Insurance Blog

A leading Personal Finance Expert has today revealed that Brits can save a staggering £337,700 over a lifetime by swapping their car for a motorbike.

The study, conducted by Chartered Financial Planner Martin Bamford, was commissioned by Bennetts, the UK’s number one for bike insurance, to investigate the cost difference between commuting to work in a car versus a bike.

With the increasing cost burden on motorists in mind, the research shows that car drivers could save over £6,500 a year (£130 per week) by riding a motorbike, when costs including finance, tax, depreciation and parking are taken into consideration. An easily overlooked expense highlighted in the findings is time – with riders able to save four and a half years over a lifetime from beating the traffic jams on a motorbike as opposed to a car.

The overall findings suggest it costs a staggering 47% more to drive a car to work rather than using a motorbike in the current economic climate. The saving is particularly relevant for Londoners, with those riding a bike in the capital saving a massive £1,920 a year getting to work by escaping the £8 a day congestion charge to enter into the central congestion charging zone.

The research was commissioned by Bennetts to support Ride to Work Day which falls today (16th July). Ride to Work Day is a national campaign introduced by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) to encourage all motorcyclists to get out and about on their bikes and ride to work, ideally with a pillion.

Endorsing the cost return in riding a motorbike, Martin Bamford found that bikers can make substantial savings of over £6,500 per year which include savings such as;
• Depreciation – £2,074
• Tax – £97
• Finance - £2,255
• Parking – £2,328

*Based on the average commute of 39 miles, five days a week, over the course of a year.

Martin Bamford says; “Running a car is significantly more expensive than riding a motorbike and with government plans to increase Vehicle Excise Duty, 55% of car drivers will be even worse off when new prices are introduced in 2009/10.”

The Personal Finance expert continued, “People tend to have various misconceptions around biking and often forget about the burden of depreciation - cars plummet in value shortly after you buy them and are an expensive to buy in the first place. The credit crunch is making it much more expensive to borrow money, so financing is likely to be made a lot cheaper if people decide to purchase a motorcycle.”

Mark Fells, Marketing Director at Bennetts says, “It’s incredible to see just how much bikers can save on the roads by travelling around on two wheels. We hope that these findings will encourage people to review their personal transport methods in an effort to lower costs and reduce the hassle of commuting.”

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[Via ArticleCube.com: Finance | Insurance]