Protecta Insurance New Zealand Limited's motorcycle insurance Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a query that isn't answered here, or if you'd like more information about any of these topics, please contact us and we'll be happy to answer your questions.
A. Your motorcycle insurance policy forms a legal contract, and as with all legal contracts, there are some obligations that you must adhere to in order for the cover provided by your policy to remain in force. These include:
Maintain your motorcycle in a roadworthy condition. Make sure that it is always up to WOF standards, even in between WOF tests. This is not just to ensure cover by your policy, but also very important for your own safety (after all, crashing HURTS!).
Keep your motorcycle secure. You must take all reasonable steps to ensure that your bike is kept secure when it isn’t in use. For example, always lock your bike whenever you leave it. This can mean keeping it within a locked building, or by enabling the steering lock or fitting a grip-lock style device.
Request Track Day cover if you are going to an event. If you plan to attend a Track Day or track-based Training Day, you need to inform us prior to attending the event to obtain our authorisation. This authorisation doesn’t cost anything, however a higher excess may apply while you are on the track. Contact us by phone or email, and we’ll send out a confirmation of cover once approved.
Keep us informed of any changes in your circumstances. For example, please notify us if you change address, lose your licence, or if you modify your bike. Under New Zealand law, all insurance policy holders have a duty of disclosure to inform their insurer of anything that (as a prudent insurer) they should be made aware of. If you are unsure whether a change in circumstances is relevant to your insurance, please call or email us and we’ll be happy to advise you.
lease note that the above list is intended to be a helpful guideline. If you have any questions or would like more information please don’t hesitate to contact us and one of our friendly team will be able to answer your query.
A. Both types of policy will have a "Sum Insured" that is nominated when you take out or renew your policy. The difference is in how that Sum Insured affects what you receive as a payout if your motorcycle is stolen or written off in an accident.
With a Market Value policy, the insurer will pay out either the Sum Insured or the motorcycle's pre-accident value (determined at the time of claim), whichever is the lesser.
With an Agreed Value policy, the Sum Insured is agreed by the insurer to be the valuation of the bike at the start of the policy, and this is the figure that is paid out regardless of what the motorcycle's pre-accident valuation may be.
Most customers prefer Agreed Value policies because they give you confidence in what you can expect to receive if your motorcycle is written off or stolen. Put simply, the discussion about the bike's value is had at the start of the policy, rather than at claim time. It also means that the bike's insured value remains consistent throughout the 12-month policy period, rather than gradually decreasing as it does with a Market Value policy.
Another thing to note with Agreed Value policies, the Agreed Value is normally adjusted at renewal time, whereas many Market Value policies aren't. This means that with Agreed Value you are only paying for the cover that you get, whereas with a Market Value policy that isn't annually adjusted you can often be paying premiums based on a Sum Insured that is much higher than you could hope to be paid if the motorcycle is written off.
One final thing to be aware of is that some motorcycle insurance policies are advertised as Agreed Value but fall back to Market Value if your Sum Insured is more than a certain percentage away from the the motorcycle's pre-accident valuation at time of claim. This is done to protect against over insuring, but can mean that the customer isn't getting the cover that they think they are. Because Protecta has the specialist knowledge to be confident our customer's Sums Insured are correct at the start of each policy period, all of Protecta's motorcycle insurance policies are true Agreed Value policies that never fall back to Market Value.
A. New Protecta motorcycle policies purchased from the 19th October 2015, or existing policies which have renewed on or after the 1st December 2015, are all Agreed Value policies. If your motorcycle is involved in a total loss claim (for example, if it is stolen or if it is written off in an accident), then the Agreed Value figure noted on your most recent certificate of insurance or renewal notice is the pay out figure that your claim settlement will be based on.
Please note that there may be some deductions made from your pay out. For example, your excess may be deducted if the claim is deemed to be an “At-Fault” accident, where your actions contributed to the cause of the crash. Also, if you have been paying for your insurance premium by instalments, then the remaining instalments for that year’s premium will also be deducted from your pay out.
A. The best people to determine the value of your motorcycle are the sales team at the motorcycle dealership that you purchased your bike from. For example, if you have the motorcycle in for a service, that is an ideal time to ask them what they think the current value would be. If you don’t have a local dealership that specialises in your model of motorcycle, then you can look to online sites to determine the value. Note that you need to check the price that bikes like yours are selling for though, which can be quite different to what the seller is asking for.
