Insurance

[bmwdude]

Any advice on which insurance company is best?

 

It has been about six years since I last rode and I am going to pick up a new R1200RT in a few days so I figured it would be prudent to be insured as soon as possible. Any thoughts?

[maxfrankel]

I found Dairyland (Sentry) to have the best rates.

[bmurphypdx]

From other threads, it seems as if each person has to do his own shopping as the quotes are highly variable depending on a multitude of factors including location, etc. The only input I have is that Safeco handled my claim efficiently and paid well when a deer hit me last fall.

[GregB]

Just be sure and check several since I found a wide difference. I went with Progressive which is about $600/year on my RT. One other quote was similar and one was around triple that. It seems some companies just don't want to insure motorcycles.

[bakerzdosen]

Any advice on which insurance company is best?

It also depends on your definition of "best". Are you looking for the best service? The least red tape if you're ever in an accident? Around here most people tend to look for one of two things:

1) Cheap

2) Easy to deal with (aka convenient).

 

#1 will ultimately depend on the actuaries and how they feel about your circumstances. I found that Dairyland (aka Sentry) had the best rates when I bought my f650cs. However, on my r1200st, they seem to be a bit more than other places (I had already paid for the year so it was cheaper to upgrade my coverage than to go with someone else). I'm up for renewal and will shop around. From reports on the web, they might not be the easiest to work with if you have to file a claim. However, they do automatically cover up to like $3k in gear.

 

A lot of people seem to either really like Progressive and/or Geico or they've found them too expensive. Apparently they're good to work with if you have a claim.

 

#2 again depends on you. If you have everything covered by State Farm (home, car, etc), some people find it easier to go with them. I have Allstate for everything, and insuring my bike was 4x as expensive as Dairyland with lower coverage, so obviously that wasn't worth it to me.

 

Here are a couple of sites that I found helpful:

 

Link 1

Link 2

[Steve_Witmer]

I sometimes think insurance companies assign rates at random. I presently have "full coverage" on my RT through Progressive at a very reasonable price. No claims experience yet (and hope never to find out ).

[beagle]

They're all good companies, the real question is what are you looking for. I've got a clean record for the last 10 years, no accidents, and high deductables. I also have a million dollar liability policy on myself for business reasons which require me to carry higher limits on all my auto and cycle insurance. For someone to say ABC covers me for 100 and quoted you 200 is meaningless. What really matters is when the Sh*t hits the fan how fast do they respond, and do they jack you around after the fact. Money isn't everything, I'd be asking people who've used their insurance what happened next.

[gfountain]

I agree with the comments asking "what are you looking for". I have Progressive. They weren't the least expensive but I have an agent that does a great job of reviewing my complete insurance package. I know that I don't have any coverage gaps between my health insurance, bike insurance and umbrella policy. I had a serious accident (non-motor vehicle) a few years ago and got through about $750,000 in medical expenses without any financial problems due to good health and disability insurance. All that fine print that most of us don't take the time to read becomes incredibly important when the worst things happen. Price is important but I recommend emphasis on understanding what happens when bad stuff happens and having the right coverage.

[beagle]

That's what I'm talking about! Just because you pay 200 per year, and have a 500 deductable means nothing. OK, the bike gets fixed, but because you didn't know your health care wouldn't cover you, or the person on the back gets a lawyer - you could lose everything. Now was that 50 per year you saved worth it????

[Big D]

I had my 1100Rt insured with progressive. When i put it down on the Russell scenic Highway and broke my ankle, Progresssive took good care of me and checked back with me almost weekly while the ankle healed. And the funny thing was that when I insured my 1150Rt six months later( i had the 1150 in the garage before I had my cast off) the rate was less than before the accident! Go figure.

 

D