Help with motorcycle insurance

[Yucatan2]

We moved here one month ago. All insurances are more expensive than rural SW Virginia where we came from. Now we have to shop for motorcycle insurance......we were able to insure 3 motorcycles for LESS than the quotes for just the Road King here! Jeesh! We may have some bikes up for sale soon. Our auto insurance is with AAA, where we received a quote for the motorcycle, but it was not "stacked". After researching it seems like we should be getting a stacked quote for the uninsured portion, which for the auto is $100,000/$300,000. For the bike it was only $50,000/$100,000. If stacked it would be a much better deal.
Any bikers with experience in this matter? Who would you recommend getting motorcycle insurance from in this area, with good rates? Should they automatically stack with my auto insurance?

Thank you for any assistance or thoughts about this!

[MikeV]

I had a similar experience. My Road King insurance tripled when I moved here from upstate New York. I now have a new FatBoy and when this term expires I will be shopping for a new quote. I had Allstate and I was already in the middle of a term year so I just went with them for now. I will be interested to see if anyone else can guide us.

[bimmertl]

Most people have enough assets to need an umbrella policy. That policy typically provides $1 million in excess liability coverage. In addition, it can provide both uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) coverage in the same amount. With the umbrella policy, there really isn't a need to buy stacking underlying coverage on your auto and motorcycles. So consider pricing an umbrella policy with UM/UIM coverage and get rid of the stacking coverage on the cars.

[Yucatan2]

Thank you for the heads up about the umbrella policy, we will look into it. The uninsured is what makes the insurance so high!

[DaveNKath]

Hi, I moved from NH., and brought down 4 bikes! I didn't know any better. I ended up stacking them onto the car insurance. The thought of looking into an Umbrella policy seems interesting. I used Village Ins. at Colony Plaza, progressive was cheaper. Please as you find out keep us posted.

Good Luck

[eremite06]

I now have Foremost on my 2 bikes. I dropped my BMW last year and Foremost came out the next day and cut me a check for $6500.

Got a better quote on the bikes from Progressive last year. Try Ammerman Insurance in Leesburg. Talk to Amanda. 352-728-3991

[Yucatan2]

Most people have enough assets to need an umbrella policy. That policy typically provides $1 million in excess liability coverage. In addition, it can provide both uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) coverage in the same amount. With the umbrella policy, there really isn't a need to buy stacking underlying coverage on your auto and motorcycles. So consider pricing an umbrella policy with UM/UIM coverage and get rid of the stacking coverage on the cars.

I'm doing some research on your suggestion. I get the impression that umbrella insurance protects YOU if someone is injured by YOU, or they are injured on YOUR property. Can you show me a link to information that would help me understand how umbrella insurance would cover excess injuries to me if injured by an un/underinsured person?

I am working with my agent now to see, if I have "stacked" insurance on the auto, if I need the uninsured portion on the motorcycles. I'll report back when I get the answer.

[bimmertl]

Correct, the basic umbrella policy is a multi peril liability policy that will cover you and your boat, cars, bikes, etc etc, in excess of any other policies. It also provides for defense of lawsuits brought against you.

But you can add UM/UIM coverage to it. Basic policy typically $1 million in excess liability coverage. It usually requires you must maintain adequate underlying limits on your cars, mrtorcycles etc. That is usually 250/500 liability and UM/UIM.

Your agent should be well versed in all this information. However, my experience around here is the agents "staff" gets involved in a lot of these issues and many times are clueless.

I found this link on a quick look. Looks like it is from Wisconsin but has some good info. May not all apply to every company but it gives a general overview of coverage. Never heard of the company sponsoring the site.

http://www.weabenefits.com/uploadedFiles/z_docs/Insurance/Brochures/Additional_Liability/2703-Personal_Umbrella_Insurance.pdf

[Yucatan2]

Having come from another state, we had never heard of the "stacked" uninsured motorist option. I asked my insurance agent to look into having our motorcycles "stacked" onto our auto uninsured coverage, which she did. We found that having the $100,000/300,000 on the auto and stacking the two Harleys for uninsured coverage saved us $460 on the motorcycle premium. It raised the premium for the auto by $100 per year. Not a bad payoff! Our original quote for the motorcycles was $805 per year, and now it is $369, much more inline with our Virginia rates. Having the uninsured portion on the motorcycle policy would have cost $230 for each bike.

In order to have an umbrella policy, which is for liability coverage as noted above, you need to carry $250,000/500,000, which may add $100-200 to your premium. I do not believe umbrella will help in covering expenses like pain and suffering above and beyond your uninsured motorist coverage.

We have AAA for home and auto and our agent is Kerriann Varney, at the Bichara Blvd office. She welcomes more motorcyclists to inquire about insurance at AAA. By the way, the coverage is through Progressive.