Insurance
 

Researching the cost of insurance its pretty astounding how much it costs for young riders. My sons cheapest quote is $789 and thats for an '04 600cc ski doo. I cant imagine many of these riders are insured. Anybody got any other companys to check. This quote was from Foremost. Progressive was over $1,100.

Check your local Allstate. I go through Lee Belanger Allstate and pay around $200.00 for year round full coverage for two newer sleds, that price is for both not each. No one could touch them. Here is his number... (603) 622-3030

Dan

I have never been asked who the operators are. I second Dan, call around.

I will give him a call. Are your sleds registered in your name? Mine is in my name and my sons is in his name. I could registered his sled and put him on my policy and listed him as a driver but that would rocketed my premium. From what I was told all drivers have be listed for coverage to be applied. If they arent and unscheduled driver wrecks I am up a creek.

Yes my sleds are both registered in my name. My friend however has a son who is 18 yrs old and has his own insurance through Lee for basically the same money as his father... I would call Lee and see what he says, he is a great guy!

Good Luck!

Dan

I don't have my sleds registered this year but last year's premium for a pair of 2002 sleds was $247.00 through Progressive (an Amica company so it is direct, no agent). Phone number is 1-800-876-5581.

Your son's premium could be driven up by coverage on the actual sled (theft, damage, etc.). For a 2004 sled I'd just worry about liability insurance. Finally, I had Foremost prior to going with Progressive and I recall my premiums were also outrageous but I can't find any old bills.

Good Luck

As far as I know, Amica and Progressive are completely different, independent companies. Do you have information to show otherwise?

I've got bills with both of their names written all over them. It says Amica and Progressive appreciate your business.....Maybe it is a joint venture?

Thanks for the clarification.

I've had Amica for most of my insurance needs for many years. But when we called them after getting our PWC, they said they don't insure PWC's. But they did refer us to another company who would cover us, and arranged for the policy.

I'm guessing they do a similar thing for their customers who want sled insurance.

I had the absolute best luck with Amica until I registered sleds with them years ago.
The problem started when I sold my sleds, both of them and snow checked a new sled for fall pick-up. I called to cancel the policy but was told I could not. I explained to them the I no longer had the sleds, they were sold and I could prove it. Didn't matter they told me, the policy was written through them by another company. So I'm sitting here with all of my insurance through them, renters, car, boat and snowmobile. I asked them what happens if I do not pay the snowmobile policy? I was told it would be attached to one of the others. I ended up canceling every policy I had and moved to another company. It was the only way to get out of paying the $400 that I owed for nothing. The policy period had literally just started for the sleds. I hated doing it because they were the best company when it came to dealing with for an accident.
Since then my wife shops insurance companies rates about every 2 years, unfortunately Amica is usually a lot higher then the others she looks into that are highly rated as well.
What many people do not realize is that the longer you stay with an insurance company the higher your rates stay, if you shop around and compare rates, in most cases you can save hundreds a year. I'm not talking crappy companies like Progressive and Geiko either.

You know I haven't either. I believe the sled is insured no matter who is driving it. Your paying to insure the sled not the person...

I have never priced it as I dont have a sled anymore (used Allstate when I did), but you could try Chris Valley with Liberty Mutual in Dover. I would have tried him myself, but its been a while since I have owned one.

Last time I knew he was the insurer for the NH Snowmobile Association as a whole, and did a lot of promoting during NHSA events. He was pretty well tied into the snowmobile community, although he is not a snowmobiler himself.

Great guy.

Just a clarification - Chris @ Liberty Mutual does not insure the NHSA. The NHSA and its 98% of its member clubs have insurance through another company and it's my understanding never have insured the NHSA(at least the last ten years and very likely never)

It was my understanding based on a past conversation, I certainly could be wrong or misunderstood him. I have not been involved with a club (I was a local club president many years ago, for 7 years) for a long time.

