Motorcyclists have been warned to be on the lookout for an insurance scam which could leave them without cover, even if they thought they were fully insured. The City of London Police warns of ‘ghost brokers,’ who are scammers masquerading as genuine insurance brokers. Their technique is to offer temptingly low premiums, advertising these on social media, price comparison websites and even newsagents windows. To complete the deception, some ghost brokers they are working on behalf of well-established insurance companies.

If a rider or driver takes out a policy they are issued with fake insurance documents (which are worthless) or the ghost broker takes out a genuine policy but quickly cancels it after pocketing the money. Either way, the rider is unaware that they have no insurance cover, and may only find out if they’re involved in an accident and have to foot the bill, which could run into tens of thousands of pounds or more. And of course, riding without insurance is an offence in itself.

“Ghost brokers trick unsuspecting victims with offers of heavily-discounted vehicle insurance,” said Andy Fyfe, Detective Chief Inspector of the City of London Police, “leaving them with a policy that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

Jim Freeman, chair of the BMF, advised all motorcyclists to take care when buying insurance: “ If it’s too good to be true, don’t buy it. The BMF would recommend our own insurance, of course”

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Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Honda UK