Following on from Dick Dastardly's observation that Dick Turpin is alive and well and working for Carol Nash..... He is also moonlighting for Swinton too.

Last year, �78 Fully Comp and a page of modifications listed.

The first sign something was amiss came last week, a salesman from Swinton rang up, wanting to offer a 'great deal on renewal', I pointed out it's not due till the middle of May, but let him go on anyway. Off he went asking the usual questions, which I answered. He got to the part about modifications, "you've got them all listed" I said, "oh you need to tell me them again" said he. I asked if he had the list of modifications, and he said "no" in fact he then told me they weren't listed on my policy....... I have paperwork here confirming they do, yet Swinton claim they don't. How glad am I that I didn't need to claim!!!

Lesson One : Cheapest isn't always best, even with a well known name.

I got a bit p!$$ed off with him and said I wouldn't be renewing on the face of a phone call and told him to sent me a renewal letter. He gave me the old "you only get this great deal today", Never heard the rest of his speak as I put the phone down.

Lesson Two: don't entertain sales people who ring you. Always instigate the call so you know who you are dealing with and you are in control.


Yesterday, I received the renewal.

�178.30..... that's a 125% increase over last year. Feck. There is no way they are getting any business from me.

So,, I rang them, just to be sure they got it right.

"Yes we have everything listed, that's why the price has gone up" was the answer to the first question. I asked about the modifications, they said it wasn't covered last year because I only informed them of the mods, I never asked them to cover.

Lesson Three: Just because you inform them, doesn't mean you are covered for them. Apparently, it just means I get the modified parts back as long as I can replace the originals. I suspect this was a load of bullcrap, but it might have some foundation in truth somewhere.

Not only have they hiked up the premium, they hiked up the excess too, fro �0 to �300. AND slipped in Drivers Legal Protection too,, which I don't need on account of my bank provides it and my employer!!! I mentioned "mis-selling" and they said they would remove it and thanks for letting them know... I wasn't happy with them, and 'click' the phone went down again.

Lesson Four: ALWAYS, ALWAYS read the documents from cover to cover before accepting the policy

Confused ? Yes I was dot com.... and when I checked how confused I was, it appears that no one else was and premiums were coming back at around the �70/80 mark again.

I tried the old trick of going on the Swinton site and asking for a quote, came back and said existing customers couldn't get a quote on-line.... I wonder why!

I think the IAM may get another policy from me this year, on both the Tiger and the Car they have beaten all other prices and returned more cover too.

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

I was insured through Swinton on my GSXR1000 and changed to a XT660X and they said it's a higher insurance bracket than the 1000, so not only did I have to pay a higher premium, I had to pay a �25.00 admin fee on top. As I bought the bike I had no choice but to pay,,,,

They do also seem to ask the same questions over and over. I also told the guy on the phone "you already have all this info" but he said "we need to check"....perhaps they make revenue from the phone call.

The muppet also asked if it had a side car....... really!!! I guess the people who work for them don't ride bikes.

And there's me thinking they were only out to get me!

Some mentioned changing brokers every year, that seems the way to go.

I think the Loyalty is missing from some companies code of ethics.

Funny reading your post though as Swinton is who I am now covered by.

Go Figure

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Ride hard, Fall Softly. [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

I ended up having to renew with shuvvit again. Due to their epic balls up last year, all the other companies stick an extra �200 for an 'incident' that NOTHING was ever claimed for!

Shuvvit are the only ones who didnt charge me extra with the incident declaired and they cover all my mods that dont change performance i.e the front fender and the top box etc. Still im only covered 3rd party and they only knocked off �4 a month for 6 year NCB etc.

Fully comp they wanted close to my car insurence quote and that only has 3yrs NCB for a 1.3 Turbo!

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live Free, Ride Free!
No maps no plans, just get on your bike and go!



XT660z......What a machine!!

Current mods:- Yamaha top box, Yamaha hanguards, Heated grips, High front fender, Aux lighting front/rear.