The Island's largest motorcycle insurer has warned that if the “catastrophic” rate of bike thefts continues, it could decide to pull out of the market altogether.

William Madeiros, senior executive vice president of Colonial Insurance, said the company was making huge losses every year on bike theft claims alone.

He said he knew of people insured with Colonial who were onto their third and fourth bikes after having each of them stolen during recent years.

And he said one of the most popular bikes around now, the Honda Scoopy, now cost close to $800 to insure because it was high on the list of bikes to be taken.

“Bike theft is simply a catastrophic problem in Bermuda,” said Mr. Madeiros. “We are the market leader, and I think our record is one of being very proactive in this area. But if something does not change for the positive, we would have to seriously consider the point of staying in.

“We are charging rates that are quite frighteningly ridiculous and embarrassing. I don't like charging them and we are not making money on them. We wonder if we will get to the point where we say this is just not worth it and then we pull out. It's dreadful.”

Mr. Madeiros said Colonial records two, three or four bike thefts a day, accounting for a large percentage of the 1200 plus bike thefts on the Island a year.

Last year, Bermuda Police recorded 1240 bike thefts, but by October this year there had already been 1136 instances of vehicle removal - 230 of them occurred in the City of Hamilton between January and August alone.

Mr. Madeiros said bike insurance had never been great business, but he said in recent months it was putting a definite strain on the industry, and he said the cost of premiums was only likely to continue to climb.

He said his company worked closely with the Police to come up with new ways to better safeguard bikes, but said owners had to be more proactive.

“The advice I would give every client is that if you are not consciously safeguarding your bike by parking it under a light and putting a second lock on the wheel, you are looking to have it stolen.

“We get two, three or four bike thefts reported to us every day, and those are only the ones that are reported to Police. If you have an old banger, would you report that to Police? Probably not.

“The question is; how much do you charge to insure a $3,000 bike? It doesn't make sense. It's close to $800 to insure a Honda Scoopy.

“And we have only been talking about theft of bikes. What about damage done to bikes (in accidents). Where does the money come from to pay for that?”

David Carruthers, chief financial officer at Argus Insurance, said although his company had a smaller share of the bike insurance market, it followed the general trend. Premium rates at Argus went up in November, due to the increase in bike thefts, along with rising costs in garage repairs and other related.

He said: “We just put our rates up in November and it was somewhere between five and 15 percent. A rise in crime is a contributing factor, but there are other reasons, too.”

He estimated that the cost of vehicle repairs had increased by 40 percent in the last four years, adding to raising premiums. He added: “We have just put our rates up, so we won't be doing it again in the immediate future, but if the losses continue as they are, it may force another rise in the future.”

And David McLeod, senior vice-president of BF&M insurance, said his company recorded about one bike theft a day.

He said rates had increased this year and were probably set to increase again in the New Year. “The premiums have gone up this year and will no doubt go up again next year,” he said. “We are in the process of looking at a rate increase now. It was ten percent this year, and it may be another ten percent. We will have to do the sums.

“But they are not coming down and they are not staying flat. There is no doubt about it, bike theft is a serious problem.”

But Mr. McLeod said the number of bikes insured by BF&M that have been stolen this year is pretty much as the company forecast.

He added: “From time to time, we get a blip, but we forecast a certain number each year and it has been about right.

“We have not noticed a discernible increase on what we thought, but we are always watching the situation.”