M1 vs M2 Insurance Costs | GTAMotorcycle.com

M1 vs M2 Insurance Costs

Ratsenol

Member
8 years ago, I got my M1 and M2, rode for four years, then sold my bike and made the mistake of not obtaining my full M. Now that I've decided to get back in to riding, I'm considered a new rider, which I'm fine with. Bought myself a cheap little GW250F which I'll be picking up next week. The best quote I've gotten with my M1 (which I will replace with my M2 after two weeks when I take the course again) is in the $1,600/year range. If I wait the two weeks and insure it after getting my M2, I've gotten quotes as low as $418 (Co-Operators) and $440 (State Farm)! Both companies won't insure M1 riders, and a number of others with prices in the $800-$1100 range won't either. So to ride two weeks earlier, insurance costs four times as much!

I don't understand how a new rider is supposed to get the skills to pass the ministry's M2 test (as opposed to doing it through the safety course) if barely anyone will insure them, and those who will charge that much more. I think the safety course was invaluable when I took it back in '08; enough so that after the break from riding I want to take it again. But really - an extra $1200 just for two weeks of riding? And they know if they're insuring you for the year that you'll be getting your M2 because the M1 is only good for 90 days!

Maybe I'll just drag a TV out to the garage and hook up the Playstation to sit on the bike and watch videos from vloggers and pretend I'm riding! It's going to be a long couple of weeks!
 
Where are you getting the two weeks from? Its two months (60 days). You aren't given your M2 when you pass the course, you still have to wait the 60 days from when you got your M1.
 
2 weeks will fly by

spend your time by perusing kijiji and get the best gear you can afford (riding pants, riding boots, back protector) etc
 
there is no mention when he got his M1 - i think hes just getting his M2 in 2 weeks time

Where are you getting the two weeks from? Its two months (60 days). You aren't given your M2 when you pass the course, you still have to wait the 60 days from when you got your M1.
 
there is no mention when he got his M1 - i think hes just getting his M2 in 2 weeks time

Well damn, I didn't think of that... :confused: Makes sense.

With an M1 and the exit course done, places like Aviva will insure you like an M2. Hard to beat $400/year though
 
I got my M1 last month, but since I got it within 3 years of my M2 expiring there are no wait times. I can take my M2 at any time. I'm signed up for the course at Durham College the last weekend of May, so I'll go get my M2, plates and insurance all on the 30th. The two weeks I'm talking about are from when I get the bike next week until then.

Abkdt41 - spending time looking at gear is already getting me into trouble! I've still got my jackets, pants, gloves, helmets and boots from before. I convinced my wife that my helmet needed replacing because they're 8 years old, so I just went and bought a new one today. But I can't justify buying anything else when I've got perfectly good stuff sitting in the basement.
 
Well damn, I didn't think of that... :confused: Makes sense.

With an M1 and the exit course done, places like Aviva will insure you like an M2. Hard to beat $400/year though

The problem is it only counts if the course has been done within the past 3 years. They don't care that I did it 8 years ago and rode for four - they consider my a brand new rider. Even Jevco who I used before won't count the four years I paid them. I never should have let my M2 expire!
 
Abkdt41 - spending time looking at gear is already getting me into trouble!

hehehe i know what you mean - i get the "look" to when I am looking at bike related stuff online - like im having an affair

you can read some good material - twist of the wrist, total control etc

maybe even practice in a parking lot?

or look for some accessories

by the way post some pics of your bike/gear
 
you can get all the skills you need to pass the ministry M1 exit by riding circles in a parking lot...
 
you can get all the skills you need to pass the ministry M1 exit by riding circles in a parking lot...

Sorta, there is a road portion where you have to show at least some form of lane positioning.

The way I got around it was convince an agent to insure me the day before my test as an M2 rider with a gaurentee of completion. No issues, if you pass.
 
you can get all the skills you need to pass the ministry M1 exit by riding circles in a parking lot...

Yeah, but it's getting an unplated, uninsured bike to the parking lot that's the issue! It just seems like a big barrier for anyone starting out.

And I tried to convince insurance companies, but they said that it's against their rules; until my M2 is registered with the ministry, they're unable to insure the bike. I even asked about strictly theft and/or comprehensive coverage with no liability for while it's sitting in the garage, and they won't cover it. Co-Operators said that while in my garage, it's also not covered under home insurance - a bicycle worth up to $500 would be covered, but not a bike. I asked how an engagement ring worth more than the bike could be included through home insurance when it's worn out and about every day but a bike safely locked up in the garage couldn't. He didn't have an answer for that.
 
I got my M1 last month, but since I got it within 3 years of my M2 expiring there are no wait times.

I've heard this a few times but see no indication anywhere on the MTO website that this exemption exists. Please followup and confirm when the time comes you try.

OP, you are in the exact scenario I was when I came back to riding last fall except my absence was about 20 years. ;) There are insurers out there that will insure you as an M1 with a 30-ish day window to achieve your M2 so long as you're scheduled for a motorcycle safety course. Riders Plus will do it, and Dalton Timmis (under some underwriters, not all I believe) will also do it.

I'd call Dalton Timmis myself - I have both of my bikes with them now and they insured my wife under an M1 with the 30 day window to send proof of her successful completion of the MSC and M2 licence. It worked well. Ask for Andy Singh @ Dalton.
 
