[A1an]

Hi all,

Has oneone ever done the Aon lesson to reduce their insurance premium, and if so whats involved :?:
:wink:

[marky]

I did it with Mo Garvey in Ennis about 2 months ago. Met her at lunchtime and was gone by 5.30.

It involved me driving around with her behind me watching me, noting everything. Then we stopped and had a chat. She told me what I was good at and what I was bad at. We went out again for an hour or so with me working on what she told me I should work on. Then we stopped again and she told me we'd do the assessment.

It's like the driving test. You've got the radio, she tells you where to go and follows you. Actual test took about 35/40 mins. There's a sheet with a load of categories like

'Steering / Balance / Feet'
'Forward Obs / Mirror / Lifesaver'
'Distance Judgement'

and so on. There's 14 of them in all and you're graded in each of them - Grade 4, 3, 2. With 2 being the best.

Grade 4 gets you 1 point
Grade 3 gets you 2 points
Grade 2 gets you 3 points

The points are added up and you get your final score.

You need minimum 14 to reach overall Grade 4 level.
24 or more gets you Grade 3 level.
38 or more gets you Grade 2 level.

I had my full licence already. I achieved a Grade 3 in the Aon / Axa Assessment which corresponded to a 10% decrease in my premium.

IMHO - Assessment itself is well worth it. The day cost me €200. The reduction in my premium was slightly less than that but I learned some good stuff and got to drive with a very competent instructor. I would recommend Mo to anyone looking to do it. She's very knowledgeable and has a good way with people.

Hope this helps. Good luck with it!

[A1an]

Thanks Marky - I know any tuition is benefitical as long as you take it onboard but at 200 yoyos its not cheap especially if your only trying to reduce your insurance premium, is the discount only for a limited time??

thanks again :!:

[marky]

There's been no mention of it effecting my premium for a limited time. It brought mine down from 1596 to around 1430. I would expect it to drop again next time round.

[jamesobrady]

It strikes me as odd that you had to pay 200euro....mine cost 150 euro for the exact same thing(different instructor)which lasted about 3 hours. I would imagine the cost is set by aon as standard. Perhaps you should call them to find out?

Imho its definately well worth doing....although the immediate discount is less then the cost of paying for the tuition and assessment, the percentage discount next year and the following year should amount to a reasonable saving.

[marky]

I paid a little more for a longer session and a bit more of a 'lesson' element too. The saving over a few years definitely makes it well worth doing I reckon.

[Nuts]

I got a grade 3... with Aaron Rider Training, Peter Bookey. I Missed out on bunches of points because I revved the nuts out of the bike in a false neutral, exceeded the speed limit and decided not to wear high-vis, my bike was a bit low on coolant.

Had I gotten all of that and used my indicators every time I needed to... I probaly could have done better again.

I got 550 euros returned to me. I'll dig out the sheet they give you and scan it in so you can get an idea.

I think I paid 150 for the test, so net gain 400 for an hours test. I sold the CBR125 immeditally.

Edit: Two hours preperation where the errors above were corrected and then one hour for the test.

[bogey]

I did the training with Peter at Aaron Rider training as well. I found it excellent and would recommend it to every rider. I had bikes for many years and a lot of experience. I had had a break for a few years and was returning to biking again and decided to do the training.

In my case I used the instructors bike. He will come to you in the van with 2 bikes so it really handy albeit a bit more expensive than if you use your own bike.

I found Peter excellent and learnt loads of stuff.

In relation to the cost I would alos point out that apart from any saving you get on your insurance premium the training could save your life.

What price do you put on that??

The major learning point for most has to be that whilst we all may consider ourselves good drivers or very skilled we need to not only drive well and control our bike properly, we also need to make big allowances for other road users and alter our riding to suit.

[Norrie]

I did AON asessment with Ken Skelly in Naas, cost 150 Euro. Time 3 hours. I have been riding 46 years and he pointed out lots of faults, simple things I should have known. ( I lost 2 points because I wasn't wearing a hi-vis vest) His moby is 086 1915585. I got the 150 back off my insurance.

Nor

[ridertraining]

Nuts said:

I think I paid 150 for the test, ...... for an hour out of the house riding my bike..

