How to Save Big Money On the Cost of Your Motorcycle Insurance
Every major insurance company in the U.S. that sells motorcycle insurance policies offers a discount to graduates of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s training courses.
You read that right, if you want to save big money on your motorcycle insurance, learn how to ride correctly…
The discounts may well be limited to the three years following your completion of the course, but that’s not such a bad thing. If you take one of the MSF’s (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) street-riding courses every three years, you can think of it as having your riding techniques brought up to speed on a regular basis. The discount you earn can add up to something like two-thirds of the total premium you’re required to pay, depending of course on the age and model of the bike you ride.
If you’re financing the bike, you must have full comprehensive coverage until your bike is paid off in full, but that’s about the only exception you’ll face.
Most customers make one crucial mistake; they under-insure when it comes to uninsured motorist and medical liability coverage.
Medical coverage, or what the insiders in the motor vehicle insurance industry call Med Pay, is an entirely different thing. If you’re covered by a comprehensive health and medical policy where you work, your motorcycle insurance policy’s Med Pay coverage kicks in to cover medical expenses not covered by any other policy you have.
Consider also the one insurance coverage category unique to motorcyclist’s policy’s: guest passenger coverage. Your auto insurance policy nearly always covers occupants of your car other than the driver, but unless you specify it, not all motorcycle policies do. Some states mandate that you purchase guest passenger coverage, but it’s optional in others, so make sure you know what your coverage is in this regard.
Here’s a big tip; if you live in a state where guest passenger coverage is optional and you’re willing to commit never carrying a passenger along for your rides, you can save even more money.
You can also save additional dollars if you’re a member of the American Motorcycle Association, BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, Gold Wing Road Riders Association, Gold Wing Touring Association, Harley Owners Group, Motorcycle Safety Foundation or the Venture Touring Society.
Progressive tracks clients by listening to tapes of telephone calls made to their ‘800’ number, and they say most customers make one crucial mistake; they under-insure when it comes to uninsured motorist and medical liability coverage for the person or people injured when the rider is at fault in a crash.
Uninsured motorist coverage covers you when any driver involved in a crash with you doesn’t have insurance – or even enough of the right kind of insurance. One of every five drivers is uninsured in some states, so don’t try to save money here.
Damn near every state requiring insurance companies to offer no-fault auto insurance either excludes or allows companies to exclude motorcycles from their no-fault policies, it doesn’t seem fair, but there you have it and it’s something you need to know. No-fault insures you against losses you may suffer in the event you’re in a crash – regardless of who’s at fault. Traditional liability insurance covers the losses you may inflict on someone else in a crash for which you’re at fault. Traditional liability means you’ll have to recover any monetary damages from the other driver or his insurance company when you’re not at fault. Because motorcyclists are seriously injured or killed in a crash much more often, insurance companies prefer to write coverage as traditional liability.
The bottom line is this: buy only the amount of coverage you need, but make sure you get all the coverage you need.
And above all, learn to ride correctly and demonstrate your knowledge to the company who you’ve chosen to write your motorcycle insurance policy – it will save you big bucks and make you a better rider in the bargain.
Bad things can happen to you and your bike, and your insurance needs can get complicated.
