[Artful]

First of all, hi, I'm new to this forum, but a forum veteran in general. I'm already well acquainted with the search button

I just purchased an '07 695 Dark on Saturday, and other than the sub-freezing MD temps, I'm loving it.

So I'm in the process of insuring the bike (I have 30 days of coverage by MD law on my current policy until the bike is added) and I'm quoting around. Progressive touts themselves as being the #1 insurer of motorcycles in the US, and they have a fast and easy online quote system. My company (Erie) doesn't have a web calculator for motorcycle insurance and my agent was closed for the weekend.

So I run the numbers, with comprehensive and collision and $500 deductibles. My jaw drops.

Progressive wants $1600 a year to insure the bike. That is TWICE my auto rate. Sure Ducati parts are more than Joe Average Jap Bike, but they aren't gold plated. I have a spotless driving record. I'll be 26 in a few weeks. I've been riding for 9 years, I'm not a reckless teen with no experience.

I start to panic a little. I had budgeted about $250 a month for the motorcycle and insurance. With this quote I would be looking at over $370 a month. I could do it, but I'd be mighty lean. I had quoted a Triumph Bonneville through Progressive and it had been $365 a YEAR. What sort of crazy premium were they adding????

So I call my agent and he gives me even worse news initially. Erie apparently doesn't handle a lot of motorcycle policies, he recommends I quote who? That's right, Progressive. But he says he'll run it anyway just to check it out.

So I try Geico. I hate them, but I figure eh, why not try it out. I run the same numbers I did with Progressive... the page loads... $667 a year. Almost a THIRD of what Progressive was quoting. Eureka!

My agent calls me back a few minutes later with even better news, Erie can insure it with even BETTER coverage for $606 a year.

My question is this. If Progressive is SO popular with Motorcycle insurance, how can they be a thousand dollars off?? How could motorcycle insurance with less coverage cost twice as much as my auto insurance? Sure bikes get wrecked a lot. But KEE-rist, my car accident back in January cost them as much as the damn bike cost me.

 

[Yoda9]

When I had my YZF-600R, I checked out Progressive but they were astronomical. Something like $2000 for the year.

FWIW, I currently have my 2001 M900 insured with State Farm (I have my home and auto through them as well). I have full coverage with $500 deductibles (I think) for under $500 for the year. I have heard some good things about Dairyland (I think they also go by Sentry). I also have heard of BikeLine for cycle insurance, but have no FHE with either. Good Luck.

 

[spidey]

Yes, they are stoned. That's the only way I can explain it.

I asked Progressive to run a super-high-$-liability coverage policy for me. It was over $5k annually. Geico was like $1.5K. Others were much less.

 

[Fergus]

How each company classifies your bike seems to make a big difference. Last September, when I went to get my 620 insured, my agent first quoted me ~$800. I had searched around and asked some questions and went in thinking it would be less. So I told her that I'd shop around. She said she'd try one of her other companies, Dairyland. That came out to be around $300 a year, with comprehensive coverance and $500 deductible. She thought it was probably because the other company was classifying my bike as a sport bike, and Dairyland was classifying it as a standard/classic. I'm about 10 years older than you and live in Utah and that may account for the rest of the difference between what I'm paying and what you're paying. You may want to give Dairyland a call...

-Ferg

 

[Artful]

Actually I'm happy with the Erie quote, and my agent has always taken great care of me when people have felt the urge to run into my car.

I just had to vent that a company that touts its motorcycle experience is sooo out of the ballpark on premiums. I'm not sure Dairyland even covers the MD area.

 

[Blueshark928]

Progressive must place alot of stock in rider age. I'm 43. My '05 M620 was $300 per year and the '02 ST4s (all 996 cc & 120hp of it) was only a 50 dollar increase in premium. I guess i should ask, do you live inside either beltway? I found out the hard way how much that sucks for rates when i lived in Brooklyn Park inside the balto beltway. I live near Annapolis now.

 

[motophile365]

$600 a year for full coverage - Progressive in Ohio S2R.

It's where you live and how the loss #'s are looking for them in that state. I could be that MD has a high number of thefts and accidents for them... Maybe Geico doesn't have market penetration in MD or has a low payout... It's all about the #'s

 

[Blueshark928]

I forgot to add that i have a multi bike policy to cover my wife's V-Star which is titled in my name. That doesnt hurt either.

 

[Thumper]

My question is this. If Progressive is SO popular with Motorcycle insurance, how can they be a thousand dollars off?? How could motorcycle insurance with less coverage cost twice as much as my auto insurance? Sure bikes get wrecked a lot. But KEE-rist, my car accident back in January cost them as much as the damn bike cost me.

I went through the exact same thing with Progressive a few years back. I believe them to be, by far, the most expensive. They do advertise a lot in the motorcycle crowd, but they never advertised that they were the cheapest. It has just been "assumed".

I've been with Allstate for 25+ years and nobody can touch their rates. I was paying 35 dollars per month for my motorcycle until I filed two full claims for bikes I totaled. After that, nobody will insure me, nobody. And in Florida, you don't need motorcycle insurance.

