Do you own a bike? If so, you will know Bike Insurance is one of the biggest expenses a motorcycle owner faces over the course of the year and things are not getting any easier as insurance prices continue to spiral out of control. However, there are a number of things you can do to reduce the price of your annual premium:

The cover you need- Before you go looking for deals, you should think about what kind of cover you require. Do you need fully comprehensive (cover both damage to your bike and other people’s property), third party fire and theft (will cover damage to other people’s property and cover you in the event that you bike is stolen or vandalised) or third party (the minimum legal requirement which covers damage to other peoples property but not your own). The different in price between these varying levels of cover is dramatic, with third party often being cheaper.

Price Comparison websites- In order to ensure you get the cheapest deal possible, you should compare prices with as many different insurers as you can. The quickest way of doing this is by utilising price comparison websites such who will compare prices with hundreds of different insurers in seconds.

Excess- Excess is the amount the insurer will expect you to pay in the event of a claim. For example, if bike has a repair bill of £1000 and the excess in your policy states that you are expected to provide £200 excess, you will have to hand this over in order for the repairs to be made. Offering to pay a higher excess will obviously reduce your perceived risk to insurers (as they will have to pay less) and result in an insurance saving initially.

However, remember that the insurer offering the cheapest quote is not always the best value for money. It is always a good idea to utilise online review websites which are outlets in which ordinary people just like you leave their thoughts and opinions about bike insurance providers. It could be that they were ripped off, or that the insurance did not cover everything they had expected it to. Indeed, many insurers are now removing all non-essential elements from their cover (such as legal protection) in order to appear higher up the rankings on price comparison services. These review sites can also help inform you which insurers will not be up to scratch in terms of customer service.

Additionally, remember that if you have come across a great deal yourself or have some other opinion that you think would be worthwhile sharing with people, remember to leave your opinion on one of these review websites. This way, you will be passing on your experiences, and perhaps be helping those people in a similar situation to you.