Insurance Woes, uh Rates

[Cyborg]

Just got my renewal for the VFR.

WARNING: Rant Mode initiated, failsafes to standby.

Among the other fun and games Geico added $300 for a BS 08 red light, $100 for lost of my Mature Rider discount because of the ticket and best of all, $74 because I live in this pisshole shitstacked abortion of a state for an increase from $544 to $1030! Any constructive suggestions?

[motorhead1977]

Call an independent insurance broker and get quotes. Mine saved me 60% off of Progressive and Geico! Best move I ever made.

[Badbilly]

Ball Insurance. Spring TX. One of the few agents who really know bikes unless you believe those ads in the mags about "this is an insurance agent" Sort of like those "lawyers" who ride that pop for a custom chopper by those fools on TeeVee and write it off as an ad cost.

Don't expect your local guy to know shit about bikes. I called a local about two of my bikes and told him specifically what I wanted and not to try to sell me up. He did. No biz from me on my bikes or my car from this dude. Same insurance company BTW.

Any moving violation any more is worth going to court. The LEO might not show and you walk. There are also lawyers who specialize in traffic violations and some of them are just what you want, badgers. If ya'll find one, don't hesitate to ask about his or her win rate. It's a legit question and if the lawyer waffles, fuck em, go someplace else.

[derstuka]

Yes, I have a suggestion....Johnny get your guns!!

[Meatloaf]

Shop around and find someone different. You will find a better rate. However you might not get the same quality of service should something bad happen. I know that I can get cheaper insurance, however I've stuck with Progressive due to the outstanding support that is there whenever I have called them.

[motorhead1977]

.........There are also lawyers who specialize in traffic violations and some of them are just what you want, badgers. If ya'll find one, don't hesitate to ask about his or her win rate. It's a legit question and if the lawyer waffles, fuck em, go someplace else.

Not so. It is patently unethical for a lawyer to make comments or statements that imply previous results indicate a similar outcome is going to happen in the particular instance you are inquiring about. So, you should be guaranteed to not get a direct answer to such a question. If you do get one that is when you should go someplace else. 20 + years in the profession is the basis for my comment. By all means though, find a lawyer who handles only traffic matters and use their services. Several hundred bucks in attorney fees is better than 3-5 years of increased insurance premiums on every vehicle you have to insure.

As an old judge I knew many years ago would always say, "You have an absolute right to represent yourself, just as you have an absolute right to remove your own tooth with a pair of pliers. I suggest to you that either endeavor will be equally painful."

[tinkerinWstuff]

As an old judge I knew many years ago would always say, "You have an absolute right to represent yourself, just as you have an absolute right to remove your own tooth with a pair of pliers. I suggest to you that either endeavor will be equally painful."

I love it!

I pay under $200 a year for my bike. But I'm liability and medical only on a 25yr old VF500.

I got a speeding camera ticket earlier this year. Went to the courthouse to fight it, set a court date, and waited. A couple days before my date, the city called and said, "after further review of your case, we determined that your ticket was generated by a remote test of the system and all charges have been dropped."

B.S.

They are just fleecing money from people who aren't willing to stand up and face their acuser.

[motorhead1977]

Good for you on that one! BTW, be sure you double check the court record system unless you have received a letter of dismissal from the court. Would hate to see you have to deal with a "no response" issue if someone "forgot" to enter the dismissal of charge into their records. Pays to verify and be careful.

[Badbilly]

Not so. It is patently unethical for a lawyer to make comments or statements that imply previous results indicate a similar outcome is going to happen in the particular instance you are inquiring about. So, you should be guaranteed to not get a direct answer to such a question. If you do get one that is when you should go someplace else. 20 + years in the profession is the basis for my comment. By all means though, find a lawyer who handles only traffic matters and use their services. Several hundred bucks in attorney fees is better than 3-5 years of increased insurance premiums on every vehicle you have to insure.

As an old judge I knew many years ago would always say, "You have an absolute right to represent yourself, just as you have an absolute right to remove your own tooth with a pair of pliers. I suggest to you that either endeavor will be equally painful."

Laying the old judge aside for a moment and returning to the rather odd advice and lecture on ethics, one either has a win/loss rate or one does not. Unless of course, one wishes to retain the services of counsel who loses a whole bunch and who falls back on some silly ethics argument to cover his rear end rather than disclose that he ain't all that good in traffic court.