I did find his name on the NHSA website as an insurer, the only one listed in fact in the few counties I looked at:

http://www.nhsa.com/visit_sullivan.shtml

His name came up in a lot of links related to snowmobile insurance in NH. I have no business affiliation, just helping out members here.

Hartford
 

$800 for snowmachines! WOW! I paid about $90 a year for a 583 MXZ. I called Harford and they cover everything!

If you have youngsters under your roof, it pays to have an 'umbrella insurance'. The Hartford underwriters told me when I buy an umbrella insurance the liability portion of insurance for youthful drivers will go down and usually save money. They are right.

That link is a paid advertisement. Having spent many an evening in Tilton at NHSA meetings and being the treasurer and insurance contact for our club, I can say 100% they are not the insurer of the NHSA or it's member clubs. The NHSA'a policy is only offered by a very limited number of insurers.

For sled insurance, I have always found Allstate to be the most competitive. Kurt Wickes in Concord also has ads in the NHSA newspaper and has written my snowmobile policies for the last half dozen years or so.

Last year I had a 2005 skidoo mxzx800 fully insured for $138 or so...

I'm pretty sure this logic is incorrect. The insurers want to know who will operate the sled and what their driving records look like. Who do you think is a greater risk on a snowmobile a 45 year old married guy or a single 18 year old kid? My policy questionnaires always asked for the driver licenses of operators and their marital status. You should check with your agent. I could be incorrect but I am fairly certain I'm not. Good luck.

Makes total sense to me
 

In my dealings with insurance companies, many make their own rules and few of us question them. I do know they sometimes ask this question and have been for years with respect to cars, so why not sleds.
I even had one, Travelers,while I was with Melcher & Prescott, try to alter my rates midway through the policy period saying a mistake was made in the description of the work.
In the end a call to BBB put a stop to this and I dropped M&P for a much better company and lowered my rates in the process.

Had this conversation with my agent. They didn't care who was operating the machine. I did specifically ask. The only insurance I have with Allstate is my sled. Maybe your agent asked because of auto issues or maybe they just do things differently.

Yup, just confirmed that as long as the person driving has my permission it's covered. This also holds true for automobile insurance. So if your neighbor wants to borrow your pickup to move a couch, as long as he has your permission and a license your covered. Insurance covers the vehicle not the person. I'm sure their are some backyard policies that do not follow this protocol so it's always best to check with your agent...

Here ya go... http://www.allstate.com/insurance-ma...red:result%204


Dan

That's an interesting statement, so what happens if you rent a car and get in an accident? I think it depends on the policy...

Car rental companies have their own set of rules all of which is noted in the rental contract in that really really really fine print! I have car rental insurance on my policy which covers me when renting therefore I never pay extra for the insurance the rental company offers.

Dan

ishoot308 I am talking with you contact at 11am. He has come up with some good rates with the exception of the seadoo we have. I will report back. I will ask about the drivers of the sled also. I know the Seadoo policy I currently have the drivers are scheduled and it can not be driven by a non scheduled driver.

Just out of curiosity I checked mine as well - not only does my insurance cover rentals, it covers any 'non-owned vehicle' I drive. Best bet is to read your coverage documents.

Rental Insurance
 

My Visa Platinum card provide coverage for rental insurance, trip insurance etc. I always use this card for trip expenses.

I call my auto insurance company before renting a car. They will tell me what is covered. Between the auto insurance and Visa I have pretty good coverage. I was told American Express have similar coverage.

You have "implied insurance" on you and whatever vehicle (not sled) you are driving as long as your car is covered.

99% of the time your personal auto policy covers you if you wreck a rental or someone elses car that you are driving. You should almost always decline the insurance the rental companies want you to pay.

Insurance
 

Interesting comments. The lessons learned are read the fine print and shop around for snowmobile insurance.

I did well thanks to ishoot308. I now have two sleds insured with Allstate for atotal of $331. My one sled with Progressive was $293. Coverages were identical. Thanks for the help here. I also was able to insure my boat with Allstate for $15 more than I currently was paying but the coverages blew away my prior policy.