I've heard this a few times but see no indication anywhere on the MTO website that this exemption exists. Please followup and confirm when the time comes you try.

OP, you are in the exact scenario I was when I came back to riding last fall except my absence was about 20 years. ;) There are insurers out there that will insure you as an M1 with a 30-ish day window to achieve your M2 so long as you're scheduled for a motorcycle safety course. Riders Plus will do it, and Dalton Timmis (under some underwriters, not all I believe) will also do it.

I'd call Dalton Timmis myself - I have both of my bikes with them now and they insured my wife under an M1 with the 30 day window to send proof of her successful completion of the MSC and M2 licence. It worked well. Ask for Andy Singh @ Dalton.


This is off the Ontario web site under renewing a license:
[h=3]Novice licence expired less than 3 years[/h]Licence type: G1, G2, M1, M2, M2-L
Status: expired, cancelled or suspended for up to 3 years
Process: when you reapply for a new licence, you do not have to serve the mandatory waiting periods. You can book your first road test as soon as you pass your eye test. You can book your G2 road test, as soon as you pass your G1 road test.

I confirmed with them that this applies to me (made it by less than a week).

And I checked with just about everyone - Riders Plus and Dalton Timmins were both I believe in the $800-$1000 range, so double what I got through Co-Operators. It's because I have everything with them, plus a discount through work.
 
And I checked with just about everyone - Riders Plus and Dalton Timmins were both I believe in the $800-$1000 range, so double what I got through Co-Operators. It's because I have everything with them, plus a discount through work.

Riders plus was drastically more expensive for me vs Dalton, but I'm surprised you got quotes that high from Dalton - I'm with them and paying just over $500/year on my VTX1300 in basically the same situation as you. Must be where you live, higher risk postal code.
 
Actually, I think Dalton I had just done the online quote for and it was $812 (just did it again), but that's based on having my M2. When I entered M1, it came back at $1789 as being the cheapest! Maybe I'll give them a call on Monday. I've called so many places I'm losing track of who I've spoken to where!

As for the postal code, I remember 20 years ago when I moved out of my parents' place in to my first apartment, rates went up because it was a higher risk postal code. My wife and I then rented a house where -yup- rates went up because it was a higher risk postal code. When we bought our first house the next year, we moved into my parents' for six months while it was being built. When I updated insurance that I had moved back to my parents' address where I had started out, they raised the rates again saying it was a higher risk postal code than where I moved from! I dropped them pretty quick and changed insurance companies after that!
 
Actually, I think Dalton I had just done the online quote for and it was $812 (just did it again), but that's based on having my M2. When I entered M1, it came back at $1789 as being the cheapest! Maybe I'll give them a call on Monday. I've called so many places I'm losing track of who I've spoken to where!

Throw online quotes out the door..they are notoriously inaccurate. You need to get on the phone.

As for the licence class, if you're looking for one with the 30 day window for M2, the insurance companies, based on my experience, handle it one of two ways - write the policy at the M2 rate to begin with, with the understanding/agreement that you successfully get the M2/Safety Course within the 30 day period....or, in the case of Riders Plus, write the policy at the M1 rate but re-rate it at the point you provide proof of your M2/Safety Course being completed.

Dalton wrote my wife at the M2 rate even when she was only M1 but it was with the understanding that she had 30 days to successfully complete the safety course and get her M2 (we timed it that way) otherwise they would re-rate the policy at the higher M1 rate until we did so. I wasn't quite positive but I think that this might have been a courtesy thing however (perhaps not normal practice) because of the fact that her bike was the second we had on our policy, so a multi-bike thing.

Riders Plus wrote my original policy at an M1 rate and then re-rated when I showed proof of M2/MSC.

Either way, if your plan is to quickly get the MSC and M2 under your belt...be getting quotes for M2, not M1, and then understand that so long as you go with an insurance company that will alter the rate upon completion, that's the rate you'll end up with.

Take note that not all insurance companies will do this, however....a few I spoke to said "the price we write the policy at is the price for the entire first year", so if you insure as M1 and then get your M2/MSC 2 weeks later...you're hosed.
 
Ok great, thanks for the info. I'll make a couple more calls on Monday then. I know both Co-Operators and State Farm said there was no way they could write the policy until after I had my M2. I was told by one or two people (I forget which company) that it was either the $1600 for the year if I insured right away, or $800-$1000 if I waited until getting my M2. No one made the offer of a blended or re-evaluated rate. I didn't specifically ask about that, but I did say that it was silly that for two weeks extra I would be paying double. Two brokers did say that it was because as an M1 I had to be with the higher risk companies whereas there was a lot better choice once I had my M2. I will definitely call Dalton Monday though and see where that gets me.

Thanks again!
 
Throw online quotes out the door..they are notoriously inaccurate. You need to get on the phone.

And WTH is that ?

I'd love to hear some broker / insurance company explain.

What year is this ?

Why bother to have online quotes if they aren't accurate ?
 
I finished the safety course and got the certificate. Still waiting another month before i can get my official m2, but as of now im insured on my m1/certificate for 500/yr. Comprehensive. Full Coverage was 700. I wasnt tryna do that.

...Just a cbr250, however, anything less than 600 should be the same insurance bracket. Im thinking of upgrading to cbr500 next season

Edit: insurance company also said i can call in when i receive my official m2 and my rate will be adjusted for the remaining months. Im with scotia.
 

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