[Cyborg]

Ok, back on topic, I checked with State Farm (don't any of you even think of asking about Allstate or Progressive) and here's what They're offering:

2000 Ford ZX2
Liability only $138 6mths

2005 Honda VFR
Full Coverage $241 6mths

Renter's 20k $141 yr

[Marrib]

My state farm '07 vfr: $340/yr full coverage. May not be applicable since I have no tickets.

[Cyborg]

I have a red light ticket, so there's gonna be a bite on the rates...

[NOLA VFR]

State Farm - Collision/Comp/Liability/ Med/$500 ded. = $360 every 6 mos.

[Badbilly]

Ok, back on topic, I checked with State Farm (don't any of you even think of asking about Allstate or Progressive) and here's what They're offering:

2000 Ford ZX2
Liability only $138 6mths

2005 Honda VFR
Full Coverage $241 6mths

Renter's 20k $141 yr

Looks like the agent is doing the old upsell on you. SOS, you ask for one thing and gee whiz, it looks like you need all kinds of insurance.

All this increase on the basis of one "red" light?

[crustyrider]

Looks like the agent is doing the old upsell on you. SOS, you ask for one thing and gee whiz, it looks like you need all kinds of insurance.

All this increase on the basis of one "red" light?

thats not what it looks like to me...... and just because an agent offers you more coverage....doesn't mean you have to take it so the only upsell there is is if you buy it...

By the way 200dollars a year from progressive...I also have an older bike... next year if my nose stays clean..it drops to 75 bucks a year ... then I up all the additional coverage.....

[crustyrider]

I love it!

I pay under $200 a year for my bike. But I'm liability and medical only on a 25yr old VF500.

I got a speeding camera ticket earlier this year. Went to the courthouse to fight it, set a court date, and waited. A couple days before my date, the city called and said, "after further review of your case, we determined that your ticket was generated by a remote test of the system and all charges have been dropped."

B.S.

They are just fleecing money from people who aren't willing to stand up and face their acuser.

what makes you think that they dropped it because you scheduled a court date? The reason they gave you sounds like a viable excuse..

there was a bunch of tickets given at a red light camera here (down in Ventura actually) a few years ago. this camera was generating a huge amount of violations....they were really surprised about it thinking that a shit load of people run that red light...one person challenged it they looked at the camera to get all the maintainace records etc... they found that the camera was taking pictures early......from that day back they dismissed all the tickets..... it pays to go to court because they have to bring records of maintanance and if its a speeding ticket they have to supply information about the radar gun..when it was last calibrated, when the last calibration check was done..that sort of thing.
so becasue they found that your violation was an accident just be gratefull that someone was lookiing through the files and caught it....

[jahlov420]

i have progressive. i got a 87 vfr700. i live in va. i took the safety course. i have no tickets. $95 a year for liability.

and u pay 1,000 some dollars....wow dude...i wouldn't ride if insurance cost that much

[Badbilly]

thats not what it looks like to me...... and just because an agent offers you more coverage....doesn't mean you have to take it so the only upsell there is is if you buy it...

By the way 200dollars a year from progressive...I also have an older bike... next year if my nose stays clean..it drops to 75 bucks a year ... then I up all the additional coverage.....

Would you be interested in some of our seat protection spray or some undercoating of your fenders on your bike? We also have riders on HO insurance for pet fish. This includes interrment and the proper religious ceremony of choice and a DVD of same. Most folks have this coverage.

Seen your bike. Never seen your nose inside or out.

[Badbilly]

what makes you think that they dropped it because you scheduled a court date? The reason they gave you sounds like a viable excuse..

there was a bunch of tickets given at a red light camera here (down in Ventura actually) a few years ago. this camera was generating a huge amount of violations....they were really surprised about it thinking that a shit load of people run that red light...one person challenged it they looked at the camera to get all the maintainace records etc... they found that the camera was taking pictures early......from that day back they dismissed all the tickets..... it pays to go to court because they have to bring records of maintanance and if its a speeding ticket they have to supply information about the radar gun..when it was last calibrated, when the last calibration check was done..that sort of thing.
so becasue they found that your violation was an accident just be gratefull that someone was lookiing through the files and caught it....

Short yellow light blamed for tickets in Ventura

Author: John Scheibe

jscheibe@ VenturaCountyStar.com
Date: June 23, 2009
Publication: Ventura County Star (CA)

The Ventura County Grand Jury is recommending that the city of Ventura lengthen the duration of a yellow light at a busy downtown intersection to decrease the number of red-light-camera violations and make the area safer.


