It seems that insurance companies are reluctant to grant policies to those who only own a motorcycle.

Motorcycle owners were reacting to a front page story appearing in The Malta Independent last Thursday in which Malta Insurance Association President Dr Anton Felice said that the vast majority of motorcycle owners are now insured and the difficulties that had been prevalent earlier in the year had been overcome.

However, an owner of a Harley Davidson 883cc motorcycle told The Malta Independent on Sunday that he still finds it practically impossible to insure his trusty bike.

“I have been to all of the insurance companies and they refuse to insure me unless I have either a car or some property insured with them”, the owner said. “I have been driving motorcycles all my life and I have never driven a car so how can I expect to insure my bike?”

The driver told TMIS that this situation has been going on for quite some time and that insurers are now only offering “third party only” insurance which means that any expenses in an accident caused by the driver on his/her bike are not covered. “I had been insured with a company which suddenly raised my premium to a very high rate which was unsustainable for me as I was not working at the time. When I returned to this company, they informed me that once I left them, they would not re-insure me. Then I managed to find a third party only insurance for Lm35 annually which was considerably worthwhile. However, when I went to renew the insurance this year, I was told that it would not be extended”, the owner said.

Asked about the possibilities that are now available, the owner said that there was not much choice except to keep the bike in the garage waiting for further developments. “It appears that no company will insure me, not even on a third party basis, so it is quite a useless situation”.

Further information passed to TMIS reveals that drivers of large engine capacity vehicles are also running into difficulties to insure their vehicles. Insurance companies are apparently reluctant to insure drivers who own vehicles that have two or three litre engines if they are under 35 years old. This is obviously causing a steep rise in premium prices for those owners who fall slightly below that age bracket. Even then, it seems that some insurers insist on only covering two or three named drivers.