Motorcycle Insurance Rates
Practicing Good Safety Lowers Insurance Costs. Wear protective clothes and gear designed to minimize injury in the event of a crash
If you’re concerned about your motorcycle insurance rates, talk to your state’s insurance commissioner. In 2002 Jim Long, commissioner for North Carolina, ordered a 17.8 percent decrease in auto insurance rates and a 10 percent cut in motorcycle liability rates, a move that saved individual consumers hundreds of dollars per year. The insurance industry had requested a 5.9 percent increase in auto rates and a 3.5 percent increase in motorcycle rates.
If you ride safely, you can also lower your rates in the long run. When getting ready to ride, there are important issues that should influence your clothing. Wear protective clothes and gear designed to minimize injury in the event of a crash. Leather jackets and pants can take a lot of the friction from the road if you drop your bike. Better trash the pants than a permanent case of road rash.
Head gear is equally important whether or not your state requires it. From full-face to open face to skullcaps, you can find several types of helmets on the market. Make sure your helmet is DOT approved, and it should fit properly. If it’s too loose it won’t offer your head much protection. Have the store help you pick the right one for your noggin.
Here are five safety and riding guidelines to follow before and while you’re on the road:
- Ride a bike that you are able to handle. Sounds so obvious, but you’d be amazed how many bikes get away from their owners who can’t handle them properly.
- Always put on protective clothing, and a helmet. Your head may seem hard, but the road is harder.
- Be conscious of your blind spots – and of other motorists. Be extra cautious in states that allow you to ride in between lanes. You may think they see you…
- Keep a 2- to 4-second distance from the motorist in front of you.
- Watch for oil, water, ice and sand on the road.
- Slow down if you can’t see.
You should also keep your bike secure: with bike thefts going up more than 55 percent according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and motorcycle sales soaring at record rates, a review of motorbike owners revealed that a full 49 percent are worried about theft and 84 percent believe the odds are “slim to none” of getting a stolen bike back.
You can’t stop bad things from happening, but you can stack the odds in your favor with common sense riding habits and a little planning.
Motorcycle insurance is really about buying something that you hope you’ll never have to use... The process is basically the same regardless of what kind of insurance you’re buying. You can get in touch with insurance companies online, directly by telephone, or through an insurance agent or broker to get quotes. Here are some places to look for good ideas on insurance companies:
- Ask the agent or broker who currently insures your auto or home about motorcycle insurance
- Ask friends or neighbors who have coverage for advice on good agencies to call if your insurance company does not cover motorcycles
- Look through motorcycle publications and online biker community websites
- Check the Yellow Pages
- Talk to the biker or dealer who sold you the bike
- Search the web for motorcycle insurers
Your age, driving record, years of driving experience, garaging location and the amount of miles you’re likely to drive in a week, as well as the size, type and brand of bike, are all factors that will have an effect on your premium rate.
A new group of motorcyclists has emerged in recent years: riding now appeals to older and more affluent riders. More insurers are entering the market as motorcycles become more popular. Most of the top ten auto insurers now offer motorcycle insurance, either as an endorsement to a personal automobile policy or as a separate policy, in most of the states in which they operate.
There are more coverage options and carriers that ever before. But nothing beats good riding habits and common sense.
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