Commuting - Does anyone here save on auto insurance because they bike to work?

And I don't mean by getting rid of your car.

What I mean is that if I told them I only drive 2 or 3 days each week, can I get a discount?

when i was living at home, i remember my father had me as a part time driver on his insurance. i think the result was cheaper somehow. maybe your insurance has something like that?

And I don't mean by getting rid of your car.

What I mean is that if I told them I only drive 2 or 3 days each week, can I get a discount?
Well, my insurance rates are partly based on how many miles a year I drive, so I imagine it's possible even if they don't specifically have infrequent driver discounts.

Here in SoCal we have bi-annual smog checks. On the smog check certificate, the technician notes odometer mileage. I copied my insurance company two of these to show that I was averaging 2k miles per year on my truck. Insurance premium went down.

I look like I just saved a ton of money on my car insurance. I got rid of one entirely. Sorry, couldn't resist.
My insurance rates vary based on annual mileage and use for commuting. If I declared that I didn't commute and drove less than 8k/miles year then the Collision part dropped like a stone.

Allstate has a program to save money on mileage. But I think there is only an above 7500 and below 7500 recreational use mileage. I saved about 40 whole dollars every 6 months going to the lower mileage rate thing.

My insurance rates vary with:
- whether I drive to work
- where I work [if I drive]
- how far I drive to work

I don't drive to work ever, so my rates are quite a lot lower - perhaps 2/3 of what they would be otherwise.

I started bike commuting to work on a regular basis this April, 30 mi. round-trip. I called my American Family insurance agent in early summer to find out if I qualified for a rate reduction since the truck was spending more time in the driveway than on the road. Sure enough, my rates went down about $160/year. All I did was explain to her that I generally drive only on weekends when I have "vehicle required" errands, and the occasional trip back to my hometown in Nebraska.

I get a discount for low annual mileage and not driving to work, but it's not a large amount of money. You have to bike commute because you enjoy it.

here the scale slides in a couple of ways. there's driving to work vs recreational driving, and then if you're in the work category they break it further by how long your drive is: under 15k vs over 15k, one way. the recreational version still allows you to drive to work a maximum of (i think) 4 days per month. basically, it's a very rough mileage-based system but the differences between one group and another are pretty negligible. inaccurate too, since the 'recreational' category keeps no tabs at all on how much you drive. i'm proof that it's quite easy to rack up twice or three times as many miles in a non-working month, but that's how they do it.

not to jinx myself, but every year you maintain a license without any at-fault accidents is good for a cumulative discount up to 40%. in a way, i do think of bike mileage as contributing to that, since it's a bit harder to get into an auto accident if you don't take your car on the road. touch wood.

There's NO insurance plan that has super low rates for bike commuters that use their cars five times a year, however.

It's the work/no work driving, recreation only, then a mileage cap that still assumes you will drive your car all the time for errands, going to the store etc.

No way to get it under a 3,000 annual miles, recreational, non work use designation.

virtually every insurance agent I've ever talked to takes the stance I'm trying to pull the wool over their eyes when I tell them I have a car I don't drive hardly at all and never to the store or around town.

virtually every insurance agent I've ever talked to takes the stance I'm trying to pull the wool over their eyes when I tell them I have a car I don't drive hardly at all and never to the store or around town.

one day they'll microchip all of us. then they'll probably try to crunch up some correlated number that represents everyone's real driving time. then things will make sense for about two months, until they come up with the premise that lower practice rates = less expertise, and start slapping premiums on infrequent drivers for 'not doing it enough to be able to do it properly'.

i wish i hadn't thought of that.

I used to get a discount with State Farm for low mileage (under 7,500 per year) - I just had to report mileage to them once in a while. I don't have this anymore and have switched insurance companies, but I'm going to inquire soon.

I don't understand why it would make a difference whether you drive or ride to work, if your auto insurance is going to cover you in either case. After the AIG post I've been reading about this on and off site and this is a really confusing and misunderstood issue.

