California Moto Insurance Preference ?

mosearch · mosearch's Garage

What Moto insurance providers do BMW twin owners prefer?

I have been with Progressive a long time, but last time out they increased my policy cost by 25%...I have had no claims, accidents or tickets in between...looking at the detailed offering, the increase all seemed to be about uninsured motorists.

So I'm going to be doing a bit of comparison shopping...

Any good outfits to recommend?

Tirefriar · Tirefriar's Garage

I was with Safeco. When my annual premiums for 3 bikes went to $2100+ I switched to Hagerty. Now i pay less than half of that.

BigDav · 05-31-2018, 07:39 AM

Not in California but Texas.

Progressive liability only.

R1100S and R1200GS less than $100 a year

tm1100s · 05-31-2018, 07:48 AM

Try National General . I've been with them for a while and they seem reasonable. Haven't had any problems so far.

terrym · 05-31-2018, 08:57 AM

I have Nationwide/Allied. They were the most reasonable when I first insured with them several years ago. I haven't shopped recently, though. Zeidler Insurance brokerage in Novato has been very helpful in doing the research for me.

mosearch · mosearch's Garage

And one year later; I am still amazed by Progressive.
they have increased my policy cost by ANOTHER 25%...I have had no claims, accidents or tickets in years.
I guess they are paying Flo and the other actors a bit too much in all those TV ads.

Hagerty (which I do have on my '72 Bavaria) did not seem to cover BCRs, but I'll check again. I have Safeco on my house; might try them...

Any other good bets for carriers insuring in NorCal?

Rapid Dog · 08-29-2019, 09:08 AM

Used Progressive for years. Good service.
But when I bought my new GS I switched to Geico because Progressive was ridick high...

ckcarr · ckcarr's Garage

I can't beat Geico, but I have my cars with them too.

Just quoted Progressive for comparable insurance and it was $200 more per year.

Plus I'll move the insurance around on-line with Geico. In particular, the collision. If I'm not using a bike I'll take collision off it. That makes a big difference. Always keep comprehensive though, if something fell on a bike or it were stolen...

brentw1 · brentw1's Garage

gieco was the cheaptest

Rapid Dog · 08-29-2019, 09:23 AM

...'take 15 minutes and Geico could save you up to 15%".
Shoot, they saved me more like 30%+ on the new bike.

terrym · 08-29-2019, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mosearch

...Any other good bets for carriers insuring in NorCal?

I'm still with Nationwide/Allied and have seen small but steady drops in premiums the last few years (as the bike devalues, I guess). Full coverage, low deductible, high limits - $400 on my 04 R1100S this year. Was $425 last year.

ckcarr · ckcarr's Garage

What's funny was that there was also an S1000r there for sale, also in black when I bought the S1000xr.

So I was thinking, maybe I should get that to try... just for the heck of it, because I saw one at the TOR and liked it. So I put the vin into my Geico account to check insurance... It came back increasing my rates by over $2,000 per year. Then I put the XR in, and it made just a negligible difference in my rate (same engine)... So then I got curious, and found a vin for an S1000rr that was for sale in Salt Lake. And it came back expensive, but less than the S1000r did. So the premier S1000rr was less than the S1000r.

I called Geico to ask what the deal was, because I thought it was an error in the system. But they told me that they evaluate each model statistically, and the S1000r has the highest probability of an accident out of the three bikes... Possibly a sweet spot as far as pricing that lets a lot of young males buy it...

plexiform · plexiform's Garage

Geico is by far the cheapest.

tm1100s · 08-29-2019, 10:45 AM

Geico was always way too high for me for motorcycles. They appear to be very inconsistent with premium charges. Had my cars with them for years but after the last incident that required sending a complaint to the state AND my body shop buddies consistently reporting that they are THE worst to deal with, they're permanently history. The local geico adjuster quit after that claim. The new geico guy got literally thrown out of another shop just yesterday. Changed to AAA for cars for half the cost of geico and on body shop recommendations and reports on how they handle stuff. I'd like to have my .22 handy if I ever see that little green lizard.

I recommended NGIC back a few posts but after being with them for 6 years with no motorcycle claims or tickets , they doubled my premiums. Doubled. Changed to Progressive who was by far the lowest, all for the same coverages. They'll probably get me in the upcoming years, I'm sure. Checked half dozen companies.

Tirefriar · Tirefriar's Garage

Careful with getting drunk onGeico’s cool aid. from experience, Geico and State Farm are two ****holes of auto insurance. Difference is while getting screwed by Geico you don’t get rapped on the premiums as you do with State Farm. Of course, the performance of the carrier varies by region but in the LA area there are body shops that refuse working on Geico and State Farm claims. I noticed that when it comes hit and run scenarios where no concrete info on the culprit can be provided or verified (claim involving a phantom vehicle), Geico at times will deny the claim leaving the insured holding the bag. As for a State Farm, their agents are all nice hard working folks but carry next to no weight when trying to resolve issues with the company.

tomvv11 · tomvv11's Garage

Full coverage on Progressive was cheap until I got a less-than-19-over speeding ticket and they bumped the premium over 50%. I mitigated renewal a bit by cutting out uninsured motorist or medical or something but it stung to be paying more for less.

mosearch · mosearch's Garage

Well, from all this I can only assume that every case is a bit different; maybe due to zip code; or driving history...but I will say that for my zipcode and clean record; McGraw/Pacific Specialty was quite a bit less expensive than the average (pretty close to my 2017 rate)...

and Liberty Mutual was ludicrously high. They explained that their odds-makers consider the R1100S a "sport-bike"...like a Hyabusa or something. I think even the agent knew that was a stretch.

The other five (progressive, geico, safeco, nationwide, national general) were all resonably close together.

mtlla70 · 09-13-2019, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mosearch

What Moto insurance providers do BMW twin owners prefer?

I have been with Progressive a long time, but last time out they increased my policy cost by 25%...I have had no claims, accidents or tickets in between...looking at the detailed offering, the increase all seemed to be about uninsured motorists.

So I'm going to be doing a bit of comparison shopping...

Any good outfits to recommend?

Geico has treated me right! The premiums are reasonable and their service is fantastic.

Three weeks ago in Santa Barbara, I had a simple little drop with my '98 RT. Unfortunately, the drop damaged the cylinder and the bike had to be towed home to LA (AAA RV/MC was great, btw). I called Geico the next (Friday) morning. They sent an adjuster on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, the RT was towed to my mechanic's (billed directly to Geico). The bike ended up being a write-off and the adjuster handed me a cheque that Friday. One week from the time of my first phonecall. The amount was on the very high end of replacement value. And my premium hasn't gone up.

Also, their app and website are very user-friendly and I can use them to get info and make adjustments to my policy at any time.

I couldn't be happier with my experience with Geico.

Hope that helps.