from MCN http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/INSURANCE/insurancere...e-insurer/       Thousands of motorcyclists are being refused motorcycle insurance if they want to carry pillions, MCN has discovered. One of the biggest underwriters has decided to refuse cover for a range of bike models unless the rider agrees not to carry passengers. Aviva says policies allowing pillions are being declined for "sports, supersports and off-road-style bikes" but MCN has learnt of models in lower insurance groups also being rejected. This issue came to light when MCN's senior reporter Steve Farrell was refused a policy for his Kawasaki GPz550 unless he agreed to never carry a pillion. The 65bhp middleweight falls into insurance group eight, nine groups lower than the maximum. Farrell, who has previously been allowed to carry pillions under an Aviva policy, was told by his broker: "On certain bikes they will no longer give pillion cover." A spokesman for Aviva, which underwrites one in seven UK policies, said "For some sports and high performance bikes, we're not able to quote if you want to have a pillion passenger riding with you. Solo, fine. Pillion passenger on some bikes we would not be able to quote." He said "some off-road style bikes" were also being rejected for pillion carrying. He would not give more specific details of the models affected. 'Borderline cases' The GPz550 was rejected due to a "slight level of miscoding which we will be reviewing," he said. "When it came out in the eighties it was rated as a sporty bike at the time. We'll be reviewing some of those borderline cases." In the past motorcyclists taking out have not been asked whether they intend to carry pillions and cover to do so has been automatically granted. But Aviva has classified pillion carrying as a factor which adds claims risk for the underwriter. As a result, riders are now asked whether they intend to carry one when seeking a quote. Pillion is added risk Aviva's spokesman said: "Before, we would never ask the question, 'Do you carry a pillion passenger?' Now we have made that a rating factor, because obviously if you are to carry a passenger the likelihood is, if you make a claim, it's going to be considerably higher through personal injury costs." He said car drivers were not asked whether they intended to carry passengers because "It's assumed, as most cars offer more than one seat, that there will be passengers." Asked why the same assumption was not made of motorcycles, he said: "We have seen increases in the number of pillion claims on sports and supersports bikes and as a result we've seen an increase in bodily injury, so this is based on what we're seeing from a claims experience. It's directly related to an increase in bodily injury claims for pillion passengers on those bikes. "What we're seeing coming in is an increase in the number of claims on sports and supersports bikes."                                                                                                                                                                             

Wow.  They will put the premiums up for anything in the UK eh.
Here in Holland they don't even care if its parked on the street or in a garage, they don't even ask.  And as long as a vehicle is insured, ANYONE can drive it!                                                                                                                                                                             

Jeeeeez...why are we so 'up-tight' in this country and over there, you're all laid-back??   I think those 'special cafe's' have a lot to answer for   Seriously, I can see in one respect that if a pillion is injured as well as the rider, then there's more payout to consider...but what if there's 5 people in a car?    Are they going to start insuring car drivers depending on how many passengers they have?     Oooooh maybe you will need to ring the insurers and tell them if you pick up any passengers on your way home..or if you start off with 3 passengers and drop one off before your journey ends???   Just another 'Lets penalise motorcyclists' condition!                                                                                                                                                                                 

Boycott them, don't insure with them - simple.  They'll lose business eventually.   If I have a pillion it's normally someone i care about and so i slow down a lot!  Also, if you don't have fully comp then it wouldn't be claimed on your insurance anyhow if you did have an accident (or would it if your friend sued you?)                                                                                                                                                                             

OMG  must ask Prof  if I'm covered,  but knowing him I'm sure I am                                                                                                                                                                               

How do they get on in, say, Thailand, when they seem to have the entire famiy on board?                                                                                                                                                                             

I have always been asked by my insurers if I will be carrying a pillion. I can understand where the insurers are coming from tho. On some sports and super sports bikes the "pillion seat" is the name given to an area smaller that the backside of most super models. There is also a usual lack of grab bar for the pillion on said bikes to the risk of the pillion coming off is higher.   If they say you cannot carry a pillion on a pan euro the i will be miffed off.                                                                                                                                                                             

Regarding Thialand......They just don't bother with things like insurance.....helmets....safety measures.....Babies, animals, parents and grandparents all ride together.                                                                                                                                                                               

"On some sports and super sports bikes the "pillion seat" is the name given to an area smaller that the backside of most super models. There is also a usual lack of grab bar for the pillion on said bikes to the risk of the pillion coming off is higher."

Amazing though how comfortable that seat can become when you get used to it 
                                                                                                                                                                             

I don't fancy the idea of wearing a thong that can to over 100mph. think of the chafing.                                                                                                                                                                             

  PML @ PP's comments                                                                                                                                                                              

Phil ... It can be surprisingly comfortable ;-)
                                                                                                                                                                             

the thong or the chafing?                                                                                                                                                                              

I think insurers have a cheek .... As Karey said one pillion verses in some cases up to 6 passengers now let me see how much personal injury would that add up to !!!!

I can feel a demo comimg on lol                                                                                                                                                                                

speaking as a life long happy pillion all i can say is
f*&^**% rip off insurance companys, stick your policy up your a**&%*&**                                                                                                                                                                             

I'd say the personal injury complaints from a car accident are probably lower than those of sending your pillion into a wall.  The thing is boody, they'd simply rather not have your custom, it's not like they're putting up their insurance and trying to rip you off, they're simply not offering you insurance.  There's plenty of other insurance companies that will cover you at the end of the day...

What difference does it make?

If I bin it at 70mph on a R1 or on a ZZR, the pillion is still going to get hurt...

Picking on sportbikes is a bit unfair. Should either be a blanket optional extra or scrap it. Although, I can guess who the sort of people are putting the claims in.

Anywho, why I'm moaing, I don't know! I don't carry pillions!

part of me says yay put solo seat back on :-) but then i think wot utter pish   so are they going to stop car drivers taking passengers ??? nooooo dint fink so .   is there a list of companies that say this so we can boycott them ??                                                                                                                                                                             

Wow nothing changes Aviva used to be Norwich Union I believe and they shit on us years ago with their rider policy and cover for collectable bikes which is how Carol Nash Insurers started up 
So if your with then next time round try C/N you get free recovery and international breakdown too                                                                                                                                                                              

my thoughts entirely nealy !!