I don't understand why it would make a difference whether you drive or ride to work, if your auto insurance is going to cover you in either case. After the AIG post I've been reading about this on and off site and this is a really confusing and misunderstood issue.

as far as i know, around here automobile insurance is only about your automobile - has nothing to do with your bike or what you do with it. if cyclist coverage exists, it wouldn't be provided by the car-insurance people. so the (theoretical) question about auto insurance is not about whether you bike or not, just about how they base their risk factors entirely on how much and how you use your car - and aren't doing it all that accurately when it comes to people who hardly use their cars at all. it would be exactly the same conversation if i rode a camel to work.

My premium dropped ~33% after I informed my agent I was commuting to work by bicycle. I had to sign a mileage statement, blah, blah, blah............

Yeah. In B.C. there is a reduction for 'Pleasure use only'. Four days per month to work max. Not a big cut, but any bit helps.

as far as i know, around here automobile insurance is only about your automobile

Maybe.

http://www.floridabicycle.org/messenger/msgronl0303/sum033.htm

Seriously, this is really confusing. I've asked my insurance agent about this and she doesn't know. Promises to get back to me. Apparently some types of coverage follow the car and some types of coverage follow the driver.

I don't have any difinitive word on insurance coverage, and it likely varies by state, but I do have some coverage due me while cycling from my auto and renters policies. Even though these are not 'biker specific' clauses, biking fits the parameters for coverage.

I have 10,000 in PIP, personal injury protection, attached to my drivers' insurance that will help cover my medical costs in the event of an automobile collision with my bicycle.

My renters insurance will provide personal property damage coverage to me in the event I damage another's property, regardless if I do it on a bike.


And then, in a PIP state, if the driver has PIP coverage, PIP monies from the driver's insurance is generally available to pay for injuries first to pedestrians or bicyclists up to the PIP limits, before the cyclist's PIP coverage is even enacted.

I don't know if this is uniform between the states, or any other qualifiers.

I don't know if this is uniform between the states, or any other qualifiers.

There is probably some state where it is advantageous where a collision is about to occur, to get off you bike at the last second and be hit as a pedestrian rather than as a cyclist.

mmph well, i'm not in florida, and presumably you aren't either . . . ? but it's confusing all over, probably. the further question would be whether the transferable parts can be transferred to operation of a bike, or only to operation of another car. dunno. definition of 'vehicle' in this context . . .?

out here, even transferable coverage comes out on the bottom line as penalty to anyone who doesn't own a car. you can't even get road insurance here unless there's a car in the story somewhere. the concept doesn't exist.

I have Allstate, and two cars. By biking, I keep the mileage on the car I normally would drive (the spouse normally drives the other) below 7,500, and get a ten-dollar a month reduction in the premium on just that car. Note that the reduction is not for biking, but for keeping the mileage down. So I could get the reduction by walking or taking the bus also.

Regardless of how much you pay in premiums, you are saving because your chances of having a crash with you as the auto driver are lessened, and therefore you are less likely to be dropped or have your premium raised.

I save money. I don't have the exact wording of the policy in front of me, but since I put less than a certain number of miles on the vehicle (I think it's 7,500 per year), and it's not a commuter vehicle, I get discounts.

As far as mileage, all insurance companies have different weight placed on usage variables. So Allstate may give you a discount if you drive less than 7500 mi/yr, State Farm may only give the discount only if you don't use the vehicle as a commuter, and Farmers may only apply a lower premium if you have both. Depends on what variables the actuaries think are most important in assigning the correct premium versus risk. There's no magic number for all companies, so check with your agent to make sure.

Portions of your auto policy such as medical payments/PIP cover you as a pedestrian. The company I work for considers a cyclist a pedestrian, so if you were injured those coverages would come into play. Again, check with your agent to see if a delineation is made between a pedestrian/cyclist and to see if your coverage follows you.

I think my discounts are maxed out on my car insurance. I pay a little over $200 a year for coverage on my two vehicles. Really want to make a difference on your rates? Drop collision. My vehicles are 10 and 12 years old respectively. It makes no sense to pay double my rates to be reimbursed if the car is totalled because I wouldn't even get enough money back to buy a really nice bike. I also get discounts for having my homeowners with them and there is a multi-vehicle discount (State Farm). I told them both vehicles were used for recreational purposes only (wife stays home with the kids), but it made no difference in my rate.

as far as i know, around here automobile insurance is only about your automobile - has nothing to do with your bike or what you do with it. if cyclist coverage exists, it wouldn't be provided by the car-insurance people.

