Frequently asked questions

Markel currently insures snowmobiles in the following states: AK, CO, ID, IL, IN, IA, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, NJ, ND, OH, OR, PA, SD, UT, VT, WI, and WY.

We make getting a snowmobile insurance quote quick and easy. You can generate a quote yourself online or call our customer service team at +1.800.236.2453.

Absolutely! It’s always smart to do your homework before making a big purchase like a snowmobile.

Insurance scoring as a component of rating has become common in the insurance industry. It's based on various parts of your credit report. Insurance scoring has proven to be an effective predictor of an individual’s responsibility in operating a motor vehicle and the likelihood of being involved in a costly accident. Your insurance score usually makes use of the following five categories (Click here to learn what is included within each category):

• Payment history
• Amounts owed
• Length of credit history
• New credit recently opened
• Types of credit used

While the rules vary from state to state, the following items are among those not used to calculate an insurance score: race, age, address, gender, marital status, national origin, religion, employer, salary or wages, whether you’re seeing a credit counselor, and any other “non-responsibility type” information not proven useful in predicting insurance risk.

Here are a few important things to note about insurance scoring:

• Unlike credit checks when applying for a loan, insurance scoring is a “soft hit” inquiry on your credit and does NOT affect your credit score.
• While many insurance companies may have access to your insurance score, they do not actually see your credit score.
• The majority of states—but not all—allow for insurance scoring.

It depends. In the event that your friend uses your snowmobile and has an accident, your snowmobile will be covered, and any damages he/she causes to someone else for which you become legally liable will be covered. Should he/she end up being injured in the incident, his/her injuries may be covered by the medical payment coverage on your snowmobile insurance.

It is a good rule to remember that “insurance follows the snowmobile.” There are select states where insurance follows the operator; however, in the vast majority of states, coverages follow the snowmobile. So, if you are riding a snowmobile that is uninsured (or if you are riding a snowmobile without the owner’s permission), you are most likely riding without any insurance protection. It is always a good idea to review your policy or talk to your agent before hitting the trail with someone else’s snowmobile.

If you have comprehensive coverage on your policy, your snowmobile would likely have coverage for theft. Now, neither you nor your insurance company wants to see your snowmobile get stolen, so here are some things you can do to help prevent a theft claim:

• Always remove the key when the unit is unattended.
• Store the unit in a locked garage.
• Store the unit out of sight. If thieves don’t know it’s there, they won’t steal it!
• Don’t leave the unit unattended for long periods of time.

Yes. We have installment plans to meet most budgets. Keep in mind, however, that a fee is charged for each installment. Depending on how many installments you break your payment into, those installment fees can add up pretty quickly.

Payments, whether made at the start of the policy period or by installments, can be made over the phone, online, through automatic withdrawal, or by mail.

While it's not required, we recommend that our customers insure their snowmobiles year-round. Some people think they will save money by only insuring part of the year. At Markel Specialty, we understand that you won’t necessarily be using your snowmobile all year, and we set our rates accordingly. The most important reason to insure your snowmobile all year is to protect you from any of the situations that can arise when your snowmobile is being stored. We’ve seen everything from shelves falling on snowmobiles to entire garages burning to the ground with the snowmobiles inside. If you don’t have insurance in the off-season, anything that happens to the unit will not be covered. As they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Step one after any accident is assuring the safety of everyone involved. Certainly, if there are any injuries, contact the authorities or medical personnel to have them attended to. Next, secure the unit and equipment to make sure it won’t be further damaged or cause any other damage or injuries. Take photos of the scene and the unit for use in processing the claim. Then, file your claim online or call us at +1.800.236.2453.

With a Markel Specialty snowmobile insurance policy, your claim will be settled using actual cash value. This means that depreciation and the market value of your snowmobile will be taken into account at the time of the loss when determining what your payment will be following a claim.

Our claim examiners will usually consider the book values as well as the actual market value when determining the true value of your snowmobile. This can involve reviewing online and classified listings to determine the current selling price for snowmobiles similar to yours. Our examiners will try to find at least four or five examples in your geographic area to obtain a complete picture of what people in your area are paying for snowmobiles similar to yours. They then average these prices to get the value of your snowmobile.

Yes! You can help expedite the claims process by providing the following information when you file your claim:

• Policy number
• Insured and claimant names and contact information
• Year, make, and model of the insured vehicle involved in the accident
• Description of the accident, including date, time, and location
• Current location of your vehicle
• All accident related documentation (police reports, photos, statement, bills, receipts, etc.)