Motorcycle Insurance

More:  See the wBW International and Temporary Motorcycle Insurance page, including tips for visitors to the U.S.A. and Canada and for motorcycle tourists in Europe  |  Motorcycle Insurance Comments (Below)  |  wBW Motorcycle Safety Page  |  Motorcycle Helmet Page

Tips on Buying Motorcycle Insurance:  Make sure you know which company is underwriting the insurance.  It's not always easy to tell; most often a motorcycle insurance policy is purchased from a broker, and if there are problems with the underwriter, you can end up with no policy and no refund!  |  Compare prices and policy details.  Everything isn't necessarily equal!  |  Check your state or local laws first.  You may want or need coverage for yourself, for passengers, for custom equipment, comprehensive and collision, uninsured motorists, medical payments and more.  |  The Insurance Information Institute (U.S.A.) has some good tips on purchasing insurance  |  The U.S. Government Consumer Information Center "Nine Ways to Lower Your Auto Insurance Costs" has some good tips that can be applied to purchasing motorcycle insurance; this page also has a listing of every telephone number for each state's insurance information department  |  Lower your motorcycle insurance costs!  Most motorcycle insurance companies offer a discount if the owner has successfully passed a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) rider safety course  |  Guide to buying motorcycle insurance with tips on liability, uninsured motorist, comprehensive, collision and more  |  Motorcycle Insurance Tips has information on purchasing insurance and more

Insurance Broker vs. Underwriter?  A broker is defined as "an  independent agent who represents the buyer, rather than the insurance company, and tries to find the buyer the best policy".  An insurance underwriter is the organization that actually sells insurance and takes the risk.  Note that some of the companies listed on this page are brokers; that is, they may shop your details around to several insurance underwriters to get quotes, but they normally take a percentage of the transaction.  This isn't necessarily bad if the broker is upfront about the process and makes the process of finding motorcycle insurance more efficient for you.

Motorcycle Insurance - U.S.A.:  Ace Insurance Services also provides insurance for motorcycle racing and motorcycle track owners  |  Allstate motorcycle insurance provides online quotes  |  Bikeline by Markel American Insurance Company has been providing motorcycle insurance for over 30 years and offers online quotes; motorcycle insurance is their main line of business  |   BMW Motorcycle Owners of America insurance for members  |  Dairyland and Sentry motorcycle insurance have merged  |  Ducati Cycle Insurance was specifically created for Ducati owners; Note: apparently no longer in business  |  Foremost Motorcycle Insurance  |  Geico Motorcycle Insurance with free online quotes  |  GMAC motorcycle insurance (information only site, apparently insurance is sold only through brokers)  |  Motorcycle Services, LLC provides online motorcycle insurance quotes for most (but not all) states  |  Progressive Motorcycle Insurance offers online quotes  |    K&K Cycle Insurance brokerage  |  Maryland Cycle Direct  |  Cycle Services North America (aka Bros Club) also has online motorcycle insurance quotes  |  Motorcycle Insurance Quotes online  |  Sentry Insurance has motorcycle insurance and also insurance for vintage and antique motorcycles  |  TWFG Insurance Services is located in Texas and provides insurance through the "top 7" boat, motorcycle and RV insurance carriers

UK Motorcycle Insurance:  Bike Insurance is "the UK's first and only bike insurance comparison website"; fill out a single form 14 brokers will come back with a quote in a claimed 10 seconds!  |  Devitt Motorcycle Insurance - 99% of their customers rated the service as "Good" or "Excellent"  |  Motorcycle Direct - Instant online insurance quotes (wBW Affiliate, see info)  |  Bennetts sponsors many motorcycle race events, including the 2006 British Superbike Championship  |  Carole Nash  |  CIA Insurance Group offers online quotes and purchases  |  Lancaster Insurance Services offers online quotes  |  1st Quote Bikeline  |  Hastings Direct is a broker offering online quotes  |  Wicked Quotes online won an award for customer service in the 2005 Rider Power survey

Canada Motorcycle Insurance:  The Insurance Bureau of Canada has information for consumers on purchasing insurance |  Insurance Canada provides information on insurance for consumers  |  Kanetix Canada has free online motorcycle insurance quotes  |  Primmum has free online insurance quotes for Canadian motorcycle insurance in all Provinces  |  Canadian National Online Insurance Directory

Motorcycle Insurance Brokers:  These online services will help you find the cheapest motorcycle insurance and online quotes.  Be careful about providing personal information - make sure you read their privacy policies first!  |  wBW visitor "L.M." recommends Fernet Insurance (U.S.A.), who found him the best deal on motorcycle insurance  |   Payless Guide to Motorcycle Insurance  |  MotorcycleInsurance.net claims to find instant motorcycle insurance quotes in 45 states

Specialized Motorcycle Insurance:  Ducati and Foremost Insurance now have a Ducati motorcycle insurance program that can also insure things like safety apparel, helmets, leathers, gloves, custom paint jobs and optional equipment like aftermarket parts and accessories; also available is towing and roadside assistance and most policies automatically include First Accident Waiver

Mexico Motorcycle Insurance:  Eddie Ramirez wrote to us: "I work for Adventure Mexican Insurance Services, Inc. We specialize in tourist auto insurance for people driving into Mexico.  We insure many RV Caravan, motorcycle and church groups.  Our website allows customers to purchase Mexican auto insurance from their own computer in less than 5 minutes."  |  Mexico Auto Insurance specializes in Mexico travel insurance and they have several tips on driving in Mexico and visiting the country; they also have a separate website for truck, RV, motorcycle or rental car insurance and information

