my bike was stolen today at school

[VermilionX]

If you made a huge down payment, then you just wasted a little more on worthless gap insurance.

Gap insurance is only for covering the financed amount of the vehicle that is greater than its replacement value (as someone else said). If you have a 10k bike and you put 3k down and the insurance company rates the replacement value at 8k, you wasted your money on GAP (and your salesman knew this when he slyly offered it to you).

No, your payments arent going for nothing, but obviously whatever you've been paying in interest is out the window (if you refinance a new bike with the same deal, you will end up paying more in interest based on the amount you paid in the previous loan). I'm assuming you signed up for a 'simple interest' loan (most common), in which case you were just paying interest based on your balance and your principle will be reduced from your payments.

Look on your recent statement, it will show you the principle balance of your loan. Go get quotes from KBB and local dealers for a similar bike to yours, used, so you can show them to your insurance company if they come with a lowball offer. You CAN negotiate with them to get what you think is fair replacement value for your bike. Often they will offer an initial low value, assuming the average joe will just cut his losses and take it.

thanks for the tips.

[ZooTech]

GAP insurance covers the difference between what you owe and what the vehicle is worth. Since most people finance with little or no down payment, they end up upside-down on the loan as soon as they drive off the lot.

that's bad... i made a huge down payment.

so does that mean all my payments are going down the drain?

what about my insurance, shouldn't they cover what i paid for already?

Well, you were fully insured...with GAP...so technically they should replace the bike 100% with the exact same bike. That doesn't leave you at square one, like someone else mentioned - it's more like getting a new fairing for free and having all the miles you've ridden erased from the bike.

[VermilionX]

Well, you were fully insured...with GAP...so technically they should replace the bike 100% with the exact same bike. That doesn't leave you at square one, like someone else mentioned - it's more like getting a new fairing for free and having all the miles you've ridden erased from the bike.

thanks.

that's good then. *sigh of relief*

[Kal]

Hey little bro...

Sucks dossn't it?

Weren't we talking about locks a couple of months back around about the time I had CeeGee stolen?

In addition to the gold standard lock I'm fitting a GPS tracker to the trike and possibly smartwatering it. Do you guys have smartwater over there?

http://www.smartwater.com/

[VermilionX]

Also your insurance company doesnt need to know how much you still owe on your bike unless you need to cover a difference with GAP, which I seriously doubt is the case here. Did you report that damage to your bike? If not you can claim perfect condition. They may try to use your principle balance as a basis for your payout, don't let them do that.

Insurance companies aren't your friend and you'll have to fight them to get what they owe you.

i never told them i crashed but i did tell LAPD it had minor scratches and a crack in the right side fairing from a drop instead of a dump.

my insurance said they'll call me in acouple of days to ask me questions. but since i've already told that it had a crack to the police... i don't think i should lie about it w/ the insurance. right?

[VermilionX]

Hey little bro...

Sucks dossn't it?

Weren't we talking about locks a couple of months back around about the time I had CeeGee stolen?

In addition to the gold standard lock I'm fitting a GPS tracker to the trike and possibly smartwatering it. Do you guys have smartwater over there?

http://www.smartwater.com/

nope, never heard of anything like smartwater here.

i don't think any lock could have prevented that theft.

[flynrider]

Well, you were fully insured...with GAP...so technically they should replace the bike 100% with the exact same bike. That doesn't leave you at square one, like someone else mentioned - it's more like getting a new fairing for free and having all the miles you've ridden erased from the bike.

All the miles erased? Insurance is going to pay him what his used 2005 bike was worth, taking into account the mileage. Basically, (unless you have a specific value contract) they will pay you the market value of what you had stolen. That would be a used 2005 model with some miles on it. No way are they going to spring for the cost of a new one.

The gap is only going to pay if the insurance settlement is less than what he owed. Gap is mostly used to insure zero or low down payment vehicles that depreciate thousands as soon as you drive them off the lot.

[ZooTech]

Well, you were fully insured...with GAP...so technically they should replace the bike 100% with the exact same bike. That doesn't leave you at square one, like someone else mentioned - it's more like getting a new fairing for free and having all the miles you've ridden erased from the bike.

All the miles erased? Insurance is going to pay him what his used 2005 bike was worth, taking into account the mileage. Basically, (unless you have a specific value contract) they will pay you the market value of what you had stolen. That would be a used 2005 model with some miles on it. No way are they going to spring for the cost of a new one.

The gap is only going to pay if the insurance settlement is less than what he owed. Gap is mostly used to insure zero or low down payment vehicles that depreciate thousands as soon as you drive them off the lot.

Verm hadn't even put enough miles on the bike to justify a second oil change. It is a brand new bike. If they offered me anything less than a brand new bike I'd sue.

[VermilionX]

Verm hadn't even put enough miles on the bike to justify a second oil change. It is a brand new bike. If they offered me anything less than a brand new bike I'd sue.

yeah, only had around 2200 miles. and it's an 06 not 05.

but im just worried they'll cut the value considerably bec i "dropped" it.

i should have lied and said it had no damage. im too honest for my own good.

anyway... haven't spoken to the insurance yet about the details on the bike but i have mentioned it had cosmetic damage to the LAPD.

[Shiv]

Indeed you should have.

If it were recovered then you could make a big deal out of the scratches and point out that the thieves must have dropped it/banged it in transport or something like that.