Insurance

gary_imp

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I know this subject differs from state to state, country to country. In my state (Washington State) we are not required to carry insurance on motorcycles so many do not have it. Unless, of course, they are financing a bike. The bank then requires the borrower to carry full coverage on the bike. I have liability insurance on all of my vehicles but nothing with full coverage.

I am shopping around for an insurer that will cover one bike at full coverage and was wondering if I could get some experienced opinions on the matter. If you live in the states please help advise me on who to go with and what to get. If you live in Washington State, all the better.

Thanks
 
I have my bike insured with Allstate. Single policy with no other vehicles. I have comprehensive and liability with no collision. Annual cost is $139 I'm not sure if I get a multi bike discount but there's no auto on the policy
 
Live in southern Ohio. I have full coverage, but have muti-bike/ muti-car/ and my Homeowners Insurance with State Farm. I pay $ 322.81 per year on the CB.

I've had Nationwide and Allstate in the past and have had trouble with claims. Would probably have trouble with State Farm too, who knows :rolleyes: Hope to never find out.
 
I'm an insurance agent in Illinois. I like Progressive here, but Safeco is domiciled in Washington so they may be a bit more competitive there than they are here. You are going to have to do some shopping and, frankly, no one on this forum, including myself, is in a position to give you very specific advise on a particular carrier. In general, I have found that Progressive, GEICO, Safeco, and Dairyland (and there's a couple more that will probably be posted by others) have a good policy and usually have reasonable pricing. State Farm and Allstate can be good, too, if you have your home and auto with them, but they seem to be not quite as good with a stand-alone motorcycle policy. I don't know why, because I am an independent agent and those companies' agents are employees -- they only represent their one company. Speaking of which, finding an independent agent could be a good idea because they can help you shop a little. Finding an independent agent who also rides should be a BIG help to you. He/she will know the right coverage levels and will probably have access to several companies. Obviously, I am going to recommend a fellow independent agent rather than a direct writer (State Farm, Allstate, American Family), BUT if you have a relation ship with one of those companies, you should pursue that first.

Key thing: there is (usually) no reason to have 2 or more agents for your personal insurance needs. You should be able to find one person who is knowledgeable about auto, home, boats, motorcycles, and even life insurance. It makes your life much easier and if your person can't help you with those things, maybe you should look for someone who can.
 
Holy shizzle.

In the UK insurance is a legal requirement, it also cost young riders thousands of pounds per year.

High performance bikes, 19 years old.. Forget it !


I was paying £2300 per year on a GSXR750WP when I was 23.

For the uninitiated...that's $3850 at today's weak exchange rate. In 97 I'd imagine it was more like $4500!
 
State Farm always come through for us whenever we've filed a claim and has our business for most everything insurance-wise. As far as insuring the CB1100 goes, here in Portland I'm paying $302/year with deductibles of $100 (comp) and $250 (coll).
 
I use USAA insurance for my cars, and they have a deal with Progressive for motorcycle insurance since they don't write MC policies. Going through the insurance at the dealership where I bought my now-totaled Prius 2 weeks ago they were able to shave $200 off of the same coverage at Progressive ($600 for the year, full coverage). better than $800!
 
You REALLY need to compare what's in the policy, can't just have people rattle off their yearly prices, here is mine from Progressive, just went down from $560 to $430 this year with same coverage as below. When someone comes in looking for the "lowest" price they can get, guess what, you get their lowest coverage, not always good.
As with many things, you get what you pay for.
---------
Policy coverages
Bodily Injury & Property Damage: $250,000 person/$500,000 accident/$100,000 property damage
Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury & Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: $250,000 person/$500,000 accident/$100,000 property damage
Personal Injury Protection: $15,000 person/$30,000 accident ($1,000 ded) R
Medical Payments: No coverage
Transport Trailer: No coverage
Vehicle coverages for 2013 HONDA CB1100
Physical Damage Options: Total Loss Coverage
Comprehensive: $500 deductible
Collision: $500 deductible
Disappearing Deductibles: Selected
Roadside Assistance: Selected
Accessory coverage: $3,000 (Included)
 
I agree, paying for insurance will feel ridiculous when you still owe out of pocket so it's good to get the coverage that will actually benefit you in a time of need. I did a line by line comparison to ensure that I wasn't comparing apples to oranges.
 
In Massachusetts and maybe other states the operator is not covered for bodily injury on your own policy, except for the optional $8000 medical payments coverage, leaving with no coverage, if you are found at fault in an accident , unless you have secondary insurance.
 
shdwghst457_imp said:
I agree, paying for insurance will feel ridiculous when you still owe out of pocket so it's good to get the coverage that will actually benefit you in a time of need. I did a line by line comparison to ensure that I wasn't comparing apples to oranges.
When the subject came up on a British forum a while back, someone put it quite nicely;

"If you just want a piece of paper that says you're insured then ________ are fine! however if you actually want decent cover if anything happens you're better off going with _________"
 
Have a homeowner, car and motorcycle policy with Liberty Mutual. Complete comprehensive combined coverage on the 2012 V-strom and 2013 Cb1100 is $255. A really good deal I think
 
HikerToo_imp said:
You REALLY need to compare what's in the policy, can't just have people rattle off their yearly prices, here is mine from Progressive, just went down from $560 to $430 this year with same coverage as below. When someone comes in looking for the "lowest" price they can get, guess what, you get their lowest coverage, not always good.
As with many things, you get what you pay for.
---------
Policy coverages
Bodily Injury & Property Damage: $250,000 person/$500,000 accident/$100,000 property damage
Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury & Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: $250,000 person/$500,000 accident/$100,000 property damage
Personal Injury Protection: $15,000 person/$30,000 accident ($1,000 ded) R
Medical Payments: No coverage
Transport Trailer: No coverage
Vehicle coverages for 2013 HONDA CB1100
Physical Damage Options: Total Loss Coverage
Comprehensive: $500 deductible
Collision: $500 deductible
Disappearing Deductibles: Selected
Roadside Assistance: Selected
Accessory coverage: $3,000 (Included)
How the hay are you getting that price? For the exact same coverage, I'm getting $868 (just checked online). Also, I don't have an option for 'Personal Injury Protection'. Looks like you're getting more. I'm 42, perfect driving record, etc.
 
gtr is in California. HikerToo is in Delaware. That is just one of the reasons that the rates differ. There are probably 20 rate factors that, in different combinations, change rates for a rider within a particular state. It is almost impossible to compare your insurance rates to that of another individual and is an exercise in frustration in any case. You need to give your unique information to an agent or a company and then compare coverage and pricing to other agents/companies that sell bike insurance within your particular state and then choose the one that gives you the best VALUE (not always the one with the lowest price). An independent agent can be helpful in this shopping process, but you can do it yourself, too. Also, note that internet quotes are notoriously inaccurate unless you input very detailed information (addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, etc).

Personal Injury Protection is probably a required coverage in Delaware and is probably not required (or is called something different) in Cali. I am not licensed in either state so I am not sure of the insurance laws there.
 
So with the different states comes different riding seasons and season length. I am sure insurance companies factor something like that in to the rates... one would hope at least...
 
My rates fell sharply when I moved from a large city in Florida to a rural area in Georgia. Being over 65, retired and a group rate that I receive through Telephone Pioneers has allowed a substantial savings.
 
When I moved from Upstate New York to Western North Carolina my insurance rates doubled.
Same 4 bikes, same coverage and same me!
When I called Progressive they told me 3 reasons:

Longer riding season

More dangerous roads

More tourists
 
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