State Farm Ins. Co will not insure ebike stores

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State Farm Ins. Co., which prohibits bike shops using their liability insurance from selling motorized vehicles (including e-bikes, which they claim are such, despite Federal and State rulings to the contrary, separating these from the DOT and placing them under Consumer Affairs. Are they running scared, fearing more and more folks will drop their cars in favor of a vehicle that doesn't require expensive insurance?

The poster sells ebikes and wind generators and energy-efficient lighting products in San Francisco CA.

Can anybuddy confirm this?

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I can confirm that State Farm as a company blows Goats.

Will never give them any more of my money that's for sure.
 
a friend of mine works for an insurance company and said that ppls home owners policies would not cover them for the same reason. she also forwarded me this link from another company that says the same thing.

http://www.autohomeboat.com/ebikes
 
http://www.autohomeboat.com/ebikes
From an insurance standpoint, electric bikes pose a special challenge: While "human-powered" bicycles are covered for liability and most physical damage under a standard homeowner's insurance policy, the addition of a motor (no matter how small) makes it a "motorized vehicle" and therefore, excludes it from coverage on a standard homeowner's or renter's insurance policy.

Hmm, in Iowa legal ebikes are specifically defined as not a "motor vehicle". The whole insurance coverage question is one that has my interest but has not been covered comprehensively on this forum yet.
 
Can anyone stand behind starting a forum-wide boycott of state farm? ( if this is true )
 
neptronix said:
Can anyone stand behind starting a forum-wide boycott of state farm? ( if this is true )

If not I say we do our own between the two of us.. banned for life they are by me ;0)
 
This comment from a Canadian ebike retailer:
You are talking about the great US of A, insurance companies will not insureei bikes it the US because there is no public saftey net. In Canada most insurance companies welcome ebike companies and we recieve a far lower rate because we are environmental.

L0Ck
 
I have been through a lot of insurance companies over the years and I have to say State Farm – at least my local agent – has been quite fair and reasonable and keen to understand my business model and my hobbies. In the 18 years I’ve lived in Washington State, I’ve owned a farm, started a corporation, I run a consulting service which requires insurance maintenance, I’ve insured all sorts of vehicles, and now we’re getting into ebikes: On a personal level I specifically asked if my homeowners would cover my road trip and the answer I got was “yes”. For the record AAA (or in Washington it’s WA-AA) does not provide road insurance for ebikes, however Oregon does (yea for them). I think that the whole field is fluid and waiting to see how the dust settles at the Federal level, whenever that is. But I suspect it is coming; there is going to be a reckoning to tax or corner the liability once the novelty wears off and ebikes are more commonplace. Stifling the industry though is wrongheaded and I don’t blame folks for wanting to change insurers; that’s the failing of the agent to listen and provide a reasonable solution. Mine is pretty cool.

~KF
 
A month or so ago when I first read the claims about State Farm not covering an ebike I called my State Farm broker. I posed the question to them.....If I ride a legal ebike (manufactured as an ebike or home grown) does my home insurance liability policy cover me. They were very honest saying they had no idea and would need to call the home ofice of State Farm. They called me back a few hours later and said my home owners liability policy with State Farm would cover me while riding a legal ebike because by Illinois state and federal law a legal ebike is considered a bicycle. I was also able to confirm that if a friend were riding my ebike this same policy would also cover any liability claims while he were riding it. But it would not cover his liability.

One other point to all the State Farm haters........I received a claim settlement of aproximately $3,500 on a policy that I had not (and never did) pay a premium on. I had received a new policy on a motor scooter and not made the payment yet when I crashed it. They paid the claim with no quesestions asked and told me it was on them without even paying 1 cent for the policy.

So could I maybe get a cheaper policy? Most likely, but thanks no thanks.........

Bob
 
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