Insurance in the USA
 

I'm in the US looking for insurance for a KLR and have come up with the following...

Bergland, Motorcycle Express, and Sunrise all seem to offer similar policies. Namely liability only for US$70 a month and a set up charge of $30 and a charge to ship you the policy overnight of $25. You can also purchase "uninsured or undersinsured" which means if someone who doesnt have cover is responsible for an accident - you can claim from your own policy. This costs about $105 a month.

However, Les Hall (see links page) suggested I ring Progressive (1-800-776-4737 - a free nr but you should be able to dial it from abroad - you'll have to pay though!!). They asked the usual questions and told me that they only deal in annual policies - but that I can pay monthly and then reclaim the unused portion of my policy to the day pro rata after a set up fee has been deducted. (Not sure how much the set up fee is)

For cover of the following...
$20,000 per person
$40,000 per accident
$15,000 for property
you can get liability from Progressive for $157 a year!!!!
To have liability and uninsured or underinsured you are talking $469 a year.
For comprehensive (which means damage from weather or theft and such like) i'd be $832 a year.
For all the above and collision (if you're involved in an accident) you're talking $1182 a year.
This quote was for a KLR 650 2001 model.

Remember that all these quotes are for a year and as you can pay per month you can cancel your policy any time - to the day even you can get a refund.

Perhaps you would be wise to make out that you'll be using the policy for a good while. They dont make any money if you only use the policy for a month or two.

Hope this may of interest.

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Grant March
"Live as if your life depended on it!"
http://www.yourmanontheroad.com

Turns out that Progressive has to set up a direct debit for monthly payments on your bank account here after all. They wont accept a credit card. You can, however, pay for the whole lot up front using a credit card and get a refund to either your credit card or a bank draft to your US address (a friend or whatever).

I ended up getting liability and uninsured/underinsured for $469 - I plan to be here for 2 months maybe 3 and reckon that after the refund I will be paying considerably less than if I'd used one of the other companies listed in my previous quote.

My dealing with Progressive have been far better than I would've expected. Ok, I'm paying a lot for my UK registered bike in Manhattan, but any time I've had a query or change they've deal with it professionally and very quickly. Just last week I modified my D90 insurance by lowering the collision part of my insurance on-line and 3 days later I got a rebate check for the difference. Progressive are a delight to deal with.

HTH,
Nick.

My only concern would be that $20,000 per person doesn't sound like much liability insurance in the USA. It wouldn't take much of an accident to reach that amount in hospital / doctor fees. Can you buy additional liability coverage, and did you get a quote for that?

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Good luck and safe travels!

Susan Johnson
Share the Dream at <A HREF="http://www.HorizonsUnlimited.com


" TARGET=_blank>www.HorizonsUnlimited.com


</A>

Good tips for 3rd party insurance thanks. However, my R80GS is just outside the 10 year age limit for fully comprehensive insurance, or even fire/theft in US and Canada. Anyone have any further tips for this? I'm hoping to travel within the next couple of months.

Cheers,

Mike.

The policy from Progressive was good for Canada too. You just have to phone Progressive and they will fax you a document that is in English and French (of course) stating that this policy is good for Canada too.

Easy.

Hi folks,

how does this work? I've just gotton of the phone to progressive and they told me they couldn't offer me any insurance unless I'd lived in the US for at least 6 months (more for some states) . . .

I'm confused!

Huey

[This message has been edited by Huey (edited 24 February 2004).]

Huey, unfortunately things change...

See our links page for some contacts for insurance, and search the site on insurance. Lots of hits, should find something recent that will help.

Usually the best is to deal with Motorcycle Express - one of our sponsors - as they can definitely GET you insurance. Tell 'em we sent ya! See their link on Links page and in ezine, and in the Trip Transport forum on the HUBB.


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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com