Insurance: just whom are they protecting?

I think we are getting gouged. There is this sneaking suspicion, accompanied by a sharp jabbing sensation in my posterior and an odd whiff of bovine excrement, insurance for motorcycles may not be on the up-and-up.

Some anecdotes:

From a recent ad on Kijiji:

"2008 Honda CBR insurance question

My 16 year old wants his bike license , my insurance wont cover him.

Who are younger riders using and what can he expect to pay ? Riders plus told him $5000 seems kind of step for a 125

He plans on doing the course at Durham College"

another friend commented on his (then) teen-aged son - 10+ years ago mind you

• wanting to get his license and motorcycle told me "I told him sure because I know I'm not going to be the bad guy and say he can't. The insurance companies will be the bad guy - the insurance rates will tell him he can't"

A conversation with a rider in Niagara Falls - has a beautifully tuned, stock, but special edition CBR600RR, in his late 20's, is married with a toddler - he insures and plates his bike in New York state - his parents live and own an automotive repair shop there - $200 per year. My Ninja 500 after all the accident free riding over 25+ years - still over $500/year.

Never mind all the "Big Brother" stuff insurance companies want to monitor your riding habits with - as an excuse to raise your rates or worse, deny you coverage.

So what to do?

First, I think we need to keep a proper perspective.

The essence of insurance companies is that they, like very other business, are in it to make money.

Insurance companies are not interested in protecting you. That costs them money.

Insurance companies want us to treat them like most of us treat gym memberships. I've been the best customer of some gyms in my day - faithfully paid my monthly fees, but never showed up, never caused any wear and tear on the facilities. Bonus for the gym!

It's like someone just handing you $100 every month to be their friend. Then you ignore them when you see them out in public. If you could do that with a clear conscience - you must be in the insurance business. Even lawyers aren't that bad.

Insurance companies are interested in protecting their profits and their investors (the banks!). They are in business to make money, remember? That's fine. That's what businesses do.

Motorcycle insurance must be lucrative or there wouldn't be "specialists". I see as many insurance (and now a couple lawyer) booths at bike shows as rider training institutions. Shows there's a market - both for insurance and training schools. (it's a ying-yang) People take training not because they want to improve their skills - they go to race schools to "upgrade" - but to get lower insurance rates. Insurance company/brokers are even sponsoring bike shows.

It's too easy to think of your premiums as going into a black hole, never to be seen again. Or, like toilets (if I can compare an insurance company to a toilet - and I think I can) - you toss your money in and flush it's gone!

Insurance is a gamble and the deck is stacked against the rider. You have to have insurance, the company sets the rates, you have to pay them and the company bets that you never have a claim and you bet the company will pay out promptly and fairly when you do have a claim.

What could go wrong with that?

Well, you have no control over any of it.

You have no control over the law. I don't care how much you believe in democracy.

You have no control over the rates. Sure you can do some things to cut a bit here and there, but c'mon! Who are we kidding? That's just wiggle room the insurance companies give you to make you feel good. YOu've won the battle, but lost the war, my friend! See how well competition has driven the rates down? HA! more like collusion to set them high - like the gas station prices.

You have no control over your "'insurable-ness" (bug off spellcheck). You have to have insurance, but they don't have to insure you. Or they make the rates so high to make it "worth their while" Well isn't that generous of them! Plus: if you don't pay and pay promptly it's worse than a criminal record that follows you everywhere, every time you apply for insurance. And it lasts longer than a criminal record. You start from scratch as if you were 16 years old on an G1 - no matter how old or experienced you are or how clean your record is.

You have no control over getting a claim paid. The insurance company will try every trick, clause and delay tactic, whether in the book or not, to prevent paying out. Oddly, this supports the law firms employed to fight the insurance companies - win-win for both these guys. Riders lose.

Despite all this, I really think that most drivers and riders deal in good faith. Until they have a claim and get shafted. THEN they try to find ways to have the correct piece of paper on hand. You need that piece of paper when you are requested by a police officer to produce it or when you are renewing/applying for license plates.

And insurance companies are NOT interested in safety. If they were, they'd discount hugely for people who have taken courses, demonstrably wear proper attire etc.

So we have to learn to protect ourselves so we don't lose.

Pardon a digression: It's like auto-flushing toilets - have we really forgotten how to flush? By the "Please Flush" signs in public washrooms these days, the answer appears that flushing courtesy is in serious jeopardy. Likewise, have we really forgotten how to be safe?

Judging by clips I've sen on youtube - there's a lot of people whose "safety brain cells" are on vacation.

Some people may appreciate this auto-flush convenience but it doesn't take the place of the mindset of regard for fellow human beings, or of personal responsibility. We let technology fill the flush gap. Insurance company's rates are doing the same thing: "if you don't make yourself safe, we will charge you until you are"

Is a high insurance rate (or the threat of one) going to make you a safer rider? Of course not. It just inspires anxiety. It creates the mental conversation: "OMG I better be safe and not crash because I won't be able to afford the insurance ever again". Takes the edge off enjoying the ride, doesn't it?

There's enough anxiety in daily life already, thank you very much.

And don't pick on the bikes - pick on the (unsafe) bikers. Pick on the riders who ride unsafely. REALLY Reward those who have safe records and take training courses. Riders have a responsibility too - take refresher training courses, wear safe clothing. Be seen. (Loud pipes saving lives is BS - anyone who is interested in saving lives would wear a bight yellow reflective vest before getting loud pipes.) Ride defensively, work on your skills. Work to make the only unpredictable/unknown to be other drivers.

We have an aging and (hopefully) maturing riding population - less and less prone to stunting. Where's the justification for higher rates? None.

If inconsiderate, unsafe riders took a retraining course, suffered public shaming as well as fines - would that get the point across better? Again, what does increasing insurance rates do to change a rider's behaviour? Nothing.

There's no correlation.

So let's make it clear: Insurance companies are in business to make money and protect their profits.

Only you can protect you.Common sense.

Cheers!