Taxes and the Toronto Maple Leafs not making it to the playoffs are the two most certain facts of life, but any motorcycle rider who has been in the game for very long knows that fluctuating insurance rates are also a fact of nature. Motorcyclists will also tell you that we tend to remember and fret over the increases far more than we do over the decreases, which is entirely natural. With those points in mind, we’d like to count down the top ten reasons that insurance rates tend to increase, knowing that both our specific facts and the order in which we place them are open to debate.
All Ontario insurance companies are businesses, not government agencies. Like all businesses and organizations, insurance companies are operated to varying degrees of efficiency. So rather than make a list of eleven reasons, we hereby acknowledge that the operating efficiency of your insurance company is also a factor that affects your rates.
Why Insurance Rates Increase
10. You got a speeding ticket for going 60 in a 50 from a cop who was hiding behind the sign at 6 am on your way to work. And you were actually braking when she tagged you. So that little $35 fine that you couldn’t take time off work to spend the day in court put you into a surchargeable category on renewal.
9. You lost control in a tight corner and the damage was significantly higher than your Collision deductible, so you really had little choice but to put through a claim. So you have an At Fault Accident upon renewal.
8. You moved a mere five miles down the road, just across the invisible line that defines different rating territories per the insurance company.
7. More riders than usual had accidents in the past year and were badly injured. And less than 25% of them were at fault in all likelihood (per normal statistics).
6. Your spouse got his motorcycle licence (and he even took the rider training course). You have just one bike between you, so the insurance company charged more as a result, either because they surcharged for him or they rated based on him being the principal operator.
5. Due to a prolonged period of low-interest rates, your insurance company is making significantly less money on investments. They have to make up that income somewhere, so, naturally, it’s going to come out of your premiums.
4. You bounced a couple of insurance payments for one of an endless number of reasons during the past year. As a result, your insurance company rerated you, or removed a discount, depending on their rules.
3. You replaced your older motorcycle partway through your insurance term with a newer, more expensive bike. The additional cost at that time may have been close to zero based on seasonal tables, but the difference on the renewal statement is pretty significant.
2. You sold one of the two motorcycles you were insuring last year, so the rate on the remaining motorcycle is higher than it was (maybe 10% or more) because the multi-bike discount has been removed.
1. You bought back coverage for Accident Benefits that was removed by the Auto Reform legislation of September 2010 because you realized that the new Standard coverage was not adequate for your circumstances.
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