California Insurance for Atoms

[PGrace]

Farmer's just insured mine, $451.40/yr.  Bill Lawler sorted it for me, thanks for the pointer!

[AndyLUFC]

[quote="PGrace"]
Farmer's just insured mine, $451.40/yr.  Bill Lawler sorted it for me, thanks for the pointer!
[/quote]

No worries! Glad to hook people up with Bill. He's literally saved me over $1000/yr between house/car/Atom/bike and I have way better coverage. And I receive not a dime in referral fees dammit!  .

[Karl]

A quick FYI - Farmers' insurance database, according to Bill, does not accept incorrectly formed VINs (aka those that do not pass checksum). As far as I know, none of the Brammo PINs have a correct check digit, so you may not be able to get insurance through Farmers if the PIN is what was used as a VIN on your state registration. If you have a state-assigned VIN, it may be possible. Those of you with Farmers policies will want to triple check that they have the correct VIN# on file, or else they could use that as a basis to deny any claims.

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="Karl"]
A quick FYI - Farmers' insurance database, according to Bill, does not accept incorrectly formed VINs (aka those that do not pass checksum). As far as I know, none of the Brammo PINs have a correct check digit, so you may not be able to get insurance through Farmers if the PIN is what was used as a VIN on your state registration.[/quote]

I think it doesn't even get to the point where it cares about the check digit. A lot of places have a hard-coded WMI list and if they can't find the first 2 characters, they say "not valid". Way-back-when, I convinced CARFAX to try looking up data for VINs anyway, rather than punting when they can't determine the WMI. My Atom has a couple CARFAX entries - the first one is "alignment at dealer", since Brammo sent the cars out for wheel alignment. The second one is the title/registration record. AutoCheck claims my VIN is invalid.

[Karl]

[quote="Terry Kennedy"]
[quote="Karl"]
A quick FYI - Farmers' insurance database, according to Bill, does not accept incorrectly formed VINs (aka those that do not pass checksum). As far as I know, none of the Brammo PINs have a correct check digit, so you may not be able to get insurance through Farmers if the PIN is what was used as a VIN on your state registration.[/quote]

I think it doesn't even get to the point where it cares about the check digit. A lot of places have a hard-coded WMI list and if they can't find the first 2 characters, they say "not valid". Way-back-when, I convinced CARFAX to try looking up data for VINs anyway, rather than punting when they can't determine the WMI. My Atom has a couple CARFAX entries - the first one is "alignment at dealer", since Brammo sent the cars out for wheel alignment. The second one is the title/registration record. AutoCheck claims my VIN is invalid.
[/quote]

I'm certain that it is a check digit issue. Farmers corporate is trying to figure out how to change their system to allow for specialty VINs, but that process is long an arduous, as you can imagine most corporate policy changes are.

[PGrace]

I'm pretty sure it is digit #9, which is alpha on Brammos, but should be numeric on a proper VIN.

[Karl]

[quote="PGrace"]
I'm pretty sure it is digit #9, which is alpha on Brammos, but should be numeric on a proper VIN.
[/quote]

Done on purpose after they figured out that they couldn't issue real VINs without going through a lot of red tape. There is no possible way a Brammo PIN can be interpreted as a proper VIN because of that tweak.

[Cptnrob]

Speaking of insurance, American Modern is reconsidering if they want to insure the Atom.  They've come to the conclusion they're too fragile and any damage could lead to frame damage and thus total loss of the vehicle.

[Mota Leira]

Cheers fellas. Just got my insurance set for the Atom with Bill Lawler after AAA turned me down.

[Karl]

[quote="Mota Leira"]
Cheers fellas. Just got my insurance set for the Atom with Bill Lawler after AAA turned me down.
[/quote]

Double-check that they've got your VIN right! If you're lucky and have a state-assigned VIN, it should have been cakewalk.

[Thomas]

Howdy folks.  In the final stages of picking up a CA Titled Atom.  Neither Geico, nor AAA will insure.  Gave Bill a call, but he said he can only insure if the VIN is for a vehicle that is over 7 years old.  Doesn't make sense to me, so hoping somebody here could help me out with the confusion.  Alternatively, would love to hear where other folks get their CA Atoms insured.

Best regards,  Tom

[Karl]

[quote="Thomas"]
Howdy folks.  In the final stages of picking up a CA Titled Atom.  Neither Geico, nor AAA will insure.  Gave Bill a call, but he said he can only insure if the VIN is for a vehicle that is over 7 years old.  Doesn't make sense to me, so hoping somebody here could help me out with the confusion.  Alternatively, would love to hear where other folks get their CA Atoms insured.

Best regards,  Tom
[/quote]

http://www.rallyinsurance.com/ should be able to sort you out. They've been by far and away the most reliable, so far. Underwriting is through American Modern Insurance Group.

[Thomas]

Thanks Karl.  It's good to get a recommendation like that.  Appreciate it.