Motorbike Photo's for Insurance.

[NoshowJones]

I have just taken out a new motorbike policy, after filling in the forms and the payment taken from my bank account. I was asked to take photo's of my bike from 6 different angles.

What is the reason for these photo's? I have taken out insurance for motorbikes both here and in the UK before and never been asked for these photo's. I told the insurance company

that I was not sending them any photo's, and to put the fee back into my bank.

Almost immediately they asked me to give them a date and time and they would come to my address and inspect my bike. Anyone know why these photo's are really necessary?

[richard_smith237]

7 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

I have just taken out a new motorbike policy, after filling in the forms and the payment taken from my bank account. I was asked to take photo's of my bike from 6 different angles.

What is the reason for these photo's? I have taken out insurance for motorbikes both here and in the UK before and never been asked for these photo's. I told the insurance company

that I was not sending them any photo's, and to put the fee back into my bank.

Almost immediately they asked me to give them a date and time and they would come to my address and inspect my bike. Anyone know why these photo's are really necessary?

 

What is the value of your bike ????  If its an expensive bike, the request of the insurance is not abnormal (its to avoid fraud).

 

Of course, you can make life difficult for yourself by expecting a company to behave exactly as it would in the West, but then.. well, you're making life difficult for yourself. 

 

Previously, I have had an expensive car, and they have requested photos and came out and inspected the vehicle. 

[NoshowJones]

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

What is the value of your bike ????  If its an expensive bike, the request of the insurance is not abnormal (its to avoid fraud).

 

Of course, you can make life difficult for yourself by expecting a company to behave exactly as it would in the West, but then.. well, you're making life difficult for yourself. 

 

Previously, I have had an expensive car, and they have requested photos and came out and inspected the vehicle. 

The insurance company valued it at 49.000Bt. It is an eight year old Forza.

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

The insurance company valued it at 49.000Bt. It is an eight year old Forza.

 

Ah well, then they're just being silly...  Bin em and just go with someone else. 

 

Is it worth getting full insurance on a 49,000 baht bike  ?

 

I only have Por-Ror-Bor on mine (renewed when I get Tax).

Edited December 10, 2023 by richard_smith237

[NoshowJones]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Ah well, then they're just being silly...  Bin em and just go with someone else. 

 

Is it worth getting full insurance on a 49,000 baht bike  ?

 

I only have Por-Ror-Bor on mine (renewed when I get Tax).

It was mainly for the accident insurance as I do a few road trips, it only has 55000K on the clock.

[soi3eddie]

I had this with MSIG for my ADV150 first class policy. Had to take photos of the bike (all angles) and VIN number using Time Stamp Camera app and then send to the broker (AAInsure). They asked me to do this twice in last 3 years. I guess it's to ensure that there's no damage and the bike still exists. Anyway, no big deal for me.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by soi3eddie

[richard_smith237]

16 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

I had this with MSIG for my ADV150 first class policy. Had to take photos of the bike (all angles) and VIN number using Time Stamp Camera app and then send to the broker (AAInsure). They asked me to do this twice in last 3 years. I guess it's to ensure that there's no damage and the bike still exists. Anyway, no big deal for me.

 

 

MSIG is an insurance company by the way....  

 

 

(apologies for my facetiousness  and laugh at your expense - pls don't take it personally - the child me in couldn't resist that reply)... 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

The insurance company wants to make sure that the motorbike doesn't already have accident damage from before they start their cover. They won't pay to fix damage that was incurred prior to the start of their policy. The way to prove that there is no existing damages is to submit photos.

[scubascuba3]

Unusual, i just got a renewal through from AA MSIG no requirement for photos, for some reason they think the op might make a fishy claim

[richard_smith237]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

Unusual, i just got a renewal through from AA MSIG no requirement for photos, for some reason they think the op might make a fishy claim

 

I could be a random thing... i.e. with specific insurance companies, 1 in every 10 applications has to go through this process.

 

For most of us its hasn't cropped up because we don't have 1st class insurance on our bikes. 

 

My latest bike was 230,000 baht...   it had insurance for the first year, after that I haven't bothered - its also something I forget about.