It is important to insure your motorcycle for close to what you believe the true value to be. If you are unsure of what value to choose, please call us and we can either help you nominate the correct value or we can direct you to someone who can accurately value your motorcycle.
As Protecta's motorcycle insurance policies are Agreed Value, we review all new policies to ensure that motorcycles aren't significantly over insured or under insured. We are more than happy for you to call us and talk through what you think the value should be, and you are welcome to do this when you first take a policy out with us, when you renew your policy, or any time in between.
A. One of the factors we use to set the premiums for your motorcycle insurance policy is the amount of recent riding experience you have. Riders who are on their first motorcycle and are just learning to ride, or riders who haven’t owned a motorcycle for a number of years, generally represent a higher risk than riders with recent experience. Those riders who have a proven (recent) history of safe riding are rewarded with lower premiums as they represent a lower risk.
The good news is that as you progress in your riding career, you accrue a history that is reassessed each year when your policy renews. As your history of safe motorcycle riding builds, you will notice your premium and excess will come down automatically until you become a Grade 1 rider (the best of the best).
A. The type of motorcycle that you ride is one of the factors that we use to calculate your motorcycle insurance premium. This is based around two main criteria: the likelihood of that type of motorcycle to be involved in a crash, and the cost of repairing damage to the motorcycle.
Motorcycles with a full fairing often cost more to repair than a naked style bike, and sports bikes are generally more likely to be involved in a crash than a cruiser. These findings are based on decades of history insuring New Zealand riders, and we use these in our calculations to help determine what premiums to charge.
Of course, the type of motorcycle is only one part of the picture, and in some circumstances an experienced rider on a high risk bike can still get cheaper premiums than a new rider on a low risk bike. We look at the whole picture, and there are many factors that can influence the final cost of your insurance premium. We do pride ourselves on having a very sophisticated rating system to make sure that we offer the very best premiums that we can for New Zealand’s riders.
A. When we receive your claim, there are a few steps to work through, but rest assured one of our experienced claim handlers will guide you through the process. First off, we will ask you to download a motorcycle insurance claim form, complete it, then send it in to us, which is the start of the claims process. We’ll also organise for your motorcycle to be taken to a suitable dealership to be repaired. You can choose your repairer, or if you prefer, we can organise a dealer in your area on your behalf.
Once the dealer has received your bike, they’ll send us a quote for the cost of repairing the bike. If the damage is relatively minor, repairs can normally start straight away. If there is a large amount of damage, or if there may be issues around parts supply, then sometimes things can take a little longer. There may also be more complicated cases where an independent assessor (a freelance expert who specialises in assessing required repairs) may be called in to determine the best way forward.
Where the cost of the repairs means that the bike is likely to be written off, we’ll send you a Discharge Form, which forms the settlement of your claim. When you sign the form and send it back to us, we’ll pay out the settlement figure and the wreck of the bike then becomes our property. Some riders choose to buy back their wreck, if you wish to do this then tell us as the time and we’ll advise you of the process for this.
A. Protecta offers you a number of ways to pay your motorcycle insurance premium. If you wish to pay your full annual premium upfront, you can pay by direct credit, credit card, or DPS Account2Account. If you prefer, we can split your annual premium into instalments, which you can pay via direct debit or credit card.
Direct debit is one of the safest and most convenient ways of paying your bills. Payments are made automatically, so bills are never forgotten. Your money is protected in the unlikely event that there is an error in the payment of a direct debit, for instance if a payment is collected on the incorrect date, or the wrong amount is collected.
If you do choose to pay by instalment, please note that Protecta is one of the few motorcycle insurance providers in New Zealand that don’t penalise you for this. Your instalment amount will simply be the annual price divided by the number of instalments you wish to make – there are no additional charges or penalties added to your premium for these options. We also don’t charge any more for people paying by credit card, it’s our belief there should be one price for your motorcycle insurance no matter how you choose to pay.
If you wish to pay via credit card or Account2Account, you can purchase your motorcycle insurance online from this website. If you prefer to pay by another method, or if you wish to change how you pay for your existing policy with us, then please contact us and we can arrange it for you.
For more information about the payment methods available on this website, please see our Privacy Notice.
A. Protecta’s full cover motorcycle insurance will cover riders who aren't named on your policy, so long as they are legally allowed to ride it and they have a clean driving and riding history for the last 5 years. If you are unsure whether a rider meets these criteria, then please contact us for more information.