 

[JJGeo]

I've been with Allstate for 25+ years and nobody can touch their rates. I was paying 35 dollars per month for my motorcycle until I filed two full claims for bikes I totaled. After that, nobody will insure me, nobody. And in Florida, you don't need motorcycle insurance.

Allstate was more expensive than Progressive for me. I'm 33 with a spotless record, and have my car, house, and life insurance with them! I hunted around and found GMAC Rider insurance to have the best rates and lowest deductibles.

It all depends on region I think.

 

[Thumper]

I think it depends on many things that I'm not sure what they are. My friends all have different insurance companies and swear by them all. So, why are all the prices different for all the people? Weird.

A company that will be cheap for me may not be for you and vice versa. I'm not sure.

Anyway, I'm not insurable anymore anyway. It was so long ago that I claimed 2 bikes. However, Allstate still has it on record and nobody will insure me. Ah well.

 

[Archimedes]

All depends on how they classify the bike (sport bike or not). Progressive wanted $950 for my 06 S2R. I got $450 from GEICO.

Now, what I will say is that Progressive is an awesome company. I had them when I totaled my CBR 6 years ago and they were amazing in terms of customer service, responsiveness and pay out. I would definitely use them again, if they were price competitive.

GEICO was great as well when a drunk cleaned me out at a light and totaled my car a couple years ago.

 

[steada]

This is an interesting read. I insure my 3 bikes with Progressive 2006 S4R, 2005 M620 and 2005 BMW R1200GS and total was around $1100 a year here in FL.

Every time the renewal comes up I go looking at other insurers but every time these guys have come out cheapest. I guess they just want to pick their market and price out the others.

 

[Thumper]

Allstate was excellent to. A guy drove up in his SUV and cut a check, both times, to the dealer that totalled my bike. He then turned and cut me a check that was much greater than the current retail value of the bike. The dealer was standing right there and said that she could get me on a new bike for a certain amount, and he cut me a check. Allstate has always been great like that. They didn't nickle and dime me to death.

 

[Artful]

Glad to hear most folks have had good insurance experiences, not usually the case.

Erie has been spectacular for me, I had some kids knock out a window on my VW and it was repaired and reimbursed the same day. Last January I had a kid in an STI drive through the rear end of my Toyota and the claim was handled by his insurance company, GEICO. The claim took two weeks to process (keep in mind the shop won't start work to repair until the claim is finished) and I was without my car for over a month.

I'm sure Progressive has their reasons for pricing the way that they do, but the fluctuations involved in insurance are certainly mindblowing to the casual observer.

 

[godtfred]

Progressive wants $1600 a year to insure the bike. That is TWICE my auto rate. Sure Ducati parts are more than Joe Average Jap Bike, but they aren't gold plated. I have a spotless driving record. I'll be 26 in a few weeks. I've been riding for 9 years, I'm not a reckless teen with no experience.

Back home in Oslo, Norway, my company quoted me an astronomical sum to insure my S2R 800, but when then he ran the S2R 800 Dark instead, and the quote was about 1/3 of the original offer. So my bike is now officially a nice black and tangerine DARK [laugh]

It seems that the insurance companies calculate quotes by a percentage of damage they have to pay on a model vs. how many they have insured of that particular model. Here it seems the DARK comes out favorably in comparison to the S2R 800, even though they are the same more or less. Weird policy...

-axel

 

[iwantaduc]

I actually went to a 1000cc sport bike, went from Comprehensive to full coverage and my insurance went down ~$10 every 6 months from my japanese 600 sport bike... I pay ~300$ a year with Statefarm... I do have my autos/home and 1000$ deductibles...

 

[VisceralReaction]

I don't know what the deal is. I think it's region, bike, rider age, among other things.
I got a quote for a 2004 ST3 and it was $120 per year in Idaho with Allstate. Full coverage.
Of course that also assumes you don't ride it like December-March.
Allstate take off the Collision coverage during the "parked" time and you just have Comp coverage
during that time.

 

[fasterblkduc]

My last two bikes, both sportbikes (Ducati 996, and CBR600rr), have been with Progressive because they were the cheapest for me. They were even cheaper than Farmer's and I already have house, car, etc. with Farmers... ???

 

[sconly]

I have a story to tell about progressive. This story takes place several years back. I had my TL1000R and had full coverage on it through progressive. I was paying about $800 a year which wasnt bad. Not knowing any better I canceled it to save a few bucks during the winter months. When spring came I went to put the same coverage back on it and they wanted over $2000, I had not acrued any points on my license or anything. I decided to put what I could afford on it which was liability but progressive still wanted $800 a year. I then decided to go to an agent my friend told me about, I got liability for $400 a year, after I had asked who it was through she told me progressive.

the moral of this story is this, I used to think that going through an agent would be more expensive because there were more people involved but it turns out that the larger companies give the agents discounts for bringing in business, if your looking for insurance check with an agent. I am still with progressive now but paying $200 for liability on my girlfriends ducati and when spring comes I am going to mcinsurance. check them out all they insure are toys, bikes boats etc.

mcinsurance.com they are out of waterbury, ct