In every state where I've lived (MN, WA, now OR), your automobile coverage applies ANY time you are operating a vehicle (including a bicycle) on a public road. If I get hit I certainly want my PIP to kick in (which it will), and if I cause an accident I sure as heck want my liability coverage to kick in (which it also will). Your state may be different, but if driver's insurance really doesn't cover cycling where you are, don't assume that's the case everywhere.

In any event, I can't imagine the insurance companies giving us a break for commuting by bike. They'd be more likely to surcharge us on the reasoning that it's far more dangerous on a mile-per-mile basis than driving. Which, if you take an average over all cyclists -- including the stupid near-majority who run red lights, ride on sidewalks, ride the wrong way down bike lanes, ride without helmets, and ride at night without being visible -- is probably true. If course I am just as safe biking as I am driving! ;)

one day they'll microchip all of us. then they'll probably try to crunch up some correlated number that represents everyone's real driving time. then things will make sense for about two months, until they come up with the premise that lower practice rates = less expertise, and start slapping premiums on infrequent drivers for 'not doing it enough to be able to do it properly'.

i wish i hadn't thought of that.

Soon....Very soon:

http://www.insurancenetworking.com/protected/article.cfm?articleId=3554&pb=ros

...Portions of your auto policy such as medical payments/PIP cover you as a pedestrian. ...

And UM/UIM, should you be hit by an underinsured motorist, even if not in your car.

Portions of your auto policy such as medical payments/PIP cover you as a pedestrian.

*blink* so what happens to the pedestrians who don't own cars and don't have an auto policy?

if driver's insurance really doesn't cover cycling where you are, don't assume that's the case everywhere.

nah, i didn't. i don't even assume everyone else is posting from canada ;)

[snip] virtually every insurance agent I've ever talked to takes the stance I'm trying to pull the wool over their eyes when I tell them I have a car I don't drive hardly at all and never to the store or around town.

You need to shop for an agent that understands your lifestyle. I found an agent that would work closely with me to meet my needs. He understood that I had 3 vehicles, each with an intended purpose, and worked with me to get the best rates. Same with my homeowner's policy. I only wanted $70k for contents, but he understood that $20k of that was camera gear. A commercial policy was too expensive, but we were still able to work something out. Find an agent that will listen to you, and he'll work to get you the best rates.



I don't understand why it would make a difference whether you drive or ride to work, if your auto insurance is going to cover you in either case. After the AIG post I've been reading about this on and off site and this is a really confusing and misunderstood issue.

Don't look at it as getting a reduced rate because you ride a bike to work. Look at it as getting a reduced rate because you drive less than the average for your area, thereby reducing the risk of your vehicle being involved in a collision.

*blink* so what happens to the pedestrians who don't own cars and don't have an auto policy?

Generally speaking (there are several exceptions):

If Ped has an auto policy, the following insurance covers the damage:
Non-PIP states:
Driver's Med
Driver's BI (if more serious injury) (Or Ped's UMBI if Driver is uninsured)
Ped's Med (often will pay bills and recover against driver's BI)
Ped's Health Insurance or Disability Insurance depending on if medical bills or work-loss due to injury
Ped Out of Pocket (Sue for damage recovery)

PIP States:
Ped's PIP
If PIP limits are exceeded, Driver's BI (Or Ped's UMBI if driver is uninsured)
Ped's Heatlh Insurance or Disability Insurance

If Ped doesn't have an auto policy, the following insurance covers the damage:
Non-PIP States:
Driver's Med
Driver's BI (if more serious injury)
Ped's Health or Disability Insurance
Ped Out of Pocket (Sue for damage recovery)

PIP States:
In RARE cases Driver's PIP will cover immediate medical care (ER & Ambulance)
Usually Driver's BI covers first, or Ped's Health covers and the subrogates against Driver BI.
If the Driver is uninsured, Ped Health or Disability Insurance
Finally, Ped Out of Pocket (Sue for damage recovery)

Again, this is the general case and there are lots of exceptions.

Generally speaking (there are several exceptions) . . .

wow. complicated. i keep forgetting we have some basic differences in our insurance structures. thanks for the run-down.