The myth of an insurance blacklist for sport bikes

On a regular basis we hear from customers who have been searching high and low trying to find insurance on their sport bikes, only to be told there is a “blacklist”. It’s time to bust that myth.

There is no such thing as an insurance industry “blacklist” on sport bikes. Instead, there’s a diverse range of insurance companies, each with their own underwriting rules that they’ve filed with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), and some of them have filed declines on specific models of motorcycles.

Motorcycles that are accepted by one company may not be accepted by another. An insurance company may also file a rule with FSCO stating that they will decline to issue an insurance policy to a rider with less than a X years of being licensed on a certain class of motorcycle, but they will accept that rider on a different class of motorcycle. These filed rules can change whenever the insurance companies file new rules with FSCO and FSCO approves them. As such, companies that were good for a certain profile of rider this year, may no longer be good for that profile of rider next year. Likewise, a company that was not good for a certain profile of rider this year, may be the best option for that same rider next year.

Now we know why someone might hear from a direct writer or an insurance company’s agent that a certain motorcycle might be “blacklisted” by that one company, but why do customers hear that from brokers? Don’t all brokers work with multiple companies? Well, the reality is, not all brokerages are created equal. Legally, to be an insurance broker, you only have to be able to write business with a minimum of 2 companies. While that is twice as good as an agent, who only has one, it’s not the entire marketplace.

If the insurance companies that your broker works with have all filed decline rules on the particular motorcycle you are looking at, that broker might tell you, your bike is blacklisted, you should give up on your dream and go ride a bike that you think is boring.

What these agents, direct writers, and brokers should be telling you is: I’m not able to insure that type of bike. There are others like Mitch who can find you insurance so you can ride your dream bike today.

What do we have at Mitch that’s different than most brokers? We work with over 42 different insurance partners. That’s right, we have the most diverse selection of insurers in Ontario, from the industry giants that work with thousands of brokers, to companies that only allow 4 brokers for the entire province to sell their product.

This way, we’re able to find you the companies that want to insure you, and you don’t have to call 10 different places before you can find a solution. There is no industry “blacklist”, just a bunch of companies that choose not to insure certain bikes.

If you want to ride your dream bike, give us a call, we’ll let you know your options, answer your questions, and get you set up so you can go carve up some curves this spring!