There are lots of comparison sites out there that you can compare motorcycle insurance quotes on 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 have heard them being referred to as aggregator sites too…
If you got a quote from every comparison site out there, ironically, it kind of defeats the object of using a comparison site; as their USP is ‘don’t go round getting a quote from lots of different providers, just head straight to a site that shows all of your prices in one place’!
When the comparison sites are showing different prices too, which should you go to, which is the best motorcycle insurance comparison site?
Providers are tweaking their motorcycle insurance prices all the time in order to remain competitive, so which comparison site should you use to get your motorcycle insurance?
Best motorbike insurance comparison sites (in no particular order) are:
- Compare the Market
- GoCompare
- MoneySuperMarket
- Confused
- The Bike Insurer
- MCN Compare
- Mustard
- QuoteZone
- Elephant
- Admiral
If there are some names missing, it’s probably because they’re not a comparison site.
Many brokers say they compare motorcycle insurance, but they actually have a panel of underwriters who provide prices, the broker then presents you with its best price that matches all of your criteria. Not so much a comparison for you, but a selection process for the broker based on your individual details.
If you need more clarification on the difference between brokers, insurers and comparison sites, visit our motorcycle insurance explained page here.
In reality, there are really only FOUR main motorcycle insurance comparison providers
Although you may be aware of loads of different motorbike comparison sites, the fact is, there are only really FOUR players in this space. These are:
- Compare The Market
- GoCompare
- QuoteZone
- Vast Visibility
You’re thinking: “What? There are loads! Plus, I’ve never heard of Vast Visibility!”
Yes, that’s because all of the other ones you’ve heard of are administered by one main player, Vast Visibility.
The Bike Insurer is their dedicated motorcycle insurance comparison website, but they actually run the bike insurance compare engine for lots of large providers including but not limited to:
- Confused
- MoneySuperMarket
- The Bike Insurer
- MCN Compare
- Mustard
- Asda
- Elephant
- Admiral
- Money
You’ve probably used at least one or two of these in the past, so you’ve used Vast Visibility! QuoteZone (a trading name of Seopa) also run the comparison engine of leading Cashback site, Quidco.
If you want to know who runs the site you’re getting a quote from, take a look at the small print of the web page you’re looking at.
The comparison site 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 then need to pay attention to who you policy is actually underwritten by.
What should I be looking for when choosing my motorcycle insurance on a comparison website?
Let’s not beat around the bush, comparison sites are great.
They let you see all of the prices in the market, by going to one single place, it saves you time, saves you money, what’s not to like?
The one thing you must remember is that not every policy is the same, the overall price might be cheap, but what are you getting for that price? What is the claim service like? How much will you have to pay if you make a claim?
There’s so much to look out for that we’ve provided some top tips below that you should consider when buying from a comparison website.
- Check the assumptions. These are placed within a journey for you to read, a quotation will make some ‘assumptions’ that 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, more often than not, the case. However, for some people these assumptions are not correct, so make sure you read them and make sure 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 a voluntary excess. The compulsory is set, 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. If your bike is worth £3,000 but your total excess is close to that, then it’s not going to be good on your wallet if you need to make a claim.
- If you’re looking to use a cashback site, then don’t use a comparison site to generate your quote. Providers have to pay a referral fee to cashback sites and comparison sites. If you get your quote from a comparison site, then they are due the commission. If you then go through a cashback site, the provider isn’t going to pay the commission twice!
How do bike insurance comparison sites make their money?
To put this in the most basic terms, comparison sites offer Pay-As-You-Go sales to other businesses.
They provide quotes from the majority of the providers in the market, then it’s up to the user to choose which one they want.
This 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.
Whatever the premium, the excess, add-ons sold on top, instalments or monthly payments, the flat-fee paid to the comparison from the provider remains constant. It is not an extra amount for the customer put on top, but providers obviously have to factor this in when they are pricing their product.
Basically, each sale that is made on a comparison, the provider pays a referral fee for it, irrelevant of the insurance premium. In some cases, where a premium is very small a broker will pay more for a policy than they make.
Ok, so which bike insurance comparison site should I use then?!
We’ll be honest here, they all have pretty much the same providers quoting. Quotes will always vary due to the fact that providers often tweak their pricing.
Different comparison sites 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 obviously seen the Meerkat marketing campaign that’s been running for a good few years now, alongside their offers from 2-4-1 cinema tickets and, more recently, 2-4-1 meals at participating restaurants.
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 (yes the questionably facial-haired, irritating opera singer) you can compare motorbike insurance from over 30 UK brands (they might not all quote for you though).
You get a free Dine membership with GoCo too, which gives you 2-4-1 meals at selected restaurants.
GoCompare allows you to sort your results by annual premium, monthly premium and also your instalments total.
You don’t have as many options to edit your quote on the results page, but you can still delve back into the quote journey and amend details such as excess and cover if needs be.
The Bike Insurer (Vast Visibility)
The main marketing message here is simply, “we’ll beat your cheapest quote, guaranteed*” The asterisk reminds you that it’s for the cheapest online quote online only (ie not over the phone, screen rates only) and is only applicable to the basic policy price (ie not including add-ons etc)… fair enough really.
But remember cheapest isn’t always the best option, especially if you have to make a claim.
They offer the ability to do a multi bike insurance comparison but it’s not available online, only over the phone, due to the complexity that is often found with multiple bikes!
The Bike Insurer allow 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 “search over 20 UK insurance providers” for motorcycle comparison and are currently the only motorcycle insurance comparison site that gives you the ability to add motorcycle modifications into your online quote.
Although, if your bike is heavily modified, rather than a few minor adjustments, you’ll probably find it easier speaking directly over the phone to a motorcycle insurance specialist who knows their stuff i.e. us!
Again, you are able to amend some small details within the quote results page on Quotezone, plus you can go back into your quote at any time.