Last year I had my insurance with MCE and then read on BM that they weren't recommended to say the least! Luckily I had to have no dealings with them throughout the year until it came to renewal time. They sent me a renewal quote about 30% increase on last year's price. As I'm going to Spain on the bike I wanted EU breakdown/recovery and had looked at seperate policies but had found difficulties getting cover with my bike being over 11 years old. I phoned MCE to ask about it and a person who clearly knew little about bikes (and insurance by the sound of it!) gave me a quote of £280 fully comp with UK and EU breakdown. I told him I would be checking other companies and would they send me my 2 years of NC proof? He couldn't do that and gave me another number to ring that held me on a 0845 number for 15 mins before answering! Funny that as when I rang about my policy 20 mins earlier I got straight through on the other number! At this point I decided no way would I go back with MCE and accessed Carole Nash for a quote. Fully comp with UK and EU breakdown cost me £230, over a 15% saving. Nash seems to have 0800 numbers on their contact phones too and on their UK breakdown, an added bonus if you need to ring them a few times. Luckily I didn't need MCE's help during the year I was with them but some BM members previously reported they weren't too helpful!                                                                                                                                                                                   

I've read somewhere that dial direct (chaucer) are supposed to be very good                                                                                                                                                                              

carol nash were fantastic with me, always.  Just impossible to get cover with them until you've a few years experience and NCB.  They wont touch new riders (i found).   MCE have been slated on here so much                                                                                                                                                                             

I'm with dial direct and they were great with me as a new rider. They insured me to actually do my CBT on my own bike, before I got the CBT and were more than fair with me when I was a bit dippy about sending off the cert when I got it. I haven't had to make a claim fortunately but did have to ring to grovel about forgetting to send the CBT cert but it was easy to get through and they were really pleasant & obliging to deal with.

With Swinton this timee £86 fully comp for a v-max 1200 cc with 7 year NCB and £350 excess.
Is legal cover worth it with all these no win no fee deals around ?
                                                                                                                                                                             

Just been doing some quotes for my renewal at the end of the month, after reading here first I tried Swinton who came back with £88 fully comp, and at the other end of the scale there was Ebike who just picked a number at random the doubled it then multiplied by 15 and came out with £386 silly people.                                                                                                                                                                             

I've had the trike insured with Adrian Flux for a few years now. I've found them very friendly and flexible and I managed to wangle European breakdown out of them                                                                                                                                                                                

I will be running the gauntlet over the next few weeks for insurance, rampdale for 1st year, adrian flux last year ... Wonder who this year :-)                                                                                                                                                                              

i was always with bennets before adn had shopped around for best quote.. found carole nash to always be expensive...   this time i went with Dial Direct and got fully comp on my new harley in a not very luxurious postcode area (firebombings just the norm here!!!!!!)   anyhow it was about £90 for the year  but must admit aint checked about going abroad etc with this...worth checking em out tho i would say                                                                                                                                                                              

There's more to insuring your bike than just the cost - it's how they deal with your policy and how they treat you as a customer.

I was insured with Carole Nash for some time but three years ago they put an extra £80 on the premium without explanation. I phoned around with only Swinton coming back to me with a lower quote so I went with them. They and Equity Red Star made a complete screw-up of it. First they sent me the wrong paperwork, then they wouldn't talk to me because 'the systems are down', followed by the wrong cover, errors in 2 of the 4 motorcycle registrations and other incorrect information. Several phone calls later, the errors still hadn't been rectified and two letters of complaint (one recorded delivery) were ignored until I escalated the complaints procedure by writing to their Head Office. It appeared they had moved but their letter heads did not reflect this. Finally a team leader sorted everything out and in compensation waived the charges for changing one of my bikes. I'm glad I didn't have a claim.

I found MCE's way of giving quotes at shows disconcerting since they tended to ignore the information I give them. [I always have a document annually updated about me, my bikes, security measures and modifications.] I always do so since I don't trust the insurance companies to honour their obligations if they claim there's any information they allege is not divulged.

I'm back with Carole Nash now but did have to make sure on renewal this year that they accepted the modifications made to the bikes. They sent papers saying no modifications after querying the aftermarket exhaust on my Bandit so I wrote to them with a current list of mods which they acknowledged. So even with someone reputable, it's important to make sure the paperwork is correct and to do so in writing.

Sorry it's a bit long, but you have to be so careful with these people to make sure you're not ripped off and they can't welsh on you when something goes wrong.

I agree with you Cataraptor that it is more important to have a good response when querying info or asking for info without being shunted backwards and forwards for days at a time seemingly getting nowhere!   They are all out to get money out of us but I prefer the ones that say 'thank you' after they've taken it, rather the ones that act as though your a bloody nuisance and charge you for the priveledge! (By using up your time and also with their  high phone charges!)   I would rather pay £50 more per year to know I won't be let down if I need them.                                                                                                                                                                             

Also agree with Cataraptor but until something goes wrong, we can never forsee whether the company will be good or not.
I've been with Carole Nash for years but irrespective of the quote, I will not renew with them this year.
I had a motorcycle stolen in March, it was found 2 weeks later but damaged. Due to it's age it's likely to be a write-off - but I am still waiting for a decision to be made!
I called them 3 times this week only to be told someone would call me back - no one ever did.
Meanwhile, I purchased another bike but when I got the paperwork, they'd deleted the other bike from my policy!
I've learned a very valuable lesson too - never claim! It's cost me dearly when I tried to renew my car insurance this month. I dread to think how much the bike renewal will be......
                                                                                                                                                                             

Yes, it's a minefield out there!   I've never been with Nash before and was hoping they were slightly different but no such luck it seems.   I was with Bennetts for years when they were a very small company started in Hearsall Common in Coventry. They grew big and lost their friendly touch. Carole Nash sold out and is owned by a large company now too, just trading on the name it seems from the goodwill built up over the years.                                                                                                                                                                               

its a rip off                                                                                                                                                                              

Well I managed to get my insurance for the SV & despite it generally going up by 40% etc etc , its come in about 10% lower than last year for the same policy , with legal protection and personal injury cover for an accident thats my fault so think I will be sticking with who I am with its not the absolute lowest, but does give me what I want, best is the £200 excess, all others cos its the SV insist on £500 cos of the fairings etc 

                                                                                                                                                                             

Maybe aske forbreakdown cover thrown in too and see what they say ..