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Insurance and motorcycles


TSB67

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So I'm shopping for medical insurance and I asked an advisor if there were any exclusions on the accident policy, motorcycles in particular. She told me nothing was excluded, but motorcycle riders pay approximately 20% premium.

So then I talk to another person for medical history, and after what seemed like an eternity of actual medical questions, she asked something to the effect of whether or not I ride a motorcycle. I said yes, and asked if that question was standard or just for me based on my previous discussion. She said that it was a standard question, but I am the only person that she has ever had answer yes. I told her that it was the primary reason I am shopping for medical coverage, not gonna lie about that one.

I can see this turning into a hate thread over discrimination against motorcyclists, but I just thought it was funny that this is the ONLY "high risk" activity that they asked about.

On a semi-related note I once had a policy through school that specifically excluded skydiving.

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There's more car accidents or fatalities than motorcycles, so why don't they ask if you drive a car and jack up your rates? hmmm.

They actually did ask about accidents and traffic violations, but I'm not sure if those were car-related questions or if the flowchart led to that only because I answered "yes" to the motorcycle question.

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You'll definitely want to shop around about that. I've never heard of that before, and I've had several different health insurance companies. Hell, I just got a life insurance policy and they didn't charge me a premium for riding motorcycles. If a company told me I was going to be paying a 20% premium for riding motorcycles, I'd tell them to suck it and post their info on every motorcycle related site I knew of. Post here if you need help with it. :D

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It is all said and done but I was looking for a cheaper alternative to the COBRA coverage I've been paying since I left my job. Basically I haven't been to a doctor in the past decade, but want to be covered if I wad myself somehow. I think she stacked a separate accident policy on top of a high-deductible standard medical policy.

Motorcycle "penalty" or not, I'm happy to be covered for such things at a significant savings from what I was paying, and hopefully this is all relatively temporary anyway. The 55 minutes I spent on the phone today are as much effort as I care to put into it...

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I guess I don't understand the logic. Does this mean that if someone only used public transit, I should get a discount then?

Yes, since fatalities in an automobile or truck are actually more common than fatalities on a motorcycle. Medical insurance isn't concerned with the fatalities, the high cost is the recovery of wounds in a motorcycle accident. Therefore there should be a discount on motorcycle medical coverage for wearing full armor.

edit: dang it, Nick must have read the same national fatality report that I did...

Edited by ReconRat
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So who'd you go with?

I just called the folks at www.healthcompare.com, as they are somehow partnered with the company that was facilitating my COBRA coverage. I really couldn't even tell you off hand who I ended up with, I just went with whatever she recommended. All the options were confusing to me, and in lieu of doing a ton of research I chose to just listen to someone who makes a living dealing with this sort of stuff. I think 200+ options for medical come up when I go to that website myself.

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motorcycle? whats that? shhhhhh

I'd rather pay a 20% premium than get my claim denied for lying to them after i destroy my body in a crash.

If they're gonna charge you based on if you ride or not, you should get a discount for wearing full gear. Then again, you might cost them more money since you've got a chance to survive a crash.

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Yes, since fatalities in an automobile or truck are actually more common than fatalities on a motorcycle. Medical insurance isn't concerned with the fatalities, the high cost is the recovery of wounds in a motorcycle accident. Therefore there should be a discount on motorcycle medical coverage for wearing full armor.

edit: dang it, Nick must have read the same national fatality report that I did...

No, didn't read anything about it. I just knew that there are WAY more people driving than riding, so obviously the fatality rate would be higher on 4 wheels, plus I hear more of them than bike. I just got it like that Recon. ;)

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