What Determines Your Motorcycle Insurance Rates – 6 Main Factors.

motorcycle insurance rates

Motorcycle insurance rates can be extremely high, mostly due to the increased injury and fatality rate associated with motorcycles compared to cars.

The fatality rate for motorcycles is much higher than regular passenger vehicles, according to Transport Canada: in 2013, while the percentage of motorcycles on Canada’s roads was just under three per cent, they account for over 10 per cent of the fatalities on the road.

By contrast, while passenger vehicles accounted for just over 92 per cent of the vehicles on Canada’s roads in 2013, they only accounted for 72 per cent of the fatalities—a much more proportional number.

Since insurance companies rate drivers based on the injury and death rates of their specific vehicle, rates for motorcycles are significantly higher. This leaves motorcyclists at a disadvantage when it comes to finding cheap insurance rates.

However, there are still some factors that the rider can control in order to try to lower their motorcycle insurance quotes rates.

Choose the Right Bike

Sports bikes are faster and handle better than cruisers—they’re purpose-built for speed. Unfortunately, insurance companies know that if you buy a fast bike, you’re likely going to drive it fast—and driving faster means higher rates of injury and death. If you’re looking to save on insurance, skip the speeder.

Make and year of the bike will also have a significant impact on your premium. If certain bikes have a higher rate of injury or fatality, insurance companies increase premiums to offset the increased risk of a loss.

Furthermore, if you choose to upgrade your bike with performance parts, by law you have to inform your insurance company, in the same way as you do with your car; otherwise, they could deny a claim because they weren’t collecting the correct premium for the increased risk. These modifications can seriously drive up your motorcycle insurance rates, so if you can, it’s best to keep the bike in its stock configuration.

Keep a Clean Record

As with car insurance, your driving history (for cars and bikes, as well as any other motor vehicle) will have a significant impact on your motorcycle insurance premium. At-fault claims and convictions on your record affect your rate because insurance companies have years of research and data to show that drivers with bad records are likely to repeat these mistakes; and because bikes are already a higher risk, the increases to bike insurance for a driver with a bad record can be exponential.

While it almost goes without saying, serious and criminal convictions on your record such as DUIs, stunt driving or careless driving can make motorcycle insurance prohibitively expensive.

Sometimes, certain insurance companies won’t even offer to insure you have too many convictions or claims (or serious or criminal convictions), in which case you might have to go with a high-risk company or even the government’s high-risk program. At this point, the premiums are often in the multiple thousands of dollars.

Choose the Right Coverage

Most bikes aren’t daily drivers, so make sure your insurance company knows this. The less you’re on the road, the lower your probabilities are of having a crash. Try and keep the yearly mileages below 3,000 in order to get the lowest rate.

If you’re looking for a last-resort method to lower your premium, consider cutting your liability limits or dropping collision coverage. While it’s not recommended as these coverages are important in the event of a collision, if you’ve run out of options, this serves as a last resort.

Take Driver’s Training

Motorcycle safety courses can lower your premium as well, as they teach you the necessary safety techniques required to ride a bike. Insurance companies want to know that you have some level of competency riding, and motorcycle safety courses give them something to consider. Not only will it lower your motorcycle insurance rates, but it will provide you with potentially life-saving advice about operating a motorcycle.

Don’t Take Passengers

Motorcycles are designed to be driven solo, and if you tell your insurance company that you’ll never be taking a passenger, they could lower your rate. However, if you tell them you’ll never have another rider on with you and you’re in an accident, they could deny your claim and cancel you for misrepresentation. While it might seem like common sense, it’s important that you never lie to your insurance company! It could lead to dire consequences if they deny a claim.

Pay in Full

While not everyone has the financial means, paying in full saves you the three per cent financing fee that insurance companies charge for monthly payments. While it may not seem like much on an average car insurance policy, if your premium is expensive (as bikes can be) you could be looking at hundreds of dollars.

InsurEye team thanks ShopInsuranceCanada.ca for great insights about motorcycle insurance rates that we are able to share with our readers. Shop Insurance Canada is the country’s premier destination for the cheap car insurance and home insurance quotes. It provides access to great rates from the top insurance institutions in Canada, while providing consumers with relevant information and excellent customer service along the way.