Scooter culture set to take hold in London

Scooter culture set to take hold in London

Low-cost insurance costs and Congestion Charge exemption will lure Londoners onto two wheels, says specialist MCE Insurance

London’s streets could soon be buzzing with the sound of Vespas, Peugeots and Piaggios, as the capital vies with Rome to be the centre of the scootering world. Reduced ownership costs and low-cost insurance are getting Londoners out on two wheels.

With public transport already at full stretch, the introduction of congestion charging on 17 February will have many Londoners thinking about alternative forms of transport. Congestion-charge-exempt scooters are set to see sales rocketing. Sales were already up 27 per cent year on year in London alone, and scooter dealers are expecting to do a very brisk trade over the coming weeks.

Londoners who have not previously considered the option may be pleasantly surprised at just how little it costs to buy, run and in particular insure a scooter. According to specialist scooter insurance provider MCE Insurance, recently voted small insurance broker of the year, annual premiums can be as little as £55 - the same cost as two weeks’ congestion charges. That’s a fraction of the average car insurance premium in the capital - and a scooter gets you across town roughly three times as fast.

MCE’s Julian Edwards comments: ‘A brand new scooter - giving 110 miles to the gallon - can sell for as little as £850 (half the price of a zones 1-6 season ticket), with good-quality second-hand bikes available for several hundred pounds less. In the crowded cities of Japan now they are introducing stripped down hi-tech scooters selling for just a few hundred pounds, and the UK will be heading that way too.’

Edwards is convinced that London will see continental levels of scooter use within months as the effects of the Congestion Charge kick in. ‘To those who argue we don’t have the climate for it, I say look at Germany. Scooter ownership there is significantly higher than in the UK and the weather is no more reliable there. It has never been cheaper to insure your bike and the cost-benefits of scooter ownership look irresistible now the Congestion Charge is coming into force.

‘Contrast the ease of buzzing around town on a scooter with the hassle of running a car in the capital today or getting anywhere by tube. A scooter is flexible, manoeuvrable, easy to park, fuel-efficient and runs reliably. It’s little wonder today’s commuters are switching to a cheaper and chicer form of transport. How long will it be, I wonder, before London’s Trafalgar Square takes over from the Trevi Fountain as the scooter rider’s spiritual home?’