Life Insurance for Motorcycle Riders: What Rates to Expect

Motorcycle riders are familiar with the feeling of the wind whipping through their hair as they speed down the highway. There is arguably no better way to get to your destination if you enjoy riding your motorcycle. As fun as riding motorcycles is, though, finding good life insurance for motorcycle riders can be a bit dry and boring.

Motorcycle riders are forced to consider how their hobby will affect their rates, and finding an insurance company definitely isn’t as fun as cruising down the highway on a sunny day.

Will their life insurance rates really be affected by their decision to become motorcycle riders? Is the assumption that they’ll pay more just a bad misconception on their part? Could they even be denied life insurance?

From motorcycle ownership to risky behaviors, we will cover everything you need to know about life insurance for motorcycle riders.

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Life Insurance and Motorcycle Riders

If you’re an average motorcycle rider, you have little to worry about. You should easily be able to find a life insurance policy that is affordable and comes with all the coverage you’ll need. As a matter of fact, life insurance for motorcycle riders isn’t typically higher than for people who don’t ride.

The misconception that riders are subject to higher rates is not surprising. According to Consumer Reports, “motorcyclists are 30 times more likely to die in a car crash than people in a car.” That number is high, but if you break it down, you begin to see that the calculated number doesn’t take other factors into account.

For instance, Consumer Reports also states that 48% of motorcycle-related incidents in 2010 involved speeding. Further still, some 42% of the incidents involved alcohol.

In other words, you could easily reason that these accidents had less to do with the motorcycles and more to do with the drivers. To be blunt, these motorcyclists engaged in risky behavior. They could have engaged in this same behavior behind the wheel of a car or while being a pedestrian.

Fortunately for motorcyclists, insurers realize this. Perhaps this is why they don’t punish riders by hiking up their fees simply because of their hobby. They instead look at risk factors, which we’ll talk more about in the next section.

So what does this mean for the average motorcyclist?

Well, you won’t have any trouble getting great rates, so don’t let your motorcycle stop you. You can start looking into how much life insurance you can get and naming your beneficiaries.

Read more: Guide to Understanding Accident Insurance

Risk Factors for Motorcycle Life Insurance

As we’ve established, the average motorcyclist’s hobby won’t affect their rates. However, that doesn’t mean that how you choose to ride your bike won’t have an effect on your rates.

If you think about it, the same is technically true for anyone who drives any vehicle. Motorcyclists are not being singled out, but rather the drivers who partake in risky behaviors while on the road. A motorcycle accident caused by a speedster is just as dangerous as an accident involving a car. The only difference is what vehicle was speeding.

What are the risk factors of driving a motorcycle then?

We mentioned a couple of them above, though in a different capacity. The two we happened to mention were speeding and drinking while driving.

Speeding is a huge risk factor, especially for motorcyclists. As we pointed out in the last section, almost half of motorcycle-related incidents involve speeding in some way. If insurers somehow find out that you regularly speed while riding, your rates will undoubtedly be affected.

Insurers can easily check your driving record to find out whether or not you’ve been frequently ticketed for speeding. Further still, partaking in motorcycle races can be counted against you as well since this counts as a dangerous hobby.

Alcohol is also a risk factor. If you have a history of drinking while driving, you’re probably going to pay higher life insurance rates. This applies to anyone who drives any type of vehicle.

As a matter of fact, your entire driving record can be used as ammo against you. You have nothing to fear if you don’t have any serious traffic violations on your record. This is why experienced riders are often given a discount, thanks to their safe driving habits. This can be said whether you own a car or a bike.

What makes a hobby ‘dangerous’?

We briefly mentioned motorcycle racing in the previous section. We pointed out that it is considered a ‘dangerous hobby’ which is technically correct. Even so, we feel that we should expand on the idea of dangerous hobbies.

When a hobby is considered dangerous, the reasoning is usually self-explanatory. Motorcycle racing, just as any type of vehicular racing, requires that the rider speeds for long periods of time. That makes it undoubtedly dangerous.

Despite that fact, infrequently participating in motorcycle races likely won’t count against you. The same is generally true of anything that is considered mildly dangerous (e.g. surfing, skydiving, etc.).

And ‘infrequently’ here pretty much means, ‘once in a blue moon.’

So if you participated in a motorcycle race one or two times? That’s not going to increase your insurance rate. Doing it a few more times in your life also won’t have a negative effect on your rate.

On the other hand, if you frequently participate in motorcycle races you’re going to have to face the fact that you’re going to be spending more. There isn’t much that can be done to lower your rates if you’re partaking in risky behavior every other day.

How much more will you pay for life insurance with a motorcycle?

If you’re a motorcyclist who likes to race, you’re probably concerned about the rate you’ll get. Of course, the rate you get depends entirely on how much life insurance you get.

Generally speaking, though, you’ll pay an additional cost per thousand dollars. That additional price tag can vary from place to place. You’re probably looking at paying perhaps five or six dollars extra for every thousand dollars annually for a period of time.

After that time is up, you then pay the premium that those who don’t participate in risky activities do. Needless to say, paying the extra money is probably not going to be much of a problem for those who don’t take out large life insurance policies.

Life Insurance For Motorcycle Riders: The Verdict

The verdict is in, and life insurance for motorcycle riders is no more expensive than it is for anyone else. Motorcyclists are subject to the same scrutiny as their peers.

Risky behavior is the only thing that adds to the cost of riding a motorcycle. This means that you should stay away from competitive racing and keep your driving record clean if you want to get the best rates.

If you’re not sure how to get affordable life insurance, check out some of our best tips for finding cheap life insurance. You can also contact us in order to talk to an agent and get a life insurance quote.

Looking to compare life insurance prices? We can help. Enter your ZIP code to get free quotes from multiple insurers.