eBike: is it me or is it them?

(long whinge, sorry)

I'm willing to accept it may be me but I'm not so sure it is.

It is.

I'm not convinced!

I've just come off the 'phone after a very frustrating call to the
eBike insurance help line which I suspect is off shored (relevant as
they are probably following a script).

I can assure you that English, of any dialect, did not seem to be the first
language of the chap I was speaking to wherever he is based.

I'm scheduled to pick up a new bike tomorrow (Wednesday) at 16:00 which
replaces my ZZR12. That means I need to add the new bike to my existing
eBike policy and remove the old. I could be delayed for any number of
reasons so what I wanted to do was insure the new bike from 15:00 in
case I get there early and cease the insurance on my ZZR from midnight
on Thursday to cover all eventualities including picking the new one up
a day later. That shouldn't be a problem as the eBike policy will cover
up to 4 bikes.

I couldn't see any way to do that via the web site so I called the
Helpdesk. After waiting 15 minutes listening to a recorded message
telling me how important my call was, I went round and round the houses
with someone who couldn't seem to understand the difference between
cancelling my policy (which I obviously don't want to do) and
cancelling the insurance on my ZZR (which I do). When I was eventually
able to help him understand what I wanted to do he told me it wasn't
possible and I would have to pick a time when the new one would start
to be insured and the old one wasn't. He was happy to admit this could
leave me uninsured if I was delayed but said that's the way the system
works. I eventually asked to speak to his supervisor then, later, when
I asked to speak to his supervisor again he asked me to wait, put me on
hold and I hung after another 5 minutes of the recorded message.

I've 'solved' the problem by adding the new bike to the policy and
leaving the old one on there which means I've just paid a premium based
on both bikes being on the policy until the end of the policy year.

Last year I paid out an extra 75% over Auntie Carole's first asking to
arrange and disarrange cover for the various bikes I owed.

Just the basic premium so far this year. I am doing well.

I'll remove the ZZR once I've picked up the new bike and assume I'll
get some sort of refund or credit then. That may be what I'm supposed
to do to cover the situation but it would have been nice if the
Helpdesk could have told me that.

This situation must be met by anyone who is buying a replacement
vehicle so it shouldn't hard to do, should it?

I'd have just ridden without insurance for the overlap.

If it wasn't for people like me wasting police time, the police would
be locking up people like you. Which means that you owe me a beer.

Hah, nice.

Think how it would work with a 'standard' policy. You either arrange a
fixed time to transfer it from one bike to t'other, or you take out a
new policy for the new bike, then cancel the old one when it's gone.
Multi-bike policies are no different. Just think of them as separate
policies which are bundled together for your convenience.

That would have worked providing your insurer could also fax through a
cover note immediately as I need that to pick up the bike. It won't work

IIRC it's an offence to knowingly allow someone to ride/drive uninsured.

I didn't need a cover note when I bought my ZZR but that was because it was
'previously cherished' by someone else. It's only a requirement for new
bikes AFAIK.

IIRC YRC

But some places *DO* insist before they let you ride away, as seemingly
suggested by :

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The key point is _new_. Any new vehicle registration needs a valid
certificate of insurance, normally in advance, so they can get the
road tax sorted. They're not allowed to sell it without.

That's correct for new stuff indeed.

However, if you let me HAGM on your bike, and I get pulled with no
insurance, the plod will ask you if I'm covered on your insurance or
whether I provided my own, and whether I had permission to ride the bike.

If you respond that I did have permission but I am not covered on your
insurance, you are also in a sticky mess for allowing me to ride knowing
I was uninsured.

Of course in reality you would say "he's a mate, I didn't ask" and
probably get away with it.

Tht "probably" is an assumption I wouldn't make. If plod have you bang to
rights, you're goin' darn son, and don't you forget it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's a new bike and I believe that makes production of proof of insurance a
legal requirement (just like you have to produce it for road tax...in fact
the fact that it has to be taxed may be the reason the existence of
insurance needs to be proved but that's supposition on my part not fact)

Coo! First time I've ever had a 'ding', I'll cherish that I will.

. Oh I've had lots of *those* type of dings and I'm sure you're
right.

with eBike as they'll only do policy changes via their web site (which,
presumably, is how they are able to save money to make their policies
cheaper so I'm not complaining about that).

That being the case, the fact that I'm terminating one and adding a new
one is irrelevant - they are separate bikes/policies and uncoupled. The
system allows me to add a new bike at any time in the future but it
won't allow me to do a future deletion; it's a system deficiency!

You know you're quite correct but I just didn't think of that (neither
did the helpdesk). This is also where I have to confess to being thick
as I wanted to do that a couple of weekends ago to ride a mate's bike
but I couldn't find it anywhere. It wasn't one of the options I was
shown when I told the system I wanted to make changes to my policy (and
yes I did scroll down!).