Motorcycle Insurance

Oct. 2 2009 I was out on my Harley Davidson motorcycle on my way to a job when some one turned left in front of me. I had two choices. Hit the pickup or lay down my beautiful bike. I chose to lay down the bike over hitting the truck. People that ride their bikes into other cars and trucks don't do so well. My bike sustained sever damage. The truck responsible had no damage. I was hurt and angry. I called the police, not the driver of the truck. The driver of the truck seamed to not care if I was alive or dead. They didn't come to see if I was OK or if I needed help. The only call to the 911 operator was mine. When the emergency people of Ogden Fire and Police arrived they did their typical good job. Ogden has some of the best emergency responders in the United States. I thank you. I had some serious injuries! The investigating Officer collected all the information to make a case against the driver of the pickup for failure to yield right of way, driving on suspended driver's license and no insurance. The no insurance part left me to deal with a $20,000 motorcycle that has $8,000 in damages, my injuries and not being able to work. I have insurance! What would have happened if I had been killed? Who would have taken care of my family? It is simply STUPID and against the law to drive around without insurance! John G. Moon Ogden

The comments to this article point out that regardless of the law people, for whatever reason, will persist in driving without insurance.  So what is a motorcycle rider to do?  Buy insurance yourself, that's what!  This is even more important in tough economic times because the estimate of uninsured drivers in Utah is about 12 percent.  In other words 12 out of every 100 drivers are out there driving without any vehicle insurance whatsoever!

When you purchase motorcycle insurance you can purchase what is called underinsured coverage and uninsured coverage.  Underinsured coverage kicks in if the driver who causes the crash has insurance but not enough to cover your damages.  For example let's assume the offending driver, like in the article above, turns left in front of you and causes the crash.  Let's also assume, not like in the article above, that the offender has the minimum coverage for bodily injury in Utah, $25,000.  Let's also assume that your total damages are $100,000.  You may get the offender's policy limits of $25,000 but what about the remaining $75,000 you lost?  If you had purchased adequate underinsured coverage of $100,000 that underinsured coverage would kick in because the offender was underinsured.
Uninsured coverage kicks in if the offending driver has no insurance coverage, like in the article above.  In that case, with clear and convincing evidence, you would make a claim on your own uninsured coverage.  If you had purchased $100,000 in uninsured coverage chances are your own insurance would pay for all of your damages.
So the answer is to make sure you carry enough insurance yourself to cover your damages should the other driver that causes the crash either does not carry enough coverage or no insurance coverage at all.  Furthermore, underinsured coverage is a right in Utah.  Often I discover that our clients have not made a knowing waiver of that right and under Utah law if that right to underinsured coverage is not made knowingly you are entitled to full underinsured coverage.  At utahbikelaw it is part of our routine investigation to make sure that you get what you are entitled to under the law in Utah when you are in a motorcycle crash.

Types of Motorcycle Insurance

Motorcycle Insurance is oftentimes confusing and daunting because there is a sense that the insurance company will find some way to avoid paying in the event you are in a motorcycle accident so you may as well buy the cheapest insurance.  Nothing could be farther from the truth and nothing could be farther from the truth about what type of insurance you should buy.

The first question you ask an insurance agent is how much coverage do you think I need.  From this question the agent should be able to ask you questions that will allow him to suggest to you a dollar amount of coverage that will protect you and your family from the devastating effects of a motorcycle crash.  You need to but protection from causing harm to others so they will not be forced to sue you personally and take away all you have worked for.  However, you also need to insure yourself against others not carrying enough insurance when they cause the damage - this is called uninsured and underinsured coverage discussed elsewhere in this blog.

Motorcycle Insurance

Import Motorcycle Insurance
In the recent years, there has been a massive increase in the number of vehicles being imported into the country. This trend that started since 2000, has geared up into full form in the recent years. Most of these imported vehicles are Chinese bikes, scooters and mopeds. This seems to be much of a growing trend these days and with imported vehicles raises the need to insure them as well. Today you can find more and more manufacturers brining in their vehicles into the country and as the race grows, so does the number of insurers as well. Yet in spite of all such advancements in the import vehicle industry, it is still quite a difficult process to get a good import motorcycle insurance today.

What is import motorcycle insurance?
Since import motorcycles are cheaper than the usual ones these days, there are lots of them to be easily found around us. But with new imported bikes comes the need to insure them as well. This is where we have the import motorcycle insurance coming in. Though a majority of insurers and brokers might not be even aware of such insurance, in time to come this type of insurance will become quite important. Import motorcycle insurance helps you to insure your vehicle imported from a foreign country and registered fresh in this country.
What does it cover?
There is a problem with most import motorcycles – their spare parts are not easy to get and in most cases they are not readily available. So when a claim arises with regard to a repair of import motorcycle, the insurer may find it difficult to source such a part and even get authorized repairs for the same. That is why it might be difficult for you to find insurers providing you a complete or fully comprehensive coverage. In cases where you can find one, they might offer you a very high quote – even something more costly than the vehicle itself. The normal coverage offered include third party only bike insurance, third party fire and theft bike insurance, and comprehensive bike insurance.
Why is it different to normal motorcycle insurance?
Import motorcycle insurance is quite different from normal motorcycle insurance because of the reason that it is imported and you need an extra insurance package in this regard. Insurance companies require a completely registered vehicle to provide insurance and to get a registration, insurance is required – this is a pretty tricky situation. So normal motorcycle insurance cannot work for this one! To get your import motorcycle insurance, you need to first register your vehicle in this country and then only you can avail such insurance.
How to find cheap motorcycle insurance?
In order to make you motorcycle insurance cheaper, you need to add a voluntary access to your motorbike policy and add security to your bike like parking it in the garage rather than on the road. Also you need to restrict the number of drivers and the age of drivers included in your policy. Finally, drive a low grouped bike to lower your insurance premiums.