Using bike to go to work meeting???

curiousb · 12-05-2021 3:22pm #1

I am jumping on the merry-go-round of bike insurance renewal

I am with Liberty and paid €331 last year for TTFT. My renewal is €475! I rang them and got it down to €427, but still nearly a €100 increase, with no claims or change to the policy.

I thought insurance was supposed to be going down.

So I rang Principal for a quote (I was with them the previous year) and when we got into the details of how I would use the bike, e.g. social, domestic, pleasure and commuting, I was told that while I could commute to and from work, I couldn't use the bike if I needed to go to a meeting, that I wouldn't be covered!!!

I have never come across this before, don't know if anyone else has?

To say I am hopping mad is an understatement. I was insured with them the previous year and was never told this and did use the bike for going to meetings and therefore wasn't insured.

The guy told he they have rejected claims made on that basis.

On to Carole Nash...

GBX · 12-05-2021 3:42pm

Thats them clutching at straws trying to get out of claims. What's to say you go for lunch during work hours (social/domestic) ... they are not gonna know you met somebody during that time. Nor can they say when you took your lunch be it meeting somebody at any stage during the day. Jesus there making it up as they go along.

Give others a ring but at the end of the day most insurers will look for a way out of a claim anyway - bikes or otherwise.

curiousb · 12-05-2021 3:56pm

GBX wrote: »

Thats them clutching at straws trying to get out of claims. What's to say you go for lunch during work hours (social/domestic) ... they are not gonna know you met somebody during that time. Nor can they say when you took your lunch be it meeting somebody at any stage during the day. Jesus there making it up as they go along.

Give others a ring but at the end of the day most insurers will look for a way out of a claim anyway - bikes or otherwise.

Yeah, it really pisses me off, but I shouldn't expect better from them...

I think the moral of the story is keep it zipped.

Nodster · 12-05-2021 4:33pm

Think this clause was only introduced in recent years. I became unemployed a few years ago and when my renewal came up I mentioned this as a change to my details. Thinking this might change my renewal charge, the fella says "hold on and I'll check" A minute later he comes back and says that seeing I'm not using the bike for commuting to or from work he gave me a [small] discount - forget who I was with at the time - either Adelaide or Principle Insurance.

Wouldn't mind but up to that my work gave me an annual travelsaver card as I travelled to work by train and rarely took the bike!

zubair · 12-05-2021 4:56pm

This is typical of an agent not understanding their own terms well enough. You can't use any personal vehicle policy for your work, in their eyes this use for the vehicle is no different to being a courier/ delivery man which would require a different policy. Just consider your scenario again, I don't know if you're going to client meetings or internal work meetings and if they are in the office or not but these scenarios could be perceived differently.

I would contact CN and I would be careful about what I tell my insurance company if you had a claim but unless you blurt out during the claims process you were going to an external client meeting to deliver a package I don't see how you can get done here.

myclist · 12-05-2021 5:36pm

I would be going for a "Coffee/ Shopping/ Getting the bike serviced/Insert what you want" The other party came to meet you near that location.

Alkers · 12-05-2021 11:35pm

I've had this exact issue and with the car also. My current employer doesn't allow motorcycle travel on company business so that doesn't affect me but as far as I'm aware, if you don't claim mileage it's not travel for business and social, domestic and pleasure should cover you

Del2005 · 13-05-2021 5:47am

Alkers wrote: »

I've had this exact issue and with the car also. My current employer doesn't allow motorcycle travel on company business so that doesn't affect me but as far as I'm aware, if you don't claim mileage it's not travel for business and social, domestic and pleasure should cover you

If you are travelling for work then it's not social domestic or commuting. Commuting is to and from your place of work. If you are travelling to a business meeting from your place of employment you aren't commuting you are working. There was a court case about this a few years ago, an employer lost a case that travelling from the place of employment to a work site wasn't working so they didn't have to pay for the travel time, which is why insurance companies are saying this. If your employer won't cover you for business use then get a taxi, why risk never getting insured again.

colm_c · 13-05-2021 6:58am

I had a similar setup, the rule of thumb I used was if it was a meeting or short visit to a client, always take a taxi.

