Motorcycle Insurance Articles
Tips For Setting Comprehensive Coverage Limits On Your Motorcycle Insurance
2011-02-09
The term 'comprehensive' is used by various motorcycle insurance providers to mean different things, which can be somewhat confusing. Some use the phrase 'comprehensive motorcycle insurance' as a way of indicating a policy that is all-inclusive. More commonly, however, the word comprehensive is applied to one specific type of optional coverage offered policies, whether referring to automobile or motorcycle insurance. In this respect, understanding comprehensive coverage limits is important and something with which a motorcyclist should become familiar.
Nearly every state requires that motorcycle riders obtain motorcycle insurance before they're allowed to operate a motorcycle on public roads. The coverage required is known as liability protection and its purpose is to protect the rider from liability occurring from an incident causing damage to a third party. This could be either property damage or bodily injury caused as a result of the covered rider's faulty operation of his vehicle. Liability coverage, however, provides zero benefits for either medical costs or property loss of the covered rider himself. To receive benefits for these, it's necessary to have other, optional coverage, in addition to basic liability protection.
The most common optional protections added to a basic motorcycle insurance liability policy are collision and comprehensive. Collision protection pays benefits to repair the policyholder's vehicle if damaged in an accident deemed to be the policyholder's fault. If the fault is fixed on another driver, his or her liability coverage should pay for any damages.
Comprehensive coverage is designed to pay benefits for loss to a vehicle occurring in most situations other than a collision. This could include theft, vandalism or acts of nature such as lightening or hail. If a tree falls on a motorcycle while parked, it's the comprehensive clause in the policy that comes into play. If someone scratches your two thousand dollar custom paint job, this also falls under the comprehensive part of the policy.
Comprehensive coverage limits are determined at the time a motorcycle insurance policy in put in force. Limits must be selected for maximum payable benefit amounts for accessories, for example, and should be set to cover any add-ons to a basic factory version that your particular motorcycle has had installed. If you have an expensive, tricked-out paint job, this should be figured in to accurately determine appropriate comprehensive coverage limits.
One other limit needs to be set when obtaining motorcycle insurance. When including either collision or comprehensive in your plan you will be required to choose a deductible amount. This is the amount the policyholder is required to pay before the insurance benefits kick in. Higher deductibles mean lower premiums. This is a good place to save premium dollars.