Insurance that's not an insanely priced scam.

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For sure haha! Insurance is complicated, and it isn't the cash cow people think it is -- that's a whole other discussion topic In some cases I agree that sled insurance is overpriced, but it's usually because the insurer lacks the volume of historical snowmobile data to reliably predict future claims (since few insurers specialize in this market). I also think that some insurers simply lack knowledge of sleds, motorcycles, and these communities in general (although I'm not a stranger to these since I ride a street bike and also used to ride a snowmobile). I'm looking create an insurance program that's priced adequately to cover expected claims, but brings value compared to what your current options are. Your responses can help me with my goal to help you

 

personally something I wish was on snowmobile insurance, was better rates, all the mroe so due to they typically ONLY get used a few months a yr and NOT yr round to justify what so many ask for coverage!

that or offer seasonal coverage and then in OFF season a LOWER rate, when sleds typically are in storage in ANOTHER insured place !(be is a personal garage, house, storage place or likes
where there is coverage on things already!

paying ALL yr for a machine that in MY area sits 7-8 months out of there yr never being used, is rather silly and wasting funds!
also would like to see rated DROP as machines AGE without a customer having to PUSH the issue to go else where to get a lower rate on a older used machine!
after all a USED machine is worth LESS, why do policies stay the same rate yr to yr, when things are worth less?

 

personally something I wish was on snowmobile insurance, was better rates, all the mroe so due to they typically ONLY get used a few months a yr and NOT yr round to justify what so many ask for coverage!

that or offer seasonal coverage and then in OFF season a LOWER rate, when sleds typically are in storage in ANOTHER insured place !(be is a personal garage, house, storage place or likes
where there is coverage on things already!

paying ALL yr for a machine that in MY area sits 7-8 months out of there yr never being used, is rather silly and wasting funds!
also would like to see rated DROP as machines AGE without a customer having to PUSH the issue to go else where to get a lower rate on a older used machine!
after all a USED machine is worth LESS, why do policies stay the same rate yr to yr, when things are worth less?

This
Almost $600 for maybe 12 weeks. Stupid

 

I honestly just get Geico basic liability and roll the dice.
It's as cheap as insurance as you can get but your legal atleast.
I know folks will scold me with the 'what if this', 'what if that' but thats ok.
Even when I had brand new iron I did the same thing.
If I had a Polaris I might get full coverage though!!
Haha joking! Don't bring the brigade just a little humor.

 

I actually turn my insurance to liability in the summer to reduce the rates. I beleive my wife has them setup as a seasonal thing. If that is the case with your company I would like to see the snowmobiles in the off season be covered under homeowner as in, lets say the house burned down and the sleds were inside and burned too. To make sure the sleds can be replaced while under liability.

 

Insurance companies need to understand the difference between a 2 stroke and 4 stroke engine, I have a 1200 4 stroke and they only see it as a 1200 cc engine, not that it is really the equivalent of a 600 2 stroke, so my rates are really high for it.

 

Maybe someone can answer this with certainty because I continue to hear different stories. My insurance rep (State Farm) insists that snowmobiles are no longer based on displacement but value. So the old argument of it costing so much to insure a 800, or 1000 should be a non issue. Thoughts? Maybe it's different from state to state? 🤷‍♂️

 

My dads in insurance and they look at what cars crash alot and age of the driver. Its cheaper to insure a corvette than a Camaro because usually older more responsible drivers can afford a corvette. When younger people can afford a Camaro they arent experienced and crash them more often.

It could be that snowmobiles with bigger engines crash more often?

 

Thanks everyone for your feedback and sorry for my late response!

It seems like price is pretty important to you guys, and I totally get that. It's important to me too when I'm shopping for insurance. If you're in Canada, I'd be interested to know what you pay for your insurance, what province you're in, and which insurance company you're with. I'd also be interested to know whether or not you also insure a trailer to tow your sled (and how much you pay for that coverage).

With respect to the premiums during the off-season, your sled will be rated on a "Seasonal Premium-Earning Schedule". This means that if you pay $350/yr for your snowmobile insurance, this already accounts for the fact that you only use the sled during the riding months (e.g. December to March). The insurer essentially collects earns no premium in the off-season months. It's confusing, because if you pay equal monthly payments then your premium payments don't match the rate that you're actually "using up" your insurance. In reality, that $350/yr premium could be charged something like this if it were to better match the premium-earning schedule:

• JAN: $100
• FEB: $100
• MAR: $50
• APR: $25
• MAY: $0
• JUN: $0
• JUL: $0
• AUG: $0
• SEP: $0
• OCT: $0
• NOV: $25
• DEC: $50

This whole premium-earning concept is admittedly complicated, and I wouldn't expect riders to understand this. This is something that I think could be improved to give better transparency to riders, and something that I'm working on

With respect to aging sleds, the risk does decrease a little each year, but I think you're not seeing a decrease every year because frankly snowmobiles are such a small market for most insurers that it isn't worth the investment to review their rates every year (it's actually a lot of regulatory work). On the flip side, if the insurer isn't reviewing their rates every year, then this means that they're not applying any inflationary increases to the premium (since inflation generally causes claims to increase every year, just like anything else). Just FYI, the insurance policy covers a lot more than the snowmobile itself -- it covers your injuries or your liability related to hurting other people. As an insurer, the payout of the snowmobile value is peanuts and doesn't concern us too much -- it's the injury and liability claims that cost the big dollars, and that risk is there whether you ride a 2020 or 2000 model year.

