Quest for Mototrcycle Insurance

Motorcycle insurance is not required in Washington. What you don't hear is something that I just learned in my MSF Motorcycle Safety class which is that if you do not have insurance and you are in an at fault accident, you can be required to post a $5,000 bond immediately. And if you don't the court can take necessary action to make you, including freezing your accounts.

After hearing that and knowing that accidents can happen first hand, I went on a quest to find the best insurance.

I of course did what every person would do. I called my insurance agent and they quoted me 300+ for the year. Not knowing anything about Motorcycle insurance I almost signed up but I didn't have my VIN cause I was at work. Later that day Jason told me that he go a quote from Progressive because his insurance didn't insure motorcycles and Progressive gave him a much better quote than my State Farm agent gave me. Of which I have only been with them for 15 years carrying a perfect record. So I started shopping.

In my research, Progressive kept coming back up. So I went to their site and they have a great tool that gives you a quick quote, has links to explain everything you are looking at, and provides 800 numbers to get help if you need it.

When I ran my quote and it was under 180 giving me more coverage than my agent offered. I then called my state Farm Agent and was told that the quote I had was the best they could do and they recommended that I buy from Progressive. hmmmm.

Later Jason ran a quote at Geico and it was in the 500+ range and their quoting tool took forever.

A friend of mine from my Safety class told me that her friend that works for Allstate said that sometimes they can match Progressive.

So needless to say I chose Progressive. And when I called them. I like dealing with people if I can. I asked why they were so much cheaper. He let me know that they are ranked #1 for motorcycle insurance, probably because of their pricing. I then tried to stump him and asked how they rank with auto and he said they are #3 with State Farm leading that pack.

A couple of things to think about.

Your insurance is ranked on several factors. Mainly your credit score, then driving record, then age and gender, then the size and style of the bike. Then smaller items like if you are married or own a home.

Some agencies allow the policy to be suspended if the policy is not needed. (this is good for fair weather riders) State Farm allowed this.

Progressive will not. They said their pricing is good because they know it will be in effect for a full year.

State Farm only considers your age, gender, and size of engine where Progressive takes more granular approach and rewards for making better choices.