Motorcycle Insurance

I started riding motorcycles when I turned 50, about 7 years ago. I was sitting on the couch one Autumn Sunday afternoon. I was half asleep while watching a pretty boring football game. I heard a loud rumble in my driveway and looked out to see my buddy, Steve, parking a new, bright red Harley Fat Boy. He told me that he used to sit on the couch and watch weekend football and now he rides the motorcycle. Wow, Steve's afternoon visit changed my life!

I started reading everything I could get my hands on about motorcycles. I learned that each type of bike has a culture that goes with it. Sport bikes, choppers, touring bikes each have a distinct group of enthusiasts. Well, I started fantasizing about long trips throughout the Western United States with my wife on the back of the bike. She agreed she would like to ride and to go ahead and look into a bike.

I was not very interested in taking off by myself, I wanted to ride with friends and family. So, I narrowed my motorcycle search down to Harley Davidson and then down to an Ultra Classic. This bike has all of the comforts I wanted on the road, Radio, CD player, CB and and intercom to talk to the wife. I got a bright red one and my friends began calling it the red couch.

My only previous biking experience had been years earlier with a small off road bike. The new Harley weighed over 800 pounds and had all kinds of power. I figured I better take a motorcycle safety course before I tried to get my California Motorcycle Endorsement on my driver's license. This turned out to be a very good investment of time and money. It was a 20 hour course over 3 days at the local high school. I learned a lot about things I would have never considered. The course ended with each of the students getting the official DMV endorsement and a certificate that would be needed for a safety course discount on my motorcycle insurance.

Speaking of insurance, I now needed to get the bike fully covered. I made the mistake many people make when shopping for vehicle or auto insurance. I shopped for the best policy I could find for just the new bike. I compared all of the companies and I ended up going with Progressive. I was not unhappy with Progressive and, in fact, they had great customer service. Their premium rate was among the best at the time I first signed up. It was not until a couple of years later that my wife asked me why my rate was going up so much. In fact it was going to double on the renewal! What was this about? I did not have any tickets or accidents. I was a more experienced rider and the bike had depreciated.

I decided it was time to shop again. I called a number of companies and eventually I spoke to a Farmer's Agent to get a quote on my almost three year old bike. He asked me if I had any other vehicles or property that I currently insured. I told him of course, but they are all covered and I had already searched for the best prices on each of them. I had my house with Auto Club, my two cars with Mercury Insurance and my motorcycle and boat with Progressive.

He was the first agent to ask my permission to compare all of the policies if we bundled them with Farmer's. I had nothing to lose and gave him the cover sheet on each of my policies. A few days later, Ryan Perrenoud, said he was going to fax me over a VIP comparison of my current coverage and premium costs and those same coverages and premiums with Farmer's Insurance. Long story short, he saved me over $1,800 a year on the combined policies. He even found me a special discount because I am a retired law enforcement officer. He explained to me that most people stay with a company because they are comfortable with their price and service. Also, most people buy insurance as needed for their car, house or toys. These needs usually occur at different times, so most people never take the opportunity to package them all together for one combined quote. Also, most people think that a policy has to expire before they can replace it with a better policy. California insurance law requires that any unused portion of a policy premium must be refunded to the insured withing 30 days from the time they notify the insurance company that they wish to cancel the policy. It is pretty much the opposite of what we are used to with our cellular service contracts with early termination clauses.

From this experience my suggestion is that when you are looking for insurance for ANY of your property, shop for coverage on ALL of your property. It is almost a sure bet that you will save a bunch of money on premiums. I can think of many things I would rather do with my $1,800 savings than write checks to insurance companies.

So, the bad news was that Progressive Insurance wanted to double my rates. The good news is that that event caused me to do the shopping most of us always put off to another time. I ended up with better coverage and lower overall premiums. Check it out!