A Guide to Motorcycle Insurance in Pennsylvania (PA)

Pennsylvania has over 100 miles of coastline when you combine the shorelines of the Delaware Estuary and Lake Erie, so it is no surprise that a scenic ride on a motorcycle is many Pennsylvanians idea of a day very well spent. In this article I will be looking at how to make that ride just a little bit safer by getting good Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance, and look into what the minimum state requirements actually are for motorcycle insurance in Pennsylvania and whether they are fit for purpose.

What are the minimum requirements for Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance?

There are some minimum state requirements for motorcycle insurance In Pennsylvania which are mainly designed to be a safety net for both the drivers and other vehicles on the road. It is for this reason that the main thrust of state minimums for insurance right across the United States is centered on liability cover, with an element to cover property damage.

The minimum state requirements for Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance are:

$15,000 – Bodily injury liability for one person
$30,000 – Bodily injury liability for one accident
$5,000 – Property Damage Liability Cover

This is generally shorted to 15/30/5 cover.

Are the Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance minimums high enough?

The state minimums in Pennsylvania are clearly designed to be as low as possible, because they are considerably lower than most other states minimums in the United States. If you click on a few of the other states information on this site for motorcycle insurance, then you will clearly see that Pennsylvania has one of the lowest minimum requirements of ANY state.

More typically you would expect to see 25/50/25 cover as roughly the average for the state minimums, so Pennsylvania is about 40% lower on the liability elements, and a full 500% lower on property damage liability cover.

In some ways this could be viewed as a good thing, because it does lower the barrier to be able to ride a motorcycle legally in Pennsylvania, but the flip side is that riders in PA are considerably LESS protected than their counterparts in other states.  

And the costs of any accident can be significant. If you consider for example that the average cost of a stay in hospital in the US in 2010 was $14,427; then it quickly gets into perspective quite how low the Pennsylvania minimums really are.  Plus, $5,000 for property damage liability may be enough to fix some incredibly minor accident such as mending a garden fence, but it isn’t going to make a dent in the costs of replacing another car, or repairing the damage from a multi-vehicle pileup.

So on virtually every measure for common sense to prevail you should endeavour to get considerably more of these basic types of cover.


What other types of PA Motorcycle Cover are their?

In addition to the basic covers of liability and property damage there are also some other types of PA Motorcycle Insurance that you should consider enlarging your insurance policy to contain.

The first of these is Comprehensive Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance which would also add in cover for your motorcycle being stolen, vandalised or damaged by fire.  

This is well worth getting if you can afford it, because a staggering 80,000 motorcycles get stolen every year in the United States according to the (NICB) National Insurance Crime Bureau, and so there is a very real danger of it happening to you.

Additional covers could also include collision damage cover and uninsured/underinsured motorist cover which would help to pay for the costs to fix or replace your bike in the event of a collision, and also to payout on the insurance in the event that you had an accident with another driver who either didn’t have any insurance, or who else was underinsured.

This last type of add on for your Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance is potentially a very big deal, because otherwise an accident with an uninsured motorist can end up being a financial nightmare. (Remember that you can always check out state minimums for Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance and legal considerations at the Pennsylvania Insurance Departments website - https://www.ins.state.pa.us)

In summary, there are many different considerations when looking to get either a new policy, or replace an existing policy for your motorcycle. So review your options carefully and be sure to get a wide variety of Pennsylvania Motorcycle Insurance Quotes before deciding on which policy is best for your particular circumstances.

 

		Site Map - About Us - Contact Us - Terms of Use - Privacy Policy

Copyright © InsuranceAdvisoryService.com. All Rights Reserved.