There is an abundance of comparison sites to choose from, allowing you to compare motorcycle insurance quotes from numerous insurance providers. They range from the biggest names with the most memorable marketing campaigns using opera singers and 80s children’s TV show characters, all the way down to specialist bike only sites. You may also have heard them being referred to as aggregator sites.
Some of the most well-known motorbike insurance comparison sites in the UK (in no particular order) are:
Compare the Market
GoCompare
MoneySuperMarket
Confused
The Bike Insurer
MCN Compare
Mustard
QuoteZone
Elephant
Admiral
Before you start your quote search, it’s useful to note that the comparison site itself has nothing to do with the actual underwriting of your bike insurance policy, they are simply an introducer to the brand that administers your policy. You should pay attention to who your policy is underwritten by, which will be visible when the quote options are shown.
Your policy selection might be based on the company who has the best reputation or best review score or the cheapest / best add-ons such as, Legal Expenses, Personal Accident, Helmet and Leathers etc. Or it might be down to who offers the lowest monthly payments, it could be the provider who’s offering a relatively small excess and premium combination, rather than premium alone. You can compare your options on a comparison website.
There’s no right or wrong site to use but you might overwhelm yourself with choice if you use them all!
What should I be looking for when choosing my motorcycle insurance on a comparison website?
Comparison sites are helpful because they let you see many pricing options available to you from a variety of insurance providers, based on the information you input, in one place. This can save you time, and potentially money.
However, the one thing you must remember is that not every policy is the same, the overall price might look to be attractive, but it is wise to check what is actually included for that price. Is information provided on the claim service, which will be valuable should you need to make a claim? How much excess will you have to pay if you make a claim? Does the cover listed in the quotation meet what you’re looking for?
There’s so much to look out for so we’ve provided a few useful tips below that you may like to consider when buying your motorbike insurance from a comparison website.
- Check the assumptions. These are placed within a journey for you to read. A quotation will make some ‘assumptions’ that aim to cover most people, such as assuming your bike isn’t modified or assuming that you don’t have any non-motoring convictions. These are assumed as they are, more often than not, the case. However, for some people these assumptions are not correct, so make sure you read them and ensure you don’t fall into a category where details are assumed incorrectly.
- Watch out for your excesses. If you make a claim, you’ll have to pay a compulsory and potentially, a voluntary excess. The compulsory is set by the insurer, and the voluntary is set by you. Some comparison sites may set your voluntary excess for you, so make sure it’s a figure you’re happy with as combined with your compulsory excess, it’s what you’ll need to pay in order to make a claim. For example, if your bike is worth £3,000 but your total excess is close to that when combined, then it’s not going to be good on your wallet if you need to make a claim.
- Check the optional extras you want are included. The price shown may not include everything that you’re looking for. Often you can still add the optional extras you’re after but additional costs may be incurred for a tailored policy.
How do bike insurance comparison sites work?
In simple terms, comparison sites offer Pay-As-You-Go sales to other businesses.
Comparison sites offer quotes to their users from insurance providers in the market who sign up to their platform, and then it’s up to the user to choose which one they want to proceed with.
Whatever the premium, the excess, add-ons sold on top, instalments or monthly payments, a flat-fee is paid to the comparison site by the insurance provider for a sale made on the platform.
Ok, so which bike insurance comparison site should I use then?
Most UK comparison sites have similar providers offering quotations. Quotes will often vary due to the fact that providers regularly amend their pricing.
Each comparison site is likely to have different options for filtering results, so you may want to select a certain comparison site, depending on what is important to you when choosing your insurance.
We’ve provided a short summary below for you to understand the different motorbike comparison websites.
CompareTheMarket
You’ve probably seen the Meerkat marketing campaign that’s been running for a good few years now, alongside their regular offers for 2-4-1 cinema tickets and, various rewards member benefits.
Compare the Market allows you to change various options on the quote screen including your cover type and voluntary excess but also to filter your results by annual or monthly payments, as well as filtering your add-ons such as Legal Expenses, Breakdown, Personal Accident and Helmet and Leathers cover.
GoCompare
With GoCompare (the opera singer with the squiggly moustache) you can compare motorbike insurance from over 40 UK insurance providers (they might not all quote for you though, should you not fit their acceptance criteria).
GoCompare allows you to sort your results by annual premium, monthly premium and also your instalments total.
The Bike Insurer
The Bike Insurer allows you to filter your results by cover type, then you can go back into your quote to amend other details if you wish.
Quotezone
Quotezone “compare up to 25 providers” for motorcycle comparisons and you can add motorcycle modifications into your online quote.
Although, if your bike is heavily modified, rather than a few minor adjustments, you may find it easier speaking directly over the phone to a motorcycle insurance specialist who knows their stuff. Our knowledgeable team are just a phone call away!
Remember we are a specialist motorcycle broker and can help you to get cover suitable that includes modifications, optional extras and of course we also offer multi-bike cover too. We do the policy comparing for you, based on the information you give to us and offer you our best price from our carefully selected panel of UK insurers!
If you need more clarification on the difference between brokers, insurers and comparison sites, visit our motorcycle insurance explained page here.