Just got my this years bill for my Allstate insurance. Motorcycle went up 40%. I bundle my insurance and have a LOT of things on my policies. I've been riding for 57 years without an accident and I am more than a little pissed off, insulted, and probably ego bruised. I guess I will begin the process of shopping new insurance. Maybe I will investigate an age discrimination lawsuit (doubt it would work). Just venting a little. A small rant from and old codger who stills rides motorcycles/bicycles, snow skis, and kayak fishes. Probably in better shape than the analyst sitting at his desk who decided I'm a bad risk.

ps. The 47 in my user name is both my year of birth, and the year and make of my first motorcycle.

 

Without failure I've found after several years, the insurance rates start to climb rapidly. The first few years the rate increases are small, but with time it grows.

It's like a pointless game the insurance companies play.

 

Neighbor who is about 74, & never had a claim, turned in a $1600.00 claim for his car, when the icy roads out of his drivway, slid his car into a tree. His next insurance bill came & it was increased by about 70%. This appears to saya; we dont want you anymore & we enjoyed your many years of not having a claim. Goodbye if you dont like it.

so there are times, I would just pay it myself, & use the insurance IF you have a very large claim. some companys give you a one claim or two claim forgiveness, if that is what you want to call it, before increasing your rates. sucks b/c that extra $$ could have been some chrome parts for the bike!

 

Let's face it as we age we start to deteriorate. Reflexes get slower, eyesight's not so good, hearing starts to go. Not to mention the mind is not as sharp as it used to be. Of course this doesn't apply to every single person out there, truth be told there are 70 year olds who are in much better shape than I am at 45. But for the most part the majority of 70 year olds should not be riding a motorcycle. Hell, some shouldn't even be driving a car.

 

As mentioned, the pointless insurance game to extract as much green out of your wallet as possible. Reminds me to double check mine. I usually change carriers every two years due to increases, despite having a spotless record.

 

Dump Allstate, they suck. I had them for about 6 months and they upped the premium when I increased my coverages after having it low for the winter time but never cancelled it. They still couldn't explain why. I told them to shove it and went with Markel. So far it's been good and it's cheaper. No claims yet though. https://www.markelinsurance.com/motorcycle

 

The actuaries crunch all the numbers for these companies by almost everything, including age, gender, ZIP, credit rating, etc. Then the underwriters tack on the profits to set your premiums. Always a win-win for them.

 

You almost have to anymore. I am at that point with mine. I just lost a roof due to storm damage. First homeowners claim ever and I can't wait to see what that does to the rates.

Vehicle insurance is a racket. It used to be accidents that were not your fault didn't count against you. Now they are referred to as "incidents" and you take a hit for it your fault or not. Both my finance and I have been through this recently.

 

Don't know why everyone is all agro about insurance....

That is what insurance is.... a company agrees to repair/replace whatever it is you insure... they crunch the numbers, there are actuary tables for almost everything, and decide what the risk will be.... they charge enough to offset the risk, and make a profit... of course they account for profit... why would they do it for free.... if it wasn't a win for them, they wouldn't bother with it...

Different companies minimize risk by only insuring in certain geographical areas, certain demographics, certain types of vehicles, and/or only insuring good drivers, etc.

Find a company that markets to your demographic (good driver, trained driver, member of certain associations, etc) and buy their product...

I always shop around every two years or so.... I must have done a good job of picking companies, because I've never found one cheaper... I find one close every now and then, but never cheaper...

 

Call them or better yet go in and look them in the eye's and tell them to justify their reason for such an increase and of course threaten to pull all policies you have with them and move on.

rk classic