If I was going to be there for a few days/weeks, then it was my place of work for that period. So I would use whatever method I would normally commute with, car/bike/train/bus etc.

inchiuvatu · 13-05-2021 7:51am

I had this exact conversation with Carole Nash, I started a new job at renewal time that will have me driving from Dublin to different counties and they agreed that so long as Im just driving too meetings etc, that it’s covered under commuting, and that business use it’s only for deliveries. I’d talk to them and be honest so your not left unsure of your position if it comes to a claim.

curiousb · 13-05-2021 9:28am

inchiuvatu wrote: »

I had this exact conversation with Carole Nash, I started a new job at renewal time that will have me driving from Dublin to different counties and they agreed that so long as Im just driving too meetings etc, that it’s covered under commuting, and that business use it’s only for deliveries. I’d talk to them and be honest so your not left unsure of your position if it comes to a claim.

That makes sense.

curiousb · 13-05-2021 9:30am

Del2005 wrote: »

...If your employer won't cover you for business use then get a taxi, why risk never getting insured again.

Self-employed, so I'm the boss

Alkers · 13-05-2021 9:45am

inchiuvatu wrote: »

I had this exact conversation with Carole Nash, I started a new job at renewal time that will have me driving from Dublin to different counties and they agreed that so long as Im just driving too meetings etc, that it’s covered under commuting, and that business use it’s only for deliveries. I’d talk to them and be honest so your not left unsure of your position if it comes to a claim.

If your driving to a meeting, can you claim mileage?

bladespin · 13-05-2021 9:58am

Alkers wrote: »

If your driving to a meeting, can you claim mileage?

Very much this, if you can then you're using the vehicle for work, if you can't then it's your won private travel - the difference between dropping in to your office and going to a client.

aido43 · 13-05-2021 10:46am

I wanted to use my bike to travel to different places of work as my employers had 10 centres in Dublin and Id be in different places each day--Principal wouldnt insure me as they class anything other than a daily commute as Business. However they didnt seem bothered where you commuted to each day!. Gave up and went with Carole Nash--who were cheaper anyway.

Cienciano · 13-05-2021 2:02pm

Some people might use a bike to rack up big milage for work. So insurance companies need to rule that out, so the person who uses their bike to go to one meeting during work hours a year isn't covered because insurance companies are worried about a courier or something similar happening.

Bonus for the insurance company that they can use it to get out of some claims.

Alkers · 13-05-2021 2:07pm

Cienciano wrote: »

Some people might use a bike to rack up big milage for work. So insurance companies need to rule that out, so the person who uses their bike to go to one meeting during work hours a year isn't covered because insurance companies are worried about a courier or something similar happening.

Bonus for the insurance company that they can use it to get out of some claims.

You can add this with an additional charge with most insurers

Del2005 · 13-05-2021 4:28pm

Cienciano wrote: »

Some people might use a bike to rack up big milage for work. So insurance companies need to rule that out, so the person who uses their bike to go to one meeting during work hours a year isn't covered because insurance companies are worried about a courier or something similar happening.

Bonus for the insurance company that they can use it to get out of some claims.

Couriers always needed extra insurance and as they where carrying other peoples good and needed class 3, business use is class 2. The difference is now they are enforcing getting business use for bikes, so everyone who's switched form Principle will need to read their policy documents careful if they are using their bike for work

Below is a quote from link in the Chill.ie Quote guide

Do I need business car insurance?

If you use your car for work and that involves more than just commuting to a single place like an office or factory, you’ll need business car insurance.

More detailed reasons you might need it include:

Regularly commuting to different locations
If you’re travelling to different offices on a regular basis every week.

High mileage for work purposes
If you’re clocking up 1000’s of miles driving for business purposes then you’d be better suited with a business car insurance policy.

Driving colleagues around
If colleagues come with you to meetings or other business at different locations.

Using your car for tasks related to your work
If none of the above applies to you but you still need your car for tasks related to your job. This could include things like trips to the bank or post office for work or attending training courses or away days.

Using bike to go to work meeting???

Comments