The yellow light at California Street and Thompson Boulevard lasts for three seconds before turning red, compared with four seconds at nearby intersections, the Grand Jury says in a report released Monday on the use of automated cameras in Ventura and Oxnard to catch...
Click here for complete article ($2.95)






Two bucks and change will get anyone the whole story.

[Cyborg]

Looks like the agent is doing the old upsell on you. SOS, you ask for one thing and gee whiz, it looks like you need all kinds of insurance.

All this increase on the basis of one "red" light?

Actually, I asked her about car and renter's insurance up front, she didn't get the chance to upsell anything. You see, I have my car insured with Geico along with the VFR and was planning to get renter's insurance when the VFR's rate increase from 544 to 1030 landed. Yes, the increase is because of the one ticket, and I did it in the car, not on the bike. I expected a surcharge, maybe a jump of 10%-30% but 90% is BS, especially given I haven't had even a traffic ticket since, so I'm taking all my business to State Farm.

Jayluv420, I had Progressive when I first got the VFR, they charged me $1400 the first year and with NOTHING on my record, wanted to renew at $1622. Even now, they want $975 for the VFR and $312 for the car.

[Keager]

country companies - person who started the company came from State Farm. Cheap, I pay with homeowners, 2008 4Runner, an 06 VFR, and an 08 Can-Am. Can-Am is more than the VFR. VFR is like ~300/yr for full coverage. Good driving record, and location where it is parked every night makes big difference.

[Pliskin]

Having been in the insurance business for 20+ years, and the current owner of a company, I hopefully have a little knowledge.

These comments are not directed towards anyone in particular, but why do people choose to forgo an insurance agent or broker, and get the coverage themselves? It doesn't cost you a dime to talk to an agent. And of course their job is to sell/offer you the best policy/terms? You always have the option of saying "no", but isn't it better to have a comparison of not only coverage, but what you price is? Isn't just about anything we buy based on what most appropriately fits our needs/wants? Do you really understand you policy? Have you read through it? Have you ever considered how your policy would respond if something "really bad" happened. Sure it sucks when we wreck our bikes, and we could be out thousands. But what IF you happened to somehow injure another person, leaving them paralyzed? Are you covered? For how much? Are your defense costs included within your limit? Is there a separate deductible for defense costs?

The net is a great place to find cheap and easy coverage. But if you have any assets that you're looking to protect, unless you are highly confident in your insurance knowledge, I'd suggest you get an agent. And I'll repeat - it doesn't cost you anything.

(FWIW - I do all commercial insurance, nothing with personal lines. Even though I own part of my company, I still use an agent for my bike, motorcycle, boat, cars, home, etc.).

[HondaTech]

I have an interesting story that goes with the above post. My wife was the last car in a multiple car accident caused by a blue-hair that was oblivious to what they had caused and drove off. Anyway, there was a lady in the car my wife hit that, a few months later, suddenly had back and neck problems- allegedly from the accident.Now we have full coverage from all our vehicles, but at the time we were still on the policy we had when we were first married- 6 years prior. Since that policy started we had bought a house, and actually had some savings and other assets. For whatever reason the agent- who I had never met, only talked to on the phone, had never called to discuss changing my coverage to help protect the assets we now had. Anyway, we get a subpoena saying we were being sued by the lady for her "injuries" because the cost of her medical bills far exceeded our coverage. So we went through this terrifying process that eventually ended with the insurance company paying them the maximum even though they didn't really buy that the injuries came from the accident- if they had they were worth far more monetarily than our policy was worth and they could have com after us for the difference. So I called the agent and asked what it would cost to up our coverages to levels that should another accident occur we likely would never hear from anyone involved because the policy would cover it- the answer? $22 more a month!

My point being- go to an agent. Talk with them anytime you have a major change in your life (like you get married, have a child, buy a house) and at a minimum talk with them once a year to make sure you have the coverage that makes sense for your life- I hope we never have to go through the feelings we did with a lawsuit on us and having to trust an insurance company, companies that routinely like to pay as little as possible and leave the insured holding the bag if they can get away with it, to do right by us and take care of it.