Rider that aren't specifically named on your motorcycle insurance policy may be required to pay a higher excess if they cause an accident. Also, if they are riding the motorcycle 10% or more of the time, then you must advise us of their details, and depending on their riding history it may have an impact on your insurance premium.
If you have any questions or would like to add another rider to your policy, then please contact us for more information.
Please note that each rider listed on your policy will have their own excess. For example, if there are two riders listed on your policy and one is a learner while another is an experienced rider, there is a good chance that the learner rider will have a higher excess than the experienced rider. Any rider who isn’t listed on the policy automatically goes onto the highest level excess for your type of motorcycle, so it’s worth calling us to add anybody who will be regularly riding your bike.
A. If you don’t hold the correct licence that allows you to legally ride your motorcycle (for example, if you are unlicenced or if are on your learner or restricted motorcycle licence and your bike is not a LAMS model) then we cannot cover you for accident damage while riding your bike on public roads, even if you take out Full Cover insurance with us. This applies to both Full Cover and Third Party Fire and Theft cover, and applies to any rider who does not have the correct licence to ride your bike. However, riders who do hold the correct licence (even if you don’t) would still be covered while riding your bike.
It is very important that you ride within the limits of your licence, and if you are on a learner or restricted motorcycle licence that you make sure that your motorcycle is LAMS approved. As per the rules of the LAMS scheme, this means that your motorcycle can only be modified in a way that doesn't breach the NZTA's rules. More information about the LAMS scheme and what modifications are permitted is available on the NZTA website.
If you do not hold the correct licence type for the motorcycle you are purchasing, but plan to do so in the very short term, then we may be able to provide Storage Cover (which covers fire and theft only) until such time as you are legally entitled to ride your motorcycle, and changing to Full Cover at that time. This could represent a significant cost saving for you.
If you would like any further information on this topic, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to talk through the options available to you.
A. Only if the modifications don't breach NZTA's rules for LAMS motorcycles. If your LAMS motorcycle has been modified in a way that doesn't comply with the NZTA rules then we cannot offer you Full Cover or Third Party Fire and Theft insurance because you cannot legally ride your motorcycle on the road.
This modification rules do not affect riders on their full licence, as they don’t need to adhere to the LAMS rules.
Modifications vs accessories: For the purposes of insuring a LAMS motorcycle, a modification is deemed to be a change to, or removal of, any component of the motorcycle that occurs after it has left the factory. If you have added something to the bike that has not involved the removal or modification of a part of the original motorcycle, then we deem it an accessory (rather than a modification) and therefore it doesn't breach the NZTA rules.
A. Yes, our Full Cover motorcycle insurance policy does include cover for non-competitive track days, however please take note of all of the conditions that apply to this cover.
A. Yes. If you have a minor claim where the bike isn’t written off, then any damage to your accessories will also be repaired. Please note that you are required to tell us about your accessories. You can do this at the time that you take out your policy, or if you fit accessories at a later date just contact us to let us know about the modifications.
If your motorcycle is written off, then the settlement is based on the Agreed Value of your motorcycle, which includes your accessories.
A. Protecta’s full cover motorcycle insurance includes Transport Cover, which means we’ll cover you for any damage while your motorcycle is being transported anywhere within New Zealand territorial waters. Under New Zealand law, carriers are only liable for $2,000 worth of damage, but our motorcycle insurance automatically protects you beyond that limit.
This is an automatic benefit, you don’t need to advise us ahead of time or select any special options. If you have purchased a motorcycle from out of town and are having it shipped to you, take out your motorcycle insurance with Protecta before getting it shipped and you can relax knowing that your motorcycle is covered.
For more information on this benefit, please see Insurance for cars and motorcycles being transported, or refer to your policy wording.
A. Having a crash on your motorcycle is never a pleasant experience and it can be a confusing time with a lot going on. It can be hard to remember what to do at the time, but one of the most important things you can do is to remain calm. Take deep breaths, and try to remember the following steps:
Please note that the above list is just a guide, each accident scene is different. If there are any injuries, you must report the accident to the Police, and it’s important to obtain medical assistance if you suspect anyone may have been hurt. In general, the more information you can provide to us on the details of the accident, the faster we can have your claim settled, so try to make notes on everything while it is still fresh in your mind.