A Guide to Motorcycle Insurance in Washington (WA)
Washington has one of the biggest cities in the United States (and one of the wettest!) in Seattle. It also has nine national forests, thirty-one wilderness areas, three national parks and twenty-three national wildlife refuges. So for lovers of nature Washington is a fantastic place to live. It is also a great place to ride a motorcycle because of the amazing terrain and views, and a real feeling of being at one with nature.
But if you are going to ride a motorcycle in Washington, the first thing that you must do after buying a motorcycle is to get some affordable Washington Motorcycle Insurance which will see you properly covered and able to ride on the roads of Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma or Vancouver legally.
In this article I am going to be discussing those insurance requirements and the different factors that you need to consider before finalising your purchase of Washington Motorcycle Insurance in order to make sure that you get the best policy possible.
First off let’s take a look at the legal minimum requirements for motorcycle insurance cover in Washington.
What are the minimum legal requirements for Washington Motorcycle Insurance?
Washington is unusual in that Washington Motorcycle Insurance is not mandatory (though check with the Washington Department of Insurance before riding anywhere, as these regulations can change rapidly).
This seems like something of an oversight on the part of Washington Legislature, as in most other states some level of liability cover is usually mandatory in order to ensure that citizens are protected on the roads.
This normally takes the form of liability cover and personal property liability cover, and indeed for auto insurance in Washington the following levels are mandatory.
$25,000 – Bodily injury liability cover for one person
$50,000 – Bodily injury liability cover for one accident
$10,000 – Property Damage liability cover
Which is normally shortened to 25/50/15 cover.
It is a little shocking that these same minimums are not in place for riding a motorcycle, but in all honestly some motorcycle insurance is MUST, regardless of whether or not the Insurance Department in Washington has caught up to that fact.
It is an interesting exercise to do a search for Washington Motorcycle Insurance on the Washington Insurance Departments website, because the paucity of factual information is quite shocking.
You could very easily conclude that either no-one rides a motorcycle out of the 6,724,540 or so inhabitants of the state (not too likely); or that alternatively the Office of the Insurance Commissioner of Washington State hasn’t actually given the matter much thought, as there is not a single page of factual information on their website about it.
What should you do then about getting Washington Motorcycle Insurance?
The best advice is that you are going to have to do your own due diligence and see what is available in the way of cover.
Ironically the best way of doing this is too simply get a selection of Washington Motorcycle Insurance Quotes and then compare them.
At a very minimum you should get the same minimum requirements as for Washington Auto Insurance, because you will be riding on the same roads, running the same risks, and at the end of the day the point of insurance is not just to be able to ride legally (though in most states you do need certain minimum requirements), but also to protect you financially in the event that you have an accident.
A good plan of action is to see the auto insurance minimums as the bare minimum amount of cover that you should buy, and also consider adding on:
Uninsured Driver Cover - Which would protect you in the event that the other driver didn’t have any insurance.
Underinsured Driver Cover – Which is similar to Uninsured Driver Cover, except for the fact that the other party has some insurance, they simply don’t have enough.
Comprehensive Washington Motorcycle Insurance – Which would also add other types of cover for theft, vandalism and storm damage into the mix, and ensure that if your motorcycle got stolen you would be able to replace it. Quite how important this is too you will depend on how much your motorcycle cost, but if you are riding an expensive performance motorcycle, then this may well be cover that is worth getting.
Take a look at the different companies that are offering Washington Motorcycle Insurance Quotes and draw up a short list of candidates to consider, and then read the terms and conditions through carefully, what is covered and what is not before reaching some final decisions and buying a policy.
Ironically the best way of doing this is too simply get a selection of Washington Motorcycle Insurance Quotes and then compare them.
