About Dairyland

Dairyland Insurance is well known for offering insurance to high-risk drivers who often have difficulty finding coverage due to poor driving records, DUI convictions, significant traffic-related offenses, or little driving experience (e.g., teens.) Based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Dairyland touts its midwestern roots and small-town values, though it now has a national presence, offering coverage in 38 states.

Dairyland also has over 50 years of experience insurance motorcycle riders, and in this arena the company does not focus nearly as heavily on high-risk drivers. Instead it competes with the large mainstream companies like Progressive, Allstate, and Nationwide. However, if you are a motorcycle rider who does fall into one of the high-risk driver categories, Dairyland may be a particularly good option for you, potentially offering the best rates you will find.

Dairyland’s rates are quite competitive for normal-risk drivers as well, and thus we view the company as a solid choice for all types of riders, which differs somewhat from our evaluation of the company’s high-risk focused automobile insurance arm.

Pros

• Competitive pricing
• Specializes in insuring nonstandard and/or high-risk drivers at reasonable prices
• Most SR-22 filings are done without a fee
• Wide range of standard and add-on protections available

Cons

• Not available in all states
• More complaints to state regulators than average for companies of its size

Coverages

Dairyland covers a wide variety of motorcycles, including standard, cruiser, touring, sport touring, sport bike, trike, dirt bike, dual purpose, scooter/moped, and autocycle. While they don’t go as far as Progressive and state that they will find a way to cover any bike, they certainly can accommodate virtually all customers.

Dairyland also offers a broad array of standard and specialized coverages, so that if you have added optional equipment, or if you insist on only using original for replacement parts, there are policies for you. Here are some of the important coverages available.

• Bodily Injury Liability – If you are at fault in an accident in which others are hurt or killed, bodily injury liability will cover lost wages, pain and suffering, medical bills, and funeral expenses.
• Comprehensive and collision – Comprehensive pays for repair or replacement of your motorcycle if it's stolen, vandalized, or damaged in a fire or collision. Collision coverage pays to repair or replace your bike if it’s damaged in an accident.
• Medical Expense - Helps both you and your passenger with medical costs and medical bills in the event of an accident.
• Guest Passenger – Provides additional medical coverage for bodily injuries if your passenger is hurt in an accident.
• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury – Provides injury protection for medical costs you and a passenger incur as a result of a collision caused by another driver who is either uninsured or whose insurance policy isn’t enough to cover your injuries.
• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Property Damage – Provides protection for damage to your bike that the at-fault driver’s vehicle insurance doesn’t cover.
• Personal Injury Protection – Covers any medical cost for you and any other eligible person are covered—no matter who’s at fault. This coverage can apply to non-medical expenses like lost wages and death benefits. This coverage is limited in some states.
• Optional/Special Equipment – Many riders make their bikes unique by installing custom, non-factory standard parts. Those parts are covered against damage or loss beyond the value of the standard equipment they replace.
• Property Damage – Covers damages to another person’s property that you cause in an accident – but it does not cover any damages to your property.
• Physical Damage Plus – If your bike is damaged in a collision and you want to get the proper replacement parts, this coverage ensures that genuine original manufacturer replacement parts are used to return your bike to like new.
• Rental Reimbursement – Provides coverage for renting transportation to use when your bike is being repaired after an accident.
• Replacement Cost - If your bike is three years old or newer and is a total loss after an accident, replacement cost insurance coverage pays for a new bike—including your optional equipment.
• Roadside Assistance – Provides 24-hour towing and roadside service to help you handle issues on the open road like an empty gas tank, dead battery, lost key, flat tire, and low oil, fluids, or water.

Pricing and discounts

Dairyland offers a good mix of price and coverage. If you are looking for the lowest possible price, for a very low level of coverage, it may be your best option. But if you require the peace of mind and asset protection of a much broader and deeper array of coverages, Dairyland has the choices available for you – at a higher price, of course.

Dairyland’s motorcycle insurance prices are impacted by the various discounts the company offers. While the list is not nearly as extensive as it is with some of its competitors, Dairyland makes up for it by offering better rates before discounts are factored in. Some of the discounts include:

• Multi-cycle discount – Discount for insuring more than one bike with Dairyland.
• Home ownership – Discount for owning and insuring your house, condo, townhouse, mobile home, or modular home.
• H.O.G. member – Discount for members of the well-known Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.). Both Harley Davidson and Dairyland are Wisconsin-based companies, so it’s not such a surprise that Dairyland offers a discount for Harley loyalists.
• Loyalty discount – If you add a bike or replace your bike with a newer model and have been a Dairyland customer for more than a year, there are discounts available.
• Rider group – Discount for being a member of a wide variety of riding clubs and motorcycle associations, whether it’s for specific types of motorcycles, styles of riding, or based in a certain state or region.
• Rider course – Dairyland promotes safe driving by offering a discount to customers who have voluntarily taken and passed a motorcycle safety course in the past five years.
• Transfer discount – If you have motorcycle coverage with another company and switch to Dairyland, you will be welcomed with a discount.

The buying process

Dairyland offers quotes and payments directly, either over the phone or through its simple-to-navigate website. Note that the actual purchase of the policy cannot be done on the website but must be completed on the phone. The site also offers some basic information about teen driving safety, the SR-22, DUI, and some other non-standard policy types.

For those who prefer an agent to guide them through the quoting and buying process, as well as to be there to answer questions and provide assistance throughout their tenure as a customer, Dairyland does have a network of independent agents, but it is not particularly large. Hence, depending on where you live, you may or may not find a Dairyland agent located near you.

Claims

It is challenging to make a blanket statement about how a company handles claims, and whether customers find them to be very good, very poor, or somewhere in the middle. Many of the reviews that appear online for State Farm’s service show a general lack of satisfaction from customers, and in some cases downright anger and outrage.

This same statement can be made for many insurers, so it must be put into context. When it comes to insurance claims, it is more likely that dissatisfied customers will write reviews. And no one wants to have to make a claim in the first place, meaning that almost by default the process starts from a less than desirable place.

It’s understandable that if the insurer is not 100% accommodating in covering or processing the claim, the customer who has been paying premiums with the intent of having all such problems smoothly and promptly taken care of is likely to be angry. In some cases the anger is completely justified, and in others it may not be. The point is, it’s critical that we all take these reviews with a grain of salt.

Dairyland’s performance on claims gets mixed reviews. Its score on Trustpilot is quite high, with many positive reviews. However, Dairyland has significantly more complaints to state regulators than average, relative to its size. Again, it’s best to take all reviews and complaints for what they are worth.

Financial strength

One of the most important things to look for when choosing an insurance company is how it rates in terms of financial strength, which is a good way to measure whether it will be able to maintain solvency and pay out claims. This strength is particularly important in times of financial difficulty, whether in the economy as a whole, or in association with financial challenges specific to the company.

Dairyland, through its parent company Sentry Insurance, ranks highly in terms of its ability to maintain solvency and pay out claims. Its Financial Strength Ratio (FSR) from rating agency A.M. Best is “Superior: A+”, which is the second highest rating possible and is due to Sentry's superior financial condition and operational performance.