Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Last May I got into an accident, when an old man ran a stop sign and got in front of me. He was coming from a small side street and went into the main 2 lane street that I was on. I was wearing full gear at the time, but still I had to have surgery on my knee this past January and I'm still working out the claim since my knee isn't 100% yet. To date, all of the bills add up to about $8-10K.

So, I just want to have all of my bases covered, specially the medical aspect since my medical insurance does not cover motorcycle accidents.

I've used Progressive Insurance on my previous bikes because it seems like the easiest to get a quote from without confusing me too badly. However, I was disappointed with them after the accident since they were low balling me on my bike, the other persons insurance company (AllState) gave me 33% more than what progressive was offering.

I'm looking at getting a 1997 Honda Magna to scoot around town and to work.

Based on previous insurance I have the following questions:
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Bodily Injury & Property Damage
Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorists Bodily Injury
In my previous Policy I had selected $250K person/$500K accident/100K property. Is there such a thing as too much coverage?

Medical Payments
I don't understand how this is different than the Bodily Injury coverage? Progressive offers up to $25K in coverage while others only offer $2-3k? Previously, I had selected the $25k coverage which bumps the insurance up by about $75. Does anybody know anything about this coverage?

Comprehensive
I'm pretty sure this is the coverage that fixes or pays for my bike right. I had set my deductible before to $250, but $100 deductible is only $12 more... worth it?

Collision
Uninsured Motorists Property Damage
I'm only allowed to choose one of these coverages... would collision be the best choice?

Is road side assistance worth the extra $10 a year?
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Currently, with Progressive, the minimum (liability?) coverage looks like it would run me $78 a year vs all the bells and whistles mentioned above costing me $308 a year. However, I'd like to try maybe StateFarm or AllState this time around for my insurance company... but don't want to call to get quotes until I know what coverages to ask for.

Any input on selecting the optimum coverage would be appreciated.

Thanks!

In your case, I'd be inclined to make an appointment with an agent, sit down and explain your story, then ask him/her to walk you through what this & that mean to you in real life circumstances. Nice thing about agents is that they want to establish a relationship with you, partly because you might have other stuff to insure, but, in my experience, also because that is the culture of an agency. Especially in this "e-surance" age, they understand that personal assistance is their biggest asset. The same person who sets up my account is also the one I call when I have a claim, so mine are very clear about what my policy will and will not do.

Go to more than one agent, get some quotes, figure out what you want and who you want to go with.

Good advice by M233. Let me see if I can answer some of your questions. I am by no means an insurance expert so take that for what it's worth.

BI/Prop Damage: As I understand it this covers injury to people or property for others, not for yourself. I think my insurance is like 25/50 on this because how much damage is a bike going to do to a car or person, probably not more than a few thousand dollars. I think your coverage is very high.

Medical Payments: Pays YOU if you get hurt on a bike. That's why this option can send your premium through the roof. If you get hurt on your bike odds are it's not going to be cheap.

Comprehensive: Correct. Understand this does not cover damage to your bike in a wreck. I would not pay the extra 12$, that's a lot of $$ for only $150 in coverage.

I started using BikeLine this year. They were reasonable and I think I pay something like $72 a year for my 2000 cruiser. If you call around I think you will find that is very competitive.
Go here, should answer most of your questions. http://www.markelinsuresfun.com/Motorcy ... erage.aspx
Good luck.

From what I understand about motorcycle accidents you need to get coverage that protects your health and anyone riding on your bike. Usually its not that important to insure damages caused by your bike. Correct me if im wrong

My small contribution to the topic is that $10 is nothing to pay for road side assistance. I've always had on my car and have yet to use it.

But the bike . . .

My bike blew a fuel pump fuse due to a wire being cut by a zip tie that was cinched too tight. The bike only had 700 miles on it when this happened. The tow job would have been $150. The only downside was me waiting an hour on a back country road for an hour for the truck. Trust me- I didn't mind; it gave time to enjoy the surrounding nature.

Insurance coverage for "Third Party" injuries and damage is as or more important than personal coverage. I'm not sure, but I believe that our Basic Insurance is to be $200,000. That would be my third party limit and is reccomended to be higher, I actually bump that up to about $3,000,000. My personal insurance is included as we have "Social Medical coverage".

Collision, (This is what pays for the repairs on my bike if I'm at fault,) which is the expensive part along with comprehensive coverage, (Which is what pays for vandalism and hit and run damage in a parking lot, glass/lexan damage from stones etc.) I get both of these from private insurance at a way lower rate than our Gov't insurance. If I'm not at fault, the other drivers third party coverage pays up. In BC, if they don't have enough coverage, the ins corp pays the award and goes after the at fault party if you have underinsured protection. I have all three.

So, if you think that someone you injure will only sue you for $20K - $50K, go ahead and insure for that, but just think how much you would sue for if someone lost control of their bike, hit you and put you in a wheelchair for the rest of your life...