Also, for me- Progressive is far and away the least expensive option for my '07 VFR, though my home/auto/life is with AAA because they were a much better price

[HondaTech]

Also, on a related note, the reason I even have a VFR is because it was way cheaper for me to insure than a Yamaha FZ6 would have been. Basically even at the age of 35, any 600cc sport bike (they apparently think the FZ6 is a sport bike) is 50% more expensive to insure than my VFR which has a bigger engine and just as much power. Thanks so much squids making your first bike a 600 so you can ride wheelies and pile them up and push the rates skyward for the rest of us.

[NorcalBoy]

I have consistantly found that progressive and geico are the most expensive. I get great rates from state farm, been with them for years, but I still shop around. as for all the hoopla about insurance agents selling insurance...wtf are they supposed to do? most people can't even determine what motor oil to use and now you're expecting them to determine their own coverage???

[Badbilly]

Actually, I asked her about car and renter's insurance up front, she didn't get the chance to upsell anything. You see, I have my car insured with Geico along with the VFR and was planning to get renter's insurance when the VFR's rate increase from 544 to 1030 landed. Yes, the increase is because of the one ticket, and I did it in the car, not on the bike. I expected a surcharge, maybe a jump of 10%-30% but 90% is BS, especially given I haven't had even a traffic ticket since, so I'm taking all my business to State Farm.

Jayluv420, I had Progressive when I first got the VFR, they charged me $1400 the first year and with NOTHING on my record, wanted to renew at $1622. Even now, they want $975 for the VFR and $312 for the car.

It's a good thing she didn't try with a you on the other end of that sales pitch. You'd think with as good a customer as you are she'd forget about that one ticket you have. Or are there more?

[TimRav]

There are tons of factors that go into computing insurance rates. Even then it's amazing to me how much rates vary from one company to another for the same vehicle and coverage. Cyborg's already doing this, but for the less experienced folks around here you should know it pays to shop around.

BTW, I'm with Progressive Direct, full coverage, $174/year.

[Badbilly]

I have consistantly found that progressive and geico are the most expensive. I get great rates from state farm, been with them for years, but I still shop around. as for all the hoopla about insurance agents selling insurance...wtf are they supposed to do? most people can't even determine what motor oil to use and now you're expecting them to determine their own coverage???

So, if you can beat State Farm at some time in future, will you be changing insurers or is shopping for insurance more fun than we know about? Cute agents with big tits and stuff like that?

I really don't expect "most people" to do anything more than they have to. On your oil problem, you can download the service manual or just call your local dealer for advice.

What we were discussing was not selling specifically but upselling and fringing on another technique called cross selling. An example of upselling, is and watch this one repeat itself with regularity, the next time you go to a McDonalds and order a burger, they will try to upsell you with fries. I mean WTF are they supposed to do after all?

I can also offer you today and today only the same deal on protective seat spray and undercoating for your bike. Bring Crusty with you so I can meet my quota. TIA.

[Scubalong]

what makes you think that they dropped it because you scheduled a court date? The reason they gave you sounds like a viable excuse..

there was a bunch of tickets given at a red light camera here (down in Ventura actually) a few years ago. this camera was generating a huge amount of violations....they were really surprised about it thinking that a shit load of people run that red light...one person challenged it they looked at the camera to get all the maintainace records etc... they found that the camera was taking pictures early......from that day back they dismissed all the tickets..... it pays to go to court because they have to bring records of maintanance and if its a speeding ticket they have to supply information about the radar gun..when it was last calibrated, when the last calibration check was done..that sort of thing.
so becasue they found that your violation was an accident just be gratefull that someone was lookiing through the files and caught it....

Crusty, Not sure how the camera work on your city but in my city they send you the photo of your face and your car in the center of intersection with the light red...............If you still have doubl they invite you to watch a video If you claim the camera take the picture early then the light should be yellow on the picture they send home
In San Diego the camera ticket will not effect your driving record due to the citation is not issue by a peace officer.

[Badbilly]

Crusty, Not sure how the camera work on your city but in my city they send you the photo of your face and your car in the center of intersection with the light red...............If you still have doubl they invite you to watch a video If you claim the camera take the picture early then the light should be yellow on the picture they send home
In San Diego the camera ticket will not effect your driving record due to the citation is not issue by a peace officer.

I hope the rejoinder is not going to try to convince anyone that the California Vehicle Code is different in Ventura. Then again, maybe somebody moved Ventura three miles South of San Diego. If a bike cop stops you and he talks funny and is riding a HD Knucklehead, I say blame Arnie.