A motorcycle can be lifted into a van by two people. That is why an underwriter looking at a motorcycle business asks first how your customers' bikes are kept.
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In brief
With cars, theft requires keys or forcing the vehicle. With motorcycles it does not: without a key, without bypassing an immobiliser and without noise, a bike is in a van within a minute. Insurers translate that into a storage clause with requirements on ground anchors, a locked space or detection. If those are not met, payment can be limited in the event of theft.
The motorcycles on your premises are almost never yours. Bikes in for repair, exchange or storage are in your in your care, and that category is excluded on liability cover. In winter their number peaks, while the limit is often still set for the summer situation.
The third point is the test ride. If you take a customer's bike or a bike for sale onto the road, the compulsory cover of Article 2 WAM applies. A trade plate arranges that for vehicles whose registration is not suspended and which have no insurance of their own. The injury risk of a test ride is higher on a motorcycle than in a car, simply because there is no bodywork around it.
What does motor trade insurance cover for motorcycle businesses?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
Business contents at replacement value as new
Goods at cost price
Business interruption or additional costs
If you employ people
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
Continued pay for 104 weeks
Group personal accident
WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
Cyber
Injury to a visitor or customer
Yes
No
No
Damage to a client's property
Sometimes
No
No
Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error
No
Yes
No
Downtime after a ransomware attack
No
No
Yes
Data breach involving personal data
No
Sometimes
Yes
Damage to property in your care
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Ground anchors and the storage clause
Because motorcycles can be lifted away without forced entry, the policy schedule usually states how they must be kept outside working hours: anchored to the floor, in a locked space, or behind detection with alarm response. A bike that happened to be in the showroom that night instead of in the secure room falls outside the situation described. Set out the end-of-day round in a work instruction and stick to the wording of the clause.
Test drives and the trade plate
Every journey on the public road requires valid liability cover; Article 2 WAM leaves no room on that point. For sales and demonstration bikes you use a trade plate. If you let a customer ride alone, record in writing who bears the excess and on what conditions they ride, including the licence category and the ban on carrying passengers.
Injury on a test ride weighs more heavily
If your mechanic comes off during a test ride, that leads to your employer's liability under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code, and where road use in working time is concerned, to Article 7:611 DCC. Prescribing and providing protective clothing is part of that. If a customer comes off during a test ride because of a defect you should have spotted, Article 6:162 DCC comes into play; a fall caused by their own riding does not.
Winter storage is a seasonal peak in your limit
During the storage season there are often more customers' motorcycles in your building than in the rest of the year put together. The care, custody and control limit must be set at that maximum and not at the average. Keep a list with registration number, frame number and arrival date. Without those records the size of your claim after a fire or theft cannot be substantiated.
What does your premium depend on?
Number of motorcycles in the building at any one time. Repair, sales and storage added together at the busiest moment of the year.
Security level. Ground anchors, a locked space, detection and alarm response determine the theft premium.
Size of the winter storage. Seasonal storage raises the care, custody and control limit needed for part of the year.
Test ride policy. The number of trade plates and whether customers ride alone or as a passenger.
Turnover from clothing and accessories. Shop stock is a separate item with a burglary exposure of its own.
Claims history and excess. Previous thefts weigh heavily. A higher excess reduces the premium.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Only within the care, custody and control cover and only if you comply with the storage clause. That clause prescribes how bikes must be kept outside working hours: anchored, in a locked space or behind detection. If the actual situation differs from it, the insurer can reduce the payment. Report the peak during the storage season as well, or the limit will be too low.
What if there are no signs of forced entry?
With motorcycles that is the rule rather than the exception, because nothing has to be forced on the vehicle itself. Insurers therefore look at marks on the building and at compliance with the security conditions. If you can show that the bikes were kept as the clause prescribes, the absence of forced entry on the vehicle is not an independent ground for refusal.
Who is liable on a test ride by a customer?
For damage to third parties, the insurance attached to the registration applies, usually your trade plate under Article 2 WAM. Damage to the motorcycle itself comes down to what you agreed in writing about the excess. Without a signed test ride declaration, that agreement is hard to enforce afterwards.
Is winter storage automatically included?
No. Storage is a separate activity with its own risk profile: a great deal of vehicle value, little movement and a long period without supervision. State how many motorcycles you store at most and where, and have the care, custody and control limit adjusted accordingly. Separate records for each stored bike are essential when you claim, to substantiate the amounts involved.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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