Hey everybody, I just thought about something that might be helpful that most people don't know. I work in insurance, and the way most companies do their motorcycle policies is that there's a minimum amount that they can charge for the year. So like, with Allstate (where I used to work), the lowest amount a policy can cost for the year is $75 (and I believe $60 in West Virginia. There's one state, but I forget which one), so like, if you call and get a quote for just liability and they tell you it's $75 ($60 for Geico, if I'm not mistaken), you can add coverages to it and since you're under the minimum, it'll still be $75.

I only really bring it up because working in a call center, I know a lot of the other agents didn't usually point it out to people, and if you're gonna be paying the same either way, you might as well get as much coverage as possible, right? I know for most bikes older than 2003 (unless it's a Harley or a GSXR/hayabusa/whatever), the liability part only ends up costing $30-$40, so you can usually add comprehensive, which will cover your bike if it gets stolen, a tree falls on it, you hit a deer, anything that's out of your control, and it's still under the $75 cap. I've had calls before where people have just wanted liability but I was able to add on collision, comprehensive, and medical and it was still the same price. So the best thing I would say would just be to always ask if they give you a rounded off dollar figure, what the price would be if you added comprehensive or something and you might be able to get more for your money.

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I have found through painful experience that Motorcycle insurance is for the most part worthless.
Case in point, In December of 2007 I was involved in a motorcycle / pickup wreck on Hwy 84 in Louisiana. The driver of the ford ranger pulled out onto the hwy and stopped in my lane, I was unable to stop and hit the pickup doing around 60mph. The driver of the pickup was sited as sole responsible for the wreck. My 1980 FLT was totaled and I was almost totaled.
But I had Formost a subsidiary of Farmers and he had Allstate. Were in good hands now. Well here comes the rub. The young man did not have enough insurance to cover the damage to the bike or even close to the repair bill on me along with being bed ridden for 6 months. But not to worry I had Formost and Complete coverage including un and under insured coverage. And I as well had taken the time and cost to ‘stack” my policies as I had at the time 3 motorcycles covered and all with High limit coverage.
Come time to pay out Allstate tosses there dime into the pot and Formost hands me a letter, Seeing how my insurance agent was in Texas and I was at the time a Texas resident and my motorcycles were registered in Texas my insurance coverage did not apply because the wreck happened in Louisiana just across the Texas state line. 2 years of court battle and guess what I ended up paying for my own hospital costs and bike. We are forced to buy and carry insurance but they are not forced to comply with there policies as long as there is a loop hole and the insurance companies own the members of the house and senate, in the end they did not drop me they did quadrupled my premium costs.
Insurance is a SCAM .

I could go on and will
In 2003 I had a vehicle stolen in Florida; it was parked at my house in a secure place. I went to find a replacement and found several in the same year and condition. I submitted the replacement cost and received there reply. There adjusters determined that the value of the vehicle was half of what it would cost to replace. The only way to depute this was, and I was instructed to take the stolen vehicle and have it appraised? Makes good since to me. I found out then that the insurance commission was a joke and owned by the insurance companies
This was progressive insurance; I for one think they should stick to making soup

Wow, there was a lot that was done wrong in the one in 07. The biggest thing is that when a policy is written, you're supposed to be covered in all 50 states, as well as Canada. The minimum coverage in Louisiana is also $15k for property damage, and they may well have just been trying to screw you, but either way, as long as he was covered, he should have had ample coverage for an 80 FLT. Maybe not any optional stuff you might have had, but for the bike itself, there should have been no problem paying for a 27 year old bike with even the minimum coverages. I could definitely see him not being covered enough to pay for your medical, but even with that, you should have been able to take the driver himself to court and gotten paid that way.

As for the one in 03, yeah, they pretty much give blue book, which is usually 40-60% of what the same vehicle would cost at a dealership, and that does suck, but theres not a whole lot that can be done about it :/

Anyway, I've been on both sides of it, since I got hit by somebody a couple months ago, and it definitely seemed a lot more streamlined than it was when I had my accident in 06. The lady that hit me had Allstate, but I actually have Nationwide.

I get what you're saying though, it's just like any of the major industries with lobbyists and stuff, they're out there to make money (believe me, seeing my paycheck compared to how much money I was making for the company, compared to how much agents working in offices made, I know, lol). But I know a lot of states require coverage, so I figured if I can help yall trick the system as much as I can, I'm glad to.
I'm also not really in the industry anymore (lost my job at Allstate earlier this month, and knowing how I got fired also kind of backs up the whole only-caring-about-the-bottom-line thing), but I did have a couple years of experience and hopefully I can help out a bit.

As I believe the only thing lower and more deceitful than a lawyer is an insurance company along with there con persons called agents. They have no problem collecting the cash and no problem dumping you in the trash when it suites them
Learned my lesion well, I carry what is required by law and no more.
About the truest thing you said was they Might have been trying to screw me, YA Think?