Thanks for the insight on 2-stroke vs 4-stroke. I'm aware that similar displacement 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines have different power outputs. Frankly, a lot of people designing and pricing insurance products iprobably don't understand that -- some won't even know the difference between horsepower and displacement haha! But this is something else I want to change. 4-strokes are also quieter and better for the environment (althoguh I think that's debated?) so there might be some opportunity to reward people for their "green" choice to buy a 4-stroke

Just wondering -- would anyone consider purchasing insurance digital (e.g. online, mobile app) rather than from a broker/agent if it meant you could get the lowest rate around?

Besides price, what else are you looking for in your snowmobile insurance? Or what else really annoys you about it (that's not already mentioned)?

 

I am with TD for my machine. Ideally, I’d love to have it all in one with my vehicles. I have a fantastic Discount offered through my employer for auto insurance, hence why I haven’t combined with TD.

TD used to be reasonable, but I’ve noticed they’ve been increasing rates yearly.

Insurance companies should be considering the length of season in Canada. There’s no reason I should be paying full coverage for 12 months, when in reality I’m riding 4 months (IF I chase the snow). Snowmobile insurance, in ON, should mirror OFSC pass duration for “full coverage”, and then charge something similar too fire and theft aka parking insurance. That would be a game changer for the market IMO


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I am with TD for my machine. Ideally, I’d love to have it all in one with my vehicles. I have a fantastic Discount offered through my employer for auto insurance, hence why I haven’t combined with TD.

TD used to be reasonable, but I’ve noticed they’ve been increasing rates yearly.

Insurance companies should be considering the length of season in Canada. There’s no reason I should be paying full coverage for 12 months, when in reality I’m riding 4 months (IF I chase the snow). Snowmobile insurance, in ON, should mirror OFSC pass duration for “full coverage”, and then charge something similar too fire and theft aka parking insurance. That would be a game changer for the market IMO


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Thanks for your thoughtful reply

With respect to the seasonal insurance, did you happen to read my explanation in post #10? The premium you pay already reflects the fact that you only use the sled about 4MO a year. For example, if you pay $350, that covers the expected losses during the riding season. If for some reason Canada had snow 12MO a year, the premium would have to be $1050 to cover the expected losses over the entire year. But I do agree, that the concept of seasonal premiums is really confusing to clients. Curious, but which payment schedule would you prefer for a $350 annual premium?

• Pay a level premium over the entire year (e.g. $29/mo for Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec), or
• Pay a level premium over the riding months only (e.g. $88/mo for Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar)

The former makes more sense in my opinion (i.e. your payments better match the time when you are "using up" the premium), but the latter is the most common.

 

Great information...

thank you, I will keep this in mind.

👍

 

I have a couple gripes about recreational insurance in general.

1 I wish insurance companies would do stand alone policies on recreational vehicles. I recently bought a quad that my insurer won't accept so I had to shop around. Got some good quotes but only if you move a vehicle or house with them. So I had to go with TD and still paying double of what I was quoted.

2 Also hate that how companies won't insure certain models. Example: I bought a 2013 Scrambler 850 paying $350/ yr on a stand alone policy because my provider wouldn't insure it. Yet a buddy just bought a 2020 Sportsman 850 and is paying $180/yr. So his is worth almost double what I paid and I pay double the insurance. They're essentially the same quad except his has a front rack and mine doesn't. But his is classified as utility and mine is a "sport" model (had similar experience with certian models of sleds before). Stupid. They don't do this for automobile policies (that I heard of) so why do it for the recreational world?

Same goes with sleds. My current company wouldn't insure anything over 750cc. So a 700cc 2 stroke sled is around 135hp give or take. But a 1200cc 4 stroke is similar power but yet harder or more costly to insure. So because I have an 800cc sled I'm again shopping for a stand alone policy and will probably pay up for it.

I also don't understand how atv insurance is so much cheaper then sled insurance. New vs new in the same CC category they are close in purchase price. Yes sleds are faster but a 1000cc quad is no slouch in performance either. Then factor in the length of the seasons it makes no sense why sled premiums are so bloody high. I would guess that most ppl are spending close to a grand (insurance and trail pass) before the season even opens. Sled insurance is getting out of hand IMO.

I understand each company has it's own rules and regulations but as a customer I find it really annoying to have multiple policies with multiple companies. I would much rather have everything together with one insurer.

Sorry to get off topic with the atv stuff, but it was just an example of how backwards some companies policies are.

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