A Guide to Motorcycle Insurance in North Carolina (NC)
The Old North State as it is affectionately nicknamed is a state of contrasts from sea level on its coastline and beaches to over two thousand meters high at the top of Mount Mitchell. It has over three hundred miles of beautiful coastline, and also has one of the top ten fastest growing populations in the United States. It is therefore not surprising with all of these factors going for it that North Carolina has a big motorcycling community who travel its roads from Charlotte and Raleigh to Greensboro and Durham and everywhere in between.
If you are amongst their number, or have just bought a motorcycle and plan on doing so very soon, then it is imperative that you sort out some full coverage North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance to protect you as you ride!
In this article I am going to explore your options with regards to motorcycle insurance in North Carolina and also examine the facts both about the states minimum requirements when it comes to insurance cover for your motorcycle, and also the areas of the policy that it may be worth spending more money on to get higher amounts of coverage, and why.
What are the minimum requirements for North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance?
The North Carolina Department of Insurance has laid down certain mandatory requirements that everyone wishing to ride a motorcycle in the state has to meet.
These are:
$30,000 – Bodily injury liability for one person
$60,000 – Bodily injury liability for one accident
$25,000 – Property Damage liability
These limits are commonly referred to with the shortcut of 30/60/25 cover.
Are the North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance Minimums sufficient?
It is vital to differentiate between ‘minimum requirements’ and ‘recommended levels’ of cover when considering quite how sufficient the levels set down by the insurance department in North Carolina really are.
They are not intended to cover you for every eventuality, and even the amounts that they will cover you for on the liability side may not be high enough.
The 30/60/25 cover that is needed by law for North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance is actually a little higher than most other states, which generally specify a legal minimum at around the 25/50/25 level. But it is still lower then some, like Maine which is 50/100/25, so you should give some thought to possibly raising these levels when you purchase your own policy.
Medical cover is included in the liability portion, but if you are involved in an accident with multiple vehicles and passengers and are found to be at fault, then the 25/50 levels may well not be sufficient to cover all the costs.
You can clearly see how this could be the case if you consider that the International Federation of Health Professionals have estimated that the average hospital stay in the United States in 2010 cost $14,427, and at the upper end of the spectrum (the 95th percentile) this rose up to $45,902.
Now imagine the scenario of a three or four car accident involving you, and it is easy to see how the medical costs alone for an accident could easily top $100,000; and that wouldn’t even include other factors like loss of earnings whilst people were in hospital, or the cost of damage to the vehicles.
Even if only you and one other person were involved it would possibly still be touch and go to keep medical costs under $25,000 per person.
So you should really consider getting more liability cover when you take out a North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance policy.
Similarly, ask yourself what the costs of new cars these days is and you quickly realise that $25,000 in property damage liability is on the low side. And that doesn’t even count the cost for any buildings that might get damaged, or other property that could get damaged in an accident.
So you should also consider raising the level of property damage. (And remember that you can always find out what the latest minimum requirements are for North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance by visiting the North Carolina Insurance Departments website.)
Also, remember that liability cover does not include cover for theft, fires or vandalism. So to get those you will have to get full coverage, comprehensive NC Motorcycle Insurance.
This will again clearly add to the final costs of the policy, but then again a motorcycle is stolen every seven and a half SECONDS in the United States, so it is an extremely common occurrence. And what is more only about 20% of those thefts are ever recovered by the police, so if your motorcycle does end up getting stolen then more than likely you can kiss it goodbye for good.
At the end of the day the levels of cover that you get will depend upon your financial circumstances to a large extent, and how much cover you can afford. But if money is not quite as tight and you can afford a little more cover, then you may find it a wise investment (especially if you do ever get caught out unexpectedly in an accident.)
Try to get a selection of North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance Quotes and see exactly what is available before you make any final decisions.
The 30/60/25 cover that is needed by law for North Carolina Motorcycle Insurance is actually a little higher than most other states, which generally specify a legal minimum at around the 25/50/25 level. But it is still lower then some, like Maine which is 50/100/25, so you should give some thought to possibly raising these levels when you purchase your own policy.
