Average Cost of Motorcycle Insurance UK 2023

While the average cost of motorcycle insurance is in the range of £340 to £850 for most, NimbleFins explains how some people pay as little as £170 while others have to fork out over £5,000 for cover.

We crunched the numbers according to four of the main factors that determine bike insurance premiums: rider age, engine size, type of cover and bike storage. Use this research to help you recognize a good deal when you see one—because insurance is generally the largest recurring cost of motorcycle ownership.

Motorbike Insurance Quote

Compare your online motorbike insurance quotes here! Find out if you can get a better quote, from scooters and mopeds through to large motorcycles. All makes and models considered.

Average Cost of Motorcycle Insurance for 125cc, 900cc and 1200cc Bikes

Generally speaking, the larger the engine, the more you'll pay for motorbike insurance. A 1200cc bike has more potential for a speed-related accident than a 125cc bike; plus, motorcycles with larger engines typically cost more, and would be costlier to repair or replace in the event of accident or theft—hence higher insurance costs. The average excess in our study was around £600; cheaper motorcycle insurance policies will typically have a higher excess.

Motorcycle insurance costs by size of engine

Average Cost of Motorcycle Insurance by Type of Cover

The average cost of cheap, full coverage Comprehensive motorcycle insurance is around £324 per year (roughly £30 per month) for a 30-year old rider on a 125cc bike, with an average excess around £500. (You can often add a further voluntary excess on top of this to reduce the premium further, if that works better for you.) Prices can range significantly, however. For example, our quote-gathering exercise produced a range of prices from £292 up to over £1,000 for this profile, showing how important it is to compare before you buy.

This premium buys you comprehensive cover for accidental damage, fire damage or theft to your own bike plus Third Party claims of damage to other vehicles. Comprehensive plans, not surprisingly, are the most expensive type of cover. Third Party, Fire & Theft bike insurance costs around 25% less, coming in around £241 per year—but won't cover any damage to your own bike, say in the event of an accident. Third Party Only insurance, the minimum required by law, is not as cheap as it once was and now costs from around £266 a year, but we saw quotes as high as £940 for a simple moped (large-engined motorcycles would be even more).

Motorcycle insurance costs by type of cover

Given the relatively high odds of a motorcycle crash, buying a comprehensive policy is probably well worth the additional cost.

How do Motorcycle Insurance Prices Change with Age?

Age is a major component in determining insurance premiums—younger riders are more likely to get into an accident, whether due to lack of experience or being more inclined to ride aggressively. We gathered sample quotes for a 125cc motorbike for riders of different ages to show how much you might need to pay.

As you can see, rates are a LOT higher for younger riders. And the extra premium has essentially doubled in the past year, according to our research. That means that a 20-year-old rider might now need to pay close to £1,000 for bike cover with a £600 excess, which is nearly 3X the £324 per year a 30-year-old would pay for their policy. You can see in the chart below how expensive motorcycle insurance can be for the young.

Motorcycle insurance costs by rider age

Motorcycle Insurance Cost for New Rider UK

The NimbleFins team ran some tests and found that a new rider even with car-driving experience would pay around 70% more than a rider with 5 years of experience and no claims—so, for example, a new (but not young) rider paying around £500+ should see their cost drop into the £300 range after a few years. An inexperienced rider will need to pay more for insurance than an experienced rider, because they are more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident. A new rider with no claims or convictions could expect their motorbike insurance costs to fall each year as they gain experience.

How Motorcycle Insurance Prices Change Depending on Storage Location

Motorcycles kept on the road at night cost more to insure than bikes stored on a driveway, which cost more to insure than those kept in a locked garage. Why? The higher likelihood of theft from the street means motorbikes kept outside are more likely to result in a theft claim against your insurance. It's no surprise, given the high rate of motorcycle thefts. In fact, according to data we analysed from the Office of National Statistics around 30,000 motorcycles are stolen each year in the UK.

Bikes kept on the road can cost anywhere from 1.2X to 6.6X as much to insure as a bike locked safely in a garage. And the more expensive the bike, the larger additional premium you'll pay to keep it on the road.

Motorcycle insurance costs by rider age

If you're a new, young rider, you can find more information about costs for your age bracket in our articles on Cheap Motorcycle Insurance Companies for Young Riders and Cheap Motorcycle Insurance Companies for 25 Year Olds.

If you're doing research on motorcycle insurance costs ahead of making a bike purchase, be sure to keep in mind other motorcycle running costs you'll incur such as the cost of a motorcycle helmet. Additionally, if you want cover for extras like helmets and leathers you may need to pay an extra add-on premium or pay a bit extra for a policy that includes this feature as standard—this can be well worth the cost as the best motorcycle gear can easily set you back £1,000. Finally, keep in mind that any modifications such as repainting your motorbike may increase the premium you need to pay.

Anyone considering buying a car instead of a motorcycle might be interested in learning about the average cost of car insurance, which starts around £500 per year for the UK's most popular car, the Ford Fiesta (when driven by a 50 year old).

Motorcycle Insurance Cost Calculator

As we saw above, costs really vary from one person to the next. To get an accurately calculate your personal motorcycle cost, simply enter some personal details into our motorcycle insurance cost calculator below. You will be provided with prices as many as two dozen providers in minutes.

Methodology

To arrive at our average cost analysis, we gathered nearly 400 online quotes for motorcycle insurance plans from our motorcycle insurance partner QuoteZone. As most comparison searches return a wide range of prices (in many cases with the most expensive premiums costing multiples of the cheapest offers), we averaged the 5 cheapest quotes available for each profile in order to arrive at an estimate of a reasonable average cost one might pay for motorcycle insurance.

To help standardize our results, we held the rider profile consistent across the quotes. Unless otherwise stated (e.g., for different rider age or type of cover), we priced policies with full coverage comprehensive protection for a 30-year-old male with 5 years of bike-riding experience with a full UK Bike licence and 5 years of no claims. The bike is used for social, domestic, pleasure and commuting, up to 3,000 miles per year. For analysis of average costs by age and type of cover, we compared prices of cover for a 2019 125cc Honda PCX 125.

In order to see how insurance prices vary with engine size (e.g., 125 cc, 900 cc and 1200 cc), we priced motorcycle insurance for three of the most popular 2019 bikes in the UK: Honda PCX 125, Yamaha Tracer 900 GT and BMW R1200 GS, respectively. We also priced quotes for the Honda across a variety of ages to get an idea of how prices change by rider age.

Please keep in mind that these are all sample rates, and the cost of motorcycle insurance might be quite a bit higher or lower for you.