Washington DC Insurance Challenge and Theft/Totaled Payouts

[Phuket]

I pay $896 a year for my Buddy with Geico.

My coverages are as follows: (All are the minimum according to DC law, and changing my deductible to $500 for comprehensive or collision is about $50 less- not worth it)

2006 GENUINE Buddy 4-stroke 125 CC

Coverage Limit Deductible Premium
BODILY INJURY LIABILITY $25,000/$50,000 N/A $227.00
PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY $15,000 N/A $53.00
UNINSURED MOTORIST BODILY INJURY $25,000/$50,000 N/A $78.00
UNINSURED MOTORIST PROPERTY DAMAGE $5,000 NON-DED $18.00
COMPREHENSIVE N/A $250 DED. $355.00
COLLISION N/A $250 DED. $165.00
Cycle Total: $896.00
Total Premium: $896.00

I am a 24 year old female with a spotless driving/DMV/police record, and I have been a licensed driver for eight years. I am taking the MSF class in two weeks.

Some factors that make it so high: my zip code in DC (I live in Adams Morgan, if you know the area); no previous documented motorcycle ownership; my age (under/over 25 makes a huge difference, I've heard); and it's the first insurance policy under my own name.

I have GEICO, and apparently no other company is allowed to insure scooters in the District of Columbia. Some of you fine people recommended Fernet, and I wrote to get a quote.

The fine folks at Fernet wrote back and said that they couldn't insure in DC, told me I was paying about 3X their normal rate, and pasted this from an insurance newsletter:

Hi, To answer your question, Washington DC is a “captive” area…as follows in a newletter :

On March 14, 2007, two cutting-edge captive insurance statutes became law in the District of Columbia. The "Captive Insurance Company Amendment Act of 2006" and the "Special Purpose Financial Captive Authorization Amendment Act of 2006," both enacted by the Council of the District of Columbia last December and signed by outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams, completed the 30 legislative-day period of Congressional review required of all laws enacted by the Council and took effect on that day.
The Captive Insurance Company Amendment Act further improves the District's segregated cell captive statute, which allows a captive insurance company to segregate the risks of its individual members so that the assets and liabilities of each cell are not commingled. The law already allowed each cell to be individually capitalized with its own funds and to pay for the losses arising within its cell, without spreading those risks among the other cells. The amendment just enacted allows each cell to be separately incorporated, thereby strengthening the legal walls of separation between the cells. No other U.S. jurisdiction, not even Vermont, has this feature.
The Special Purpose Financial Captive law allows captives to securitize risks, that is, to transfer risks to the capital markets through the creation and issuance of marketable securities. While a few other states (Vermont, South Carolina) have such laws on their books, the lack of this provision in District of Columbia law was viewed by the captive insurance community as a handicap. That handicap has now been removed and the District is anticipating a major spurt in the number of captives seeking licenses there.
Captive insurance companies are formed for the purpose of insuring the risks of their owners, who can be corporations, associations or hospital systems. They are not commercial insurance companies selling to the general public and therefore they arguably do not need the same level of regulatory scrutiny as commercial insurers.
More and more insurance risks are being written through captives, which collectively now account for close to half of all insurance on a worldwide basis. Originally these captives were all located off shore, especially in Bermuda, which has several thousand captives licensed there. Then, some 20 years ago, Vermont enacted the first domestic U.S. captive insurance law and has attracted over 500 captives to that state. As is true of Bermuda, captive insurance companies are today a major source of revenue for Vermont. In more recent years other U.S. jurisdictions have adopted captive laws, but only a few—South Carolina, Hawaii, Arizona and the District of Columbia—have succeeded in attracting this growing form of insurance business.
The Council of the District of Columbia, at my urging as the then DC Insurance Commissioner, enacted its first captive insurance law in 2000, and the first captive insurer was licensed in DC in 2001. Since then, more than 70 captives have been licensed in the District of Columbia, and DC has become one of the fastest-growing captive jurisdictions not only in the United States but in the world. The attraction of the District of Columbia as a captive domicile comes not only from its being the nation's capital, but also because it boasts one of the most innovative and flexible legal and regulatory systems of any jurisdiction. Its Insurance Department has a separate unit dealing with the regulation of captives, and that unit has gained a reputation for prompt and reasonable regulation and ease of access that captive insurers find very useful. The taxes realized on the activities of licensed captive insurers, in turn, are providing an increasing amount of revenue for the District Government.


I found that to be a little convoluted, but what I got from it is that my city government sold its soul to Geico.

If anyone has any information on more affordable insurance for DC residents, please post it here. All things considered, I am still happy with my Buddy, and it is still economically efficient.

One thing I am very interested in is the actual insurance value of '06 Buddies. (+-1,200 miles) If it does get stolen, and I get a check for $600 after I pay my $250 deductible... wow will I be mad.

Sorry for the long post, and would you mind posting:

Insurance payout for stolen/totaled bike, along with mileage, year, model, etc.

If the payoff is too low, I may drop comprehensive and collision entirely. A girl's gotta eat!

[weaseltamer]

i was quoted $2200 for my '06 buddy with 3.5k miles. After I yelled at the guy that i had added the windshield, chrome rack and front basket, they upped it to $2400.
(I didn't have a very good experience with the whole ordeal, they were arguing about the cc's my bike had and other stupid shit. They didn't even ask me, but instead spent a week arguing in emails with the adjuster. )

[monty]

My suggestion...move 2 miles away to Arlington, where I live, and pay only $200/year from Progressive. My Buddy is a 50, but I still can't imagine it being too much more for a 125. Also in NOVA - no registration or licensing requirements, lower income taxes, and fresher air.

[ThisDude]

Auto insurance is pretty much a scam anyway, they buy off legislation to get there way, if you factor in the cost, you're pretty much paying for your own damages and the other persons damage when you pay your premium for a couple years, and if that didn't cover it the premium hike they'll give you after an accident will definitely cover the rest. What I hate is here in LA insurance costs are so high AND it seems to me everyone that hits me is uninsured. So now you have to get uninsured motorist insurance because there's no way you can take someone to court here. My friend got in an accident with an uninsured guy. 5 years later he got his court date. And the guy is too broke to pay more than 50 bucks a month on a 11,000 bill slapped to him by the judge.