Motorcycle Insurance Articles
Negotiating A Total Loss Motorcycle Insurance Claim
2011-08-30
Motorcycle insurance, while delivering the same basic benefits as auto insurance, is almost always found to be more expensive, in large part because of the fact that motorbikes are far easier to damage than cars or trucks. What might result in several hundred dollars of damage to a car can be thousands for a bike, and thousands of dollars on a damaged truck might mean a complete write-off of a motorbike. Also known as a "total loss", if a motorcycle is damaged to a point where repairing it becomes too costly, an insurance company will not pay, and a client will be left negotiating a total loss motorcycle insurance claim. Here are a few tips to help get your money's worth.
To begin, it is important to understand what a "total loss" means to an insurance company. If the assessed damage to the bike is greater than the replacement cost of the bike, taking into account its year of make and current mileage, then an insurance company will declare it as a total loss. Once it has been declared as such, the company will not pay for repairs, but only the cost of the bike as they assess it to be. The amount that they will give an owner will depend not only on the year, make and model of the bike but also how it has been treated and maintained over time. Bikes that were well taken care of before a crash will bring better settlements. It is also possible to avoid the need for a total loss motorcycle insurance claim by buying what is known as "replacement insurance", which will pay out the cost of a similar bike at the current year's pricing, but in some cases this kind of coverage can be prohibitively expensive.
When it comes to negotiating a total loss motorcycle insurance claim, it is important to have all documents on hand regarding the type of maintenance done to the bike and when. In addition, knowing the black book value of the motorbike is important, as the insurance company may try to make an offer that is lower than the current market value. Add-ons to the bike must also be considered, and a driver would do well to keep an receipts for extra systems or parts that have been incorporated into the bike - all of these items can add up to a larger total loss payout.
No one wants to call on their motorcycle insurance provider to pay out a total loss claim, but in the event that it occurs, being ready to negotiate with the insurance company can mean a better resolution.