Oregon Motorcycle Insurance

Oregon has a mandatory liability insurance law. It exempts ATVs and scooters, but motorcyclists need to get motorcycle insurance.

What Are Oregon’s Minimum Motorcycle Insurance Requirements?

• $25,000 bodily injury or death one person one accident
• $50,000 bodily injury or death more than one person one accident
• $20,000 property damage or destruction
• $25,000 uninsured motorist coverage per person
• $50,000 uninsured motorist coverage per accident for bodily injury

In Oregon, an automotive liability policy also has to provide $15,000 personal injury protection, but this is not required for motorcycles.

The only way to meet these requirements is by purchasing liability insurance unless you have 25 or more vehicles registered in your name, in which case you can self-insure.

When you purchase insurance, the premium rates will be subject to review by the Oregon Insurance Division and you can contact the division with questions or complaints. The division advises contacting several companies for quotes as quotes may vary by as much as several hundred dollars for comparable coverage. Quotes may also vary based on the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide the agent. Make sure you provide all the information you can so that you get an accurate quote and don’t miss out on any potential discounts.

What Do the Minimum Motorcycle Insurance Requirements Cover?

The liability minimums cover injury or damage to another driver or vehicle if you are at fault. The personal injury protection covers your medical care and it can also cover additional economic damages resulting from your injury, such as loss of earnings.

Uninsured motorist coverage covers an accident caused by another driver who was not insured or didn’t have enough insurance to pay to your claim.

How Do I Show Proof of Insurance?

Your insurance company must issue you an insurance card. You are required to have a current card with you every time you ride and to show it whenever a police officer asks you to. If you don’t have the card with you, the officer can give you a traffic ticket.

You can get out of the ticket if you produce proof of insurance to the court clerk before the date of the court appearance specified on the ticket. Not having your card with you is a Class B traffic violation and so is telling the officer that you have insurance when you don’t.

What Are the Penalties for Not Having Motorcycle Insurance?

In Oregon, when you register your motorcycle, you have to certify that you have insurance coverage and will maintain it as long as you’re driving on the roads. If you make a false certification of insurance, Oregon law states that you must go to jail for at least three consecutive days. Oregon law doesn’t allow a judge to suspend this jail time requirement or replace it with probation. You also have to maintain insurance after conviction under this law or you will lose your driver’s license.

If you ride without insurance and are caught, it’s considered a Class B traffic violation. You could have to pay fines, lose your driver’s license or have your vehicle towed. If your vehicle is towed, you will be liable for additional fees, such as storage fees. You’ll also have to file an SR-22, (which in Oregon is called proof of future responsibility), for three years.

If you have an accident while driving uninsured, you lose your driver’s license for a year. Failure to maintain insurance after an accident is considered a Class A traffic violation.

What’s an SR-22?

It’s a certificate you get from an insurance company authorized to do business in the state that certifies that you have purchased a liability insurance policy that meets the law’s minimum requirements.

How Does Oregon Enforce the Motorcycle Insurance Requirements?

Oregon law has a provision that allows it to demand via letter proof of insurance from people it reasonably suspects might be violating the mandatory insurance law. You have 30 days from the date the Department of Transportation mails the demand to show proof of insurance. You’ll need to provide the name of your insurance company and the policy number.

Insurance companies in Oregon are also required to report people involved in accidents that the company believes violated the mandatory insurance requirement.

Other Things to Know:

In Oregon, if you’re convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants the liability insurance requirements change to 50/100/10. You have to keep coverage under these requirements for three years.