed the 'scourge of fishermen' or something similar. Disney changed it to a sperm whale and named it Monstro which is the Portugese word for monster.

[Mr Gazza]

Lord Reith of the BBC would be proud - "To educate and entertain" is the BBC's motto.


In that case I can't resist it..

Teacher.. "Today we will be learning all about Whales. Believe it or not they cannot swallow anything bigger than a shrimp."

Belinda.."Please Miss that's not true, because Jonah was swallowed by a Whale."

Teacher.. "Oh that's just an old story Belinda, you shouldn't believe that."

Belinda.. "No Miss, it's true. It's all in the Bible."

Teacher.."No it's just a made up story. You mustn't believe everything in the Bible."

Belinda.."Everything in the Bible is true Miss. Anyway when I die and go to heaven, I will find Jonah and ask him."

Teacher.." Oh really! Well what if Jonah didn't go to heaven?"

Belinda.." Well in that case Miss, you can ask him..!"

[Dirty]

Little johnny was a habitual and constant liar and his parents were at the end of their tether about what to do, so they sent him to Sunday school.

When he got back they asked him what he had learnt.

'Well I learnt about this guy Moses and his people who got chased by an army with tanks and guns. The army chased them into the sea but they found some dinghys and escaped'

Johnny father was angry. 'Now I know for a fact that's a lie, that's not what they taught you!'

'No' said Johnny, 'But I figured you'd be more likely to believe that than what the lying teachers say happened!'

[Darren69]

Yes, I learned that today too, I'm sure I saw it written as 'Il Monstro' in a press release somewhere back in the day, probably MCN! :) It is a bit worrying when insurance companies don't/won't do the research into the different subtle changes in some small run special versions, and their actual value like the Sie or like my S4 Fogarty and classify them the same as the base model which you couldn't replace like for like without paying a premium. I mean for example the Foggy is basically a base S4 with all the DP mods added at the factory, which many base S4 owners would do anyway, but replacing a standard issue bike for one that's been highly modified to that spec would cost and as I have not declared any modifications to my bike would they only pay out for a standard S4? My V5 does clearly state the model to be S4 Fogarty and I have had the frame/engine number verified by Ducati UK as indeed one on the 300 they sold, there were only about 40 sold in the UK so what are my chances of getting a like for like value? If I were you Gary I would get Ducati UK to verify your model with the frame/engine number as an Sie and then get the V5 changed to the correct model. At least that way you would have more of a fighting chance should the need arise.

[Mr Gazza]

Darren, you prompted me to check what it actually states on my V5...And it is down as an M900S.

So I think my worries are over, as it follows that year 2000 will be injected so the "ie" bit is academic and after all the important bit is the "S".

If the certificate matches the logbook I will be happy that I have the correct documentation even if I know it as an Sie.

Lets just imagine a scenario where I was forced to accept a carbed M900S as a replacement for my Sie...would that be so bad..? ..though I might be tempted to say that the nearest equivilent would be an M1000Sie....:chuckle:

[Mr Gazza]

After a little more trauma I have succeeded in getting her insured as an M900S Monster.

Went with Just Motorcycle Insurance in the end, for just over Sixty quid....Bought myself some new Kevlar jeans with what I saved over the last lot.

Best bit is that I am now covered for a ride on my mates bike, which was excluded before.!. :thumbsup: