The Tasmanian Economic Regulator unveiled its recommended maximum vehicle premiums for the period 2018-2022 in a statement on Thursday, which included price increases for six vehicle categories.

Motorbike classes accounted for four of the six price hikes, with small motorbikes increasing from $167 to $174, and medium, medium-large and large motorcycles jumping from $465 to $478.

The recommended maximum premium for a standard household car remained at $314, while several classes including medium public passenger vehicles and special interest vehicles enjoyed small price cuts.  

Tasmanian Motorcycle Council president Paul Bullock contested the rise, saying insurance claim statistics gave no justification for increased premiums on motorbikes. 

“In just over 10 years we’ve gone from 8400 to 17,000 (bikes), so we’ve doubled the amount of motorbikes on the road but our actual claims have remained roughly the same,” Mr Bullock said.  

“When you put it on a yearly basis it’s remained about 250 to 300 claims a year for motorbikes.”

2017 has been a tough year for motorcyclists in Tasmania, with the state recording five fatalities before April, a number of whom were interstate visitors.

Mr Bullock said steps were being taken to ensure learner motorcyclists and visiting riders were better prepared for Tasmanian roads. 

“We’ve had a really bad run with novice drivers - that’s being addressed and we’ve worked with state growth and (Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding) and the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

“There is a program… where if you book your bike to get on the boat in Melbourne you’re given a pamphlet of how to ride your bike safely in Tasmania, and there’s a vlog the state government has put together that’s being shown on the Spirit of Tasmania to try and prepare people for our roads.

“This is all to address this problem with motorcyclists getting hurt.”

Mr Bullock also took aim at a recommendation from the TER that MAIB be allowed to increase maximum premiums for all vehicles in line with wage growth. 

“I’m totally against them going anywhere near indexation or putting it into someone’s wage increase.

“It’s a no-fault system and MAIB has been making profits for the past few years - they’ve made so much profit that they actually gave us a decrease in premiums so this is going against what has been happening previously.

“To increase automatically - I find that close to offensive.”