(I'm not even certain if its taxed or insured at the moment, I vaguely remember taxing and getting the Por-ror-bor online, but not sure exactly when).

[recom273]

We moved insurance companies after the first year of Toyota arranged insurance.

 

The company wanted to come and inspect the vehicle - she walked up to the garage, said "as new" and walked away. I didn't over think it.

 

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

16 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Unusual, i just got a renewal through from AA MSIG no requirement for photos, for some reason they think the op might make a fishy claim

If you are renewing an existing policy with the same insurer with the same level of coverage, there shouldn't be a requirement to submit photos. It is only when you either switch insurers or upgrade the level of cover at renewal that photos may be needed.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I could be a random thing... i.e. with specific insurance companies, 1 in every 10 applications has to go through this process.

 

For most of us its hasn't cropped up because we don't have 1st class insurance on our bikes. 

 

My latest bike was 230,000 baht...   it had insurance for the first year, after that I haven't bothered - its also something I forget about.

(I'm not even certain if its taxed or insured at the moment, I vaguely remember taxing and getting the Por-ror-bor online, but not sure exactly when).

 

If you were to upgrade cover to include physical damage to the vehicle at renewal, you would almost certainly have to submit photos or let a surveyor take a look at your vehicle. Insurers aren't going to pay claims for damages that occurred before the relevant cover incepted. They make sure they aren't going to do so by requiring photos or an inspection if upgrading or if they are insuring a used vehicle for physical damage for the first time. 

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

 

If you were to upgrade cover to include physical damage to the vehicle at renewal, you would almost certainly have to submit photos or let a surveyor take a look at your vehicle. Insurers aren't going to pay claims for damages that occurred before the relevant cover incepted. They make sure they aren't going to do so by requiring photos or an inspection if upgrading or if they are insuring a used vehicle for physical damage for the first time. 

If that is the case, all one would have to do is take a photo of any bike same colour and model and get a number plate with the same number as the original bike.

[NoshowJones]

Thanks all for your help, much appreciated. Jonesy.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

17 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

If that is the case, all one would have to do is take a photo of any bike same colour and model and get a number plate with the same number as the original bike.

 

There are many ways to commit insurance fraud and I suppose insurers can't stop them all. Photos would probably prevent the less determined and inspections would stop even more. Nothing is perfect. 

[NoshowJones]

18 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

 

There are many ways to commit insurance fraud and I suppose insurers can't stop them all. Photos would probably prevent the less determined and inspections would stop even more. Nothing is perfect. 

Excellent post, but may I say that there are no bigger fraudsters than insurance companies themselves. Imagine if you could pick out one top Thai insurance company (not life insurance) go through all their claims for the past year and see what percentage of claims were actually paid out.

[MangoKorat]

On 12/10/2023 at 6:57 AM, richard_smith237 said:

Is it worth getting full insurance on a 49,000 baht bike  ?

It is if you hit someone.  The compulsory insurance pays out a pitiful amount and heaven forbid you are held responsible for an accident in which someone dies - you will almost certainly be taken to court to extract every last baht from you.

 

The thing that I find annoying about car and bike insurance is the age limit on which they will provide first class cover which with most companies is 5 years.  Some will continue first class as long as you continue the insurance but if there's a break, no chance. I didn't keep up my insurance during covid as I couldn't get back to Thailand and the bike was locked away safely anyway - after which my insurers refused to re-instate first class cover.

[MangoKorat]

2 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Excellent post, but may I say that there are no bigger fraudsters than insurance companies themselves. Imagine if you could pick out one top Thai insurance company (not life insurance) go through all their claims for the past year and see what percentage of claims were actually paid out.

Don't get me going about Thai insurance companies.  My house was insured with the same company for 8 years without a claim.  Then a couple of years ago it was broken into and a lot of stuff stolen + a damaged expensive entry door.

 

Not only did they refuse to pay out on several items such as my 25,000 baht crash helmet which they refused to class as either a personal item or personal clothing, when it came around to renewal time my premium went up from 7000 per year to over 20,000.  I told them to stick it and spent the money on additional security.