With the recent tragedy at Starvation Ridge as well as some discussion about other injuries at the event the topic of Insurance had come up.

I've got a basic life policy through my work as well as a high deductible HSA plan.

Recently I've been looking into getting a term life policy to augment my policy through work, but I've been wondering what the increase will be when they find out I ride and race. Is there a company anyone knows about that is reasonable and is friendly to riders? Life and/or Medical - I'm curious what's out there.

With a sport as risky as ours I'm sure that a lot of people have good coverage. What's out there?

Your mileage may vary, but here's my thoughts from personal experience (i'm sure this isn't the same for everyone):

• My life insurance offered at work has clauses which say that it's only valid if I am killed WHILE at work or doing work activity. Anything outside of that will not pay out to my family.
  
• I have term life insurance outside of my work plan and I had to answer a pretty lengthy questionnaire, take a physical, do blood work, etc. (typical stuff) They asked questions about all the risky things I do (or don't do), including racing motorcycles and even just riding motorcycles. I didn't race at the time, so was able to answer "no" to racing. I don't do bungee jumping or naked hang gliding either, so I'm sure it all factored in to the premium calculation.
  
• My health benefits do not exclude any activity explicitly, only certain services (i.e. no chiropractors or accupunture, which is fine with me) and I haven't had a problem yet getting injuries covered, but who knows, the ins co's can deny anything if they want to.

You might want to contact some insurance broker or agent and just talk to them, explain what you do (racing, riding, etc) and ask if there's a policy that fits, if it just means you pay more per month, etc. Even if you don't buy a policy from them, they can probably quote you with info you give over the phone to show you the difference (pending physical, etc).

Whatever you do, I'd check the fine print when it comes time to committing to ensure there's no "get out of jail" clauses in the policy for "risky activities" or stupid stuff like that.

just my $0.02

When my kids were born, I enrolled with term life insurance paid annually. Like silversurf said, you'll go through blood work, questions, surveys, etc.... my recreational sport raised questions/halted the process and yes, raised the premiums a bit but nothing that drastic. My term is locked into a fixed annual rate until I hit a certain age that I can't remember (late 40's or something.)

Grouphealth is my HMO and I have been pretty lucky with them over past 5 yrs...in fact, the Dr. I visit annually is usually because of an injury:bonk: She just rolls her eyes at me and mutters under her breath.

My experence is that most normal medical, loss of wage, and life insurance policies have language to limit or eliminate coverage related to claims from competitive events and competitive motorsports events. Most medical policies in Washington State have language to limit claims for activities that the carrier deems "dangerous". Right now most are getting coverage for non-competitive motorsports injuries if a third party is not involved/responsible. This could change at any time especially if the current language is continued in the National Health Care legislation and is enacted.....

Special life insurance policies are available to those that compete but cost is much higher if the motorsport related risk is disclosed.....

My group of Doctors -so far have been good to work with but some bumps in the road to payment for services have been experienced based on Doctor chart notes.....be aware and communicate. Sometimes riding a mountain bike is really dangerous......

trailwhale said:

I occasionally suffer bizarre gardening accidents...

I NEVER HURT myself riding:smirk:, but I sure seem to fall alot, get tripped by the dogs, fall off the deck, and all sorts of house hold mishaps. The last mishap broke one rib just before the Cowbell.:banghead: Call me dumb, but I still raced. I also have AFLAC which covers alot, exempt competative motorsports.:thumbsup:

trailwhale said:

Or sometimes you simply fall off your bicycle while commuting to work too. Tragedy I tell ya. :smirk:

In 30+ years of racing, I have only been hurt on a motorcycle once.......


Every other time we had parted company immediately before the injury!!:lol:

Good point!! Most of the time, I get the bruises from the ground after the MC has stopped a little ways back. The ground caused the injury, not the motorcycle!

robr54 said:

Pesky ground!

It's best to talk to a pro about your insurance needs to determine what might be best or available for you. Group policies and accidental death policies are among the most misunderstood policies out there.

ShokWerx said:

Totally agree here! But you have to read the policy fine-print to verify anything said by the Agent. Policy fine-print dictates all ......

Aflac supplemental policies usually are not real restrictive except for competitive motorosports events as a participant.