International Motorcycle Insurance:  The wBW International and Temporary Motorcycle Insurance page  |  The International Insurance Factbook has lots of information on various types of insurance in many different countries  |  American Mexican Insurance Services   |  Visiting the U.S.A.?  Fernet Insurance brokers can help you find temporary motorcycle insurance for riding in the U.S.A.  |  Temporary motorcycle insurance while riding in the U.S.A., Canada and Europe available through Motorcycle Services; they also airfreight uncrated motorcycles between the U.S.A., Canada and Europe

Motorcycle Insurance for Classic - Vintage Motorcycles:  Sentry - Dairyland Motorcycle Insurance has policies for vintage motorcycles, including optional towing and road service coverage  |  Classic motorcycle insurance is available through American Collectors Insurance 

Classic - Vintage Motorcycle Insurance U.K.:  Peter Best Insurance (U.K.) has collector's bike insurance 

Insurance Information:  The Legal Information Institute has all sorts of legal information and court case examples that describe the legal basis for insurance in the U.S.A.

Motorcycle Roadside Assistance Insurance:  See the wBW Motorcycle Extended Warranty Page

Motorcycle Helmet Medical Insurance:  Motorcycle Services, LLC was once a source for insurance for riding without a motorcycle helmet (which we do not recommend!), but apparently this is no longer available

Motorcycle Insurance and Motorcycle Rallies:  From wBW visitor "D.N.":  "When I bought my 2005 Wing, I also got Geico insurance because it was cheap.  However, I have since become aware of a serious limitation which is causing me to change companies. I participate in Rallies and do Iron Butt rides. My liability insurance is no good if I go over 500 miles in 24 hours on a rally.  I talked to Geico about this, and there is no way to buy a waiver from them for the additional coverage.  They claim it does not apply if you are touring, only if you are entered in competition." 

Moral of the story: always read your policy!

Send motorcycle insurance comments to

Note:  For informational use only.  All material and photographs are Copyright © webWorld International, LLC - 2001-2008.  All rights reserved.  Read the Terms and Conditions.  See the webBikeWorld® Site Info page.

 Comments

Have a motorcycle insurance tip or tale of woe?  Send it to

From "D.V.":  "I happen to be a insurance agent/broker here in (the U.S.A.).  You are right in letting people know that it pays to shop different companies.  I was with Farmers Insurance for 20 years and I left them because of their claims service to my customers.  Farmers merged with (was bought by) Zurich N.A. in 2002 and Zurich also owns Foremost Insurance, along with many other companies. 

I decided in 2003 to go the independent agent route and I write for approx 30 different companies, both personal lines and commercial lines of business.  Almost all insurance companies use credit scoring now, so you can't just say one company will have the better rates, because depending on your "credit" the same bike and driving record will have a vastly different premiums.

I find that I have to quote my top 3-4 companies to see what is best for a particular client. In (my state)... my insurance on my 2004 HD Road King runs $245.00 a year with 250/500/100 Bi-Pd limits and $ 500 deductibles on comp and collision.  Foremost wanted over $650, Markel Insurance was $ 700+, Safeco Insurance was $ 680, Dairyland was $475, so you can see what variation there is in rates.

A person can save quite a bit if they have a "supporting business" like their auto insurance and home insurance with the same company.  The multi-policy discount can really add up.  It just all depends on the company.  My riding buddy happens to be a State Farm agent and if State Farm has your cars, they can then write your motorcycle and they can be very completive, especially if you have a sport bike.

Ah yes the Sport bike problem -- Foremost has a 100% surcharge on all sport bikes and other companies do the same to varying degrees and then some companies are more lenient and the underwriter looks at age, experience, driving record, etc to see if they willing to write a sport bike."

Editor's Reply:  And I also just discovered that Dairyland will offer me a 20% discount with a current (within 3 years) MSF Rider Course certification.  Needless to say, I'm taking the Experienced Rider Course again this coming summer!

From Rick (wBW Editor):  Folks, it pays to shop around, something I was too lazy to do each time my motorcycle insurance came up for renewal over the past four years.  I just dumped AAA/Foremost, who kept raising my rates to the current quote for $1,298.00 for one year for the Ducati GT1000 and the 1986 BMW R65.  In the 4 years I've been with Foremost, I've never been able to get them to send me a proof of insurance card to carry on the bikes so I got fed up and told them I would not be renewing.

I got several quotes for both bikes, ranging from $1,498.00 (Geico phone) to $1098.00 (Geico online) to $792.00 (a duplicate Geico online without changing a thing) to $596.00 (Geico phone when I called them to see what was up with the 3 previous quotes -- don't forget, it's so easy a caveman could do it!).

Geico then said they'd only honor the lowest quote if I could send them proof that my wife gave up her motorcycle endorsement, even though she's not listed as an operator.

I called Dairyland (now merged with Sentry) and as long as I was the only operator (I am) they quoted me $545.22 for one year for both bikes for $100/$300 liability; $50k property damage; $100/$300 uninsured, $3,000 collision with $500 deductible and towing on the Ducati.  I went with Dairyland.

More