Crazy Month

Ok, this month has been crazy and so I haven't been able to post here.

To start out with I was in a motorcycle accident. I slammed my Harley into a truck who made a left in front of me. Luckily for the most part I am ok. My bike however sustained $4000 in damages. Yes I am very sad. I visited it at the repair shop. The bike won't be finished for 8 weeks from the time they get the money in their bank account.

Now the other person was ticketed and deemed at fault for not failing to yield. So I am fighting with the other driver's insurance, Pemco. They of course are trying to pay as little as possible. We will see.

One interesting fact I've learned is that my motorycle insurance does not have Personal Injury Protection. It seems Washington State does not mandate it. So if I was to run off the road, cause the accident, hit a deer, etc... I would have to rely on my work insurance. This troubles me so I am looking for something that would suppliment what I have. I'll keep you updated.

This month I am also purchasing a condo in a trendy Seattle neighborhood. I'm pretty excited as it will be new and a change. And frankly I'm tired of weeding at my house. I've neglected my yard for motorcycling during the spring and summer months. What is very cool about this condo complex si they have designated underground motorcycle parking. This was implemented by the Home Owners Associations and the spots painted after the building went up. I'm very impressed.

This past weekend I got on my other bike and did a ride with my group. Gotta get back on the horse as they say.

Felt good!

And then there was Insurance!

Insurance is a necessary pain. But I always feel like I'm getting taken advantage of in the fine print and backend fees.

So I decided when I got the new Harley I'd shop around. My insurance company is State Farm but when I asked them what kind of deal I could get they told me they didn't give deals for motorcycles even though I have my house, my car, my two bikes with them. Nothing like treating your loyal customers like trash.

So I called around first to Progressive,  then to AllState and even an Insurance broker but none could give me a better deal. Now State Farm charges by the size of the engine. My bikes are pretty big, the Honday is 1800cc and the Harley 96 cubes which translates to about 1500cc.

Last on my list was Gieco. They came in just on the bikes a whopping $200 cheaper for the year. Wow! So I decided to move my bikes over. Now on my car I was paying around $150 per month at State Farm. So with the bikes I was at around $275 per month. The concern I had with switching my car was that 3 years ago I had an accident and sadly it was deemed my fault, though personally I don't agree, but I won't get into that. I didn't think I could get a better deal.

State Farm hadn't dropped the accident from my premiums but when asked, Gieco would and so I went from $150 at Statefarm to $103 at Gieco. Total for car and bikes at Gico wound up being $216 per month. Very nice!

I promptly called State Farm and cancelled my insurance for those three vehicles. It happened to be on the day they pull from my account and so they couldn't stop that. When I did get the check back I was short $25. They claim that they weight their motorcycle insurance higher in the summer and so you pay more then, hence the less funds. Sounds shifty to me.

Now State Farm said that if I came back in 39 days, (yeah weird number but they say thats the only way insurance companies can ignore past driving history and treat you as a new customer. State law or something) then the accident would fall off and my premiums would be cheaper but probably couldn't beat Gieco. Days later State Farm calls back and lo and behold they tell me they can get me my insurance down for all three vehicles to $150 per month if I come back in 39 days.

Do I go back? What if they decide to raise it in a year? We'll see in 39 days!