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The only advice on this subject that stands the test of time is: shop.
Two different people with the same bike in the same area may pay different rates with the same company, for reasons that have nothing to do with their driving history. Or: The same person, moving from one place to another, may very well find that he needs to switch companies to get an affordable rate. Madness is a good word to describe insurance.
I've had a policy with Dairyland continuously for 21 years as of this month. They didn't have all my bikes during that time; the Speed Triple, for instance, ended up being insured with Safeco, my car company; however, most of the time, Dairyland had the most favorable rates for me, in the places where I happened to live.
As of this week, though, that relationship comes to an end--and not just over prices.
They've lately adopted some very odd internal policies. I don't know if these were their own idea or if they came from their parent company, Sentry, but they're a real pain. There was no difficulty changing over to a Kansas policy when I moved there from Georgia in January, 2006. But when I came back to Georgia in January of THIS year, they wanted to leave it as a Kansas policy with my Kansas agent until the April 25 annual renewal date. Well, this doesn't cut it with the Great and Powerful State of Georgia.
Understand: Georgia has no sense of humor about uninsured motorists. Nor do they believe in paper insurance cards any more. Unless your coverage is filed electronically in the State computer, IT DOESN'T EXIST! And so, a week ago today I opened my mail to find a nastygram from the State threatening to cancel my vehicle registration, suspend my license, fine me big time, and make the Street ineligible to be re-registered for many, many months!!! And that idea, in turn, doesn't cut it with me.
After my agent and I got firm with Dairyland, they finally transmitted confirmation of coverage last Wednesday. But today I suddenly have three different bills and two different declarations pages, all showing different amounts due. It appears they have now gone back to January 28 and retroactively cancelled my Kansas policy, and issued a "new" policy in Georgia as of that date. Problem is, in addition to a rather silly premium for the Striple, it appears they want to charge me an extra $264 for "terminating" my other policy prematurely--meaning, before the already-paid-up 12 months were done! [EDIT: In fairness, as of April 15 the net difference is "only" $166.]
Well, I didn't ask them to terminate anything...just put the policy back in Georgia with the same agency that wrote it originally, way back in 1987. This is going to earn them no more of my business, plus a complaint to the insurance commissioner (for what little that may be worth).
Madness is a great word for the vehicle insurance industry, all right. It's not all just about rates, either. Shop AND read all the fine print you can find. And even then, you can expect them to throw you some curves that aren't in the fine print.
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John
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