Really, was it just an hour?

[scotty]

Norrie said:

( I lost 2 points because I wasn't wearing a hi-vis vest)

The high viz vest thing I'm not so sure about. Yes it will make "you" more visible but as I use my high beam all the time in the city and suburbs is a vest going to make you stand out more ? There are well documented cases of gardai being knocked off the bikes while wearling high viz vests ! If the plonker does not see a white pan european with yellow strips then what chance have any of us ?

PS I wear black leathers and no high viz vest !

[jamesobrady]

Yeah i also lost 2 points on the hi-viz thing...i imagine its just an AON rule and thats that.

SO for anyone planning to do the assessment WEAR A HI_VIZ VEST.

I also recommend Ken Skelly highly, i know a couple of lads who do regular trainign with him. Sound lad.

[Jo]

I did the test with Peter Bookey aswell and found him to be brilliant (I'd already had lessons from him) Got a rebate from AON straight away. While I was in the AON office I met two guys paying well over a €1000 cash for insurance, on provisional licences, and no-one in AON had mentioned the test. I gave them Peter's number straight away. I think if you're on a provisional you should definitely do the test, and even on a full licence, it's worth it for the training you get.

[frodi]

I did a full day with Jonathan of MSA and then the assessment afterwards (got grade 3) €300. Worth every cent if it saves my skin. Still didn't stop me from dropping the bike on diseal (sp) a week later. Because I over 40 I only got €50 back from AON/AXA.

[Nuts]

ridertraining said:

Nuts said:

I think I paid 150 for the test, ...... for an hour out of the house riding my bike..

Really, was it just an hour?

Now that you mention it no... the test was about an hour though. Was it two hours out of the house... i dunno...

Edit: I've looked it up and it was two hours prepartion and one hour for the test.

I'd done a bunch of training with Peter previously and heaps with a few of the IRTA lads. So I got down the road to him, did an hours ride with him pointing stuff out. Got a cup of tea and a debrief then went out again for the test.

Got back, was given a few pointers for the few things I messed up on. I thought I'd failed... lol ... and then got my grade. =D

[ridertraining]

scotty said:

Norrie said:

( I lost 2 points because I wasn't wearing a hi-vis vest)

The high viz vest thing I'm not so sure about. Yes it will make "you" more visible but as I use my high beam all the time in the city and suburbs is a vest going to make you stand out more ? There are well documented cases of gardai being knocked off the bikes while wearling high viz vests ! If the plonker does not see a white pan european with yellow strips then what chance have any of us ?

PS I wear black leathers and no high viz vest !

Some people don't look, so it doesn't matter if the bike is pink and ridden by an elephant in a tutu, if they don't look, they won't see it. But those that do look may notice hi-viz more.

Points to consider: High beam means you'll be dazzling other road users, and they'll have less idea what speed you are doing, so may actually pull out in front of you.
If you go over a bump it may look as if you are flashing to let someone out.
Plus some people find it aggressive, so the next biker along might get the wrath that was intended for you.
Does dipped beam not work for you?

[nab301]

ridertraining said:

scotty said:

Norrie said:

()

!

Points to consider: High beam means you'll be dazzling other road users, and they'll have less idea what speed you are doing, so may actually pull out in front of you.
?

Probably illegal as well.

[xlr82nil8]

nab301 said:

ridertraining said:

Points to consider: High beam means you'll be dazzling other road users, and they'll have less idea what speed you are doing, so may actually pull out in front of you.
?

Probably illegal as well.

Probably explained in detail on pp40-41 of the rotr :wink:
The basic gist is that full beam is for night-time only - with a series of exceptions.

But I often dazzle other road users with my silky skills* - is _that_ illegal

dazzAl

*not strictly true, in fact, may be complete codswallop (except the illegal bit)

[ridertraining]

xlr82nil8 said:

I often dazzle other road users with my silky skills* - is _that_ illegal

dazzAl

Could be....

[marky]

Just on the high viz vest thing - I didn't lose marks for not having a high viz vest?!

Where on the form can you be deducted points for not wearing the vest?!

I can't see it anywhere....