Please Upgrade Your Insurance!!!

[kevdog]

On Memorial Day weekend I was in a motorcycle accident, a car ran me off the road. I was on a major highway going through Boston and a car cut across multiple lanes to catch an exit at the last minute. He cut right in front of me and braked hard giving me nowhere to go. I went down and he shot off the exit, the police have been unable to catch him.

The police report classified this as a Hit and Run, no fault to me, and the bike slid 75 feet. I have 11 broken bones, 51 stitches above my left eye and major road rash. THANK GOD I was wearing a DOT helmet, if I wasn't I wouldn't be able to write this.

Since it was a Hit and Run, I am covered under my Uninsured Motorist clause on my own insurance policy. This is part of basic liability coverage, all of you should have it already.

My lawyer said given my injuries I would normally be able to get between $250,000-$300,000 for what I went through. Unfortunately I just had the base coverage ($20k) so that's the most I will get. Had I known about this beforehand for very little money I could have increased the $$$ on the Uninsured Motorist coverage.

PLEASE CALL YOUR INSURANCE AGENT to see how much it costs to increase the dollar limits on your policy. Most likely you already have this coverage, it would just be a matter of increasing the dollar limits at a minimal cost.

Please also ride safe and consider adding some additional safety gear. A doctor in the emergency room told me my motorcycle accident injuries were only about a 4-5 on a scale of 1-10. When I asked why he said, "At least I could talk to you when you came in."

This is me on the news, they mention nothing about the Hit and Run:
http://wn.whdh.com/global/video/popu...e&rnd=94891611

[RidingJerry]

Wow, sorry about your accident.
Glad you are here to tell us about it.
Hope your recovery is quick.

(as is typical, the news reporting is not to be believed)

[deuce04]

Glad to hear that your OK!!

Heal up and get back on...stay off the damn highways

[GrampsWyatt]

I need some help understanding. Before hand glad your still around and came through it.

If the motorist got away and is not identified, how would you get 250-300K assuming insurance was at this limit? Because motorist got away and you could not prove he had insurance or not, so assume he did not? In that case you simply get the limit of your insurance, or is it medical claims? Or is it your ins company paying you for "what you went through". Not flaming you or anything like that. Just curious how it works, I am not a rocket scientist when it comes to insurance. Thanks and again, glad you are alive after that.

[route66paul]

It might pay your bills, but you cannot collect "pain and suffering" from uninsured motorist coverage. Be sure that you have it, though. This is the most important part of driver's insurance. Some agents will intentionally not even offer it to you.

[sublime]

GLad that you are relatively alright and will recover from this mess. I hope you don't suffer too much more and make a full recovery.

[BWalker]

Originally Posted by GrampsWyatt

I need some help understanding. Before hand glad your still around and came through it.

If the motorist got away and is not identified, how would you get 250-300K assuming insurance was at this limit? Because motorist got away and you could not prove he had insurance or not, so assume he did not? In that case you simply get the limit of your insurance, or is it medical claims? Or is it your ins company paying you for "what you went through". Not flaming you or anything like that. Just curious how it works, I am not a rocket scientist when it comes to insurance. Thanks and again, glad you are alive after that.

If it's classified as hit and run with bodily injury it is treated as an uninsured motorist claim. Let's say that everybody agrees that kevdog's medical bills, loss of income, pain and suffering, etc. was worth $250,000, he would collect up to $250,000 subject to whatever limits he was carrying for UM coverage. In his case it would be limited to the $20K.

It's relatively inexpensive and some companies will include it in a $1 million umbrella policy.

[kevdog]

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I've come along well on my recovery so far. I'll also double check with my lawyer on the coverage.

[HD_chris]

OK, Here we go showing my lack of knowledge. Please explain the umbrella coverage for us all. Maybe I should just google it.... Oh, and Kevdog. Glad to hear you are doing better.




edit: OK, nevermind. Just read up on it and like every other 29 year old out there... I now can say I know it all....LOL From what it sounds like to me is if you have limits high enough to cover your total assets then you would not need an umbrella policy unless by some freak occurance you were sued for neglegence to some stupid act of yourself. Granted, that could happen to anyone. That is when I as an individual must decide the level ofrisk I am willing to assume when it comes to protecting myself. Any pro's out there that want to clarify for me would be great. I was just kidding about knowing it all now....LOL

Originally Posted by BWalker

If it's classified as hit and run with bodily injury it is treated as an uninsured motorist claim. Let's say that everybody agrees that kevdog's medical bills, loss of income, pain and suffering, etc. was worth $250,000, he would collect up to $250,000 subject to whatever limits he was carrying for UM coverage. In his case it would be limited to the $20K.

It's relatively inexpensive and some companies will include it in a $1 million umbrella policy.

[Fatb0y]

If you have medical insurance through your own company or a seperate policy then your insurance in this case doesn't even have to pay for your medical bills. That will be out of your pocket since your Motorcycle wreck was caused by someone they can't lay claims against. Over and above what your own medical insurance won't pay then you can probably get them to pick up some dollars until you reach the limit (you stated 20k) of your policy.

[utrvp]

Originally Posted by Fatb0y

If you have medical insurance through your own company or a seperate policy then your insurance in this case doesn't even have to pay for your medical bills. That will be out of your pocket since your Motorcycle wreck was caused by someone they can't lay claims against. Over and above what your own medical insurance won't pay then you can probably get them to pick up some dollars until you reach the limit (you stated 20k) of your policy.

Sorry to hear about your accident. Glad you are on the road to recovery. Hope all goes well in your recovery and you can get back in the saddle real soon. My understanding is that your medical insurance from your job can refuse to pay because your injuries were caused in a motorcycle crash your motorcycle insurance becomes your primary insurance. Your medical insurance from your job would not kick in until the limits of your MC incurance were reached. I would assume this would apply to your car insurance as well. Like HD_chris said maybe some pros can weigh in on this.

[Fxsts103ci]

Gald you came out of this ok.
did the car actually hit you? The laws my be different where you are but here in NY this wouldnt be hit and run unless contact was made. The other driver could be sighted for comparative negligence if he didnt hit you but was the cause of the accident

Another coverage allot of people dont carry is guest liability .In NY there isnt any No fault coverage for Bikes just cars and trucks .Basicly you have an accident you either get the money for your med payments from the other party (if they were at fault ) or from your personal ins -blue cross blue shield whatever. And the person on the back would have to do the same unless you carry guest Liability. Now I am talking about NY so your coverage could be totaly different.

[Fxsts103ci]

Originally Posted by Fatb0y

If you have medical insurance through your own company or a seperate policy then your insurance in this case doesn't even have to pay for your medical bills. That will be out of your pocket since your Motorcycle wreck was caused by someone they can't lay claims against. Over and above what your own medical insurance won't pay then you can probably get them to pick up some dollars until you reach the limit (you stated 20k) of your policy.

If you live in a state that has NO FAULT on motorcycles the health ins will deny the claim. NY is one of the states where the no fault coverage doesnt apply to motorcycles so they would have to pay the claim . No Fault ins in NY states that reguardless of fault in an accident your insurance pays the med bills.

Fatboy unless your a licensed insurance agent in his state then you shouldnt be giving out advise on who is going to cover what...

[Tommy Meisel]

Something else you might learn the hard way, that is how I found it out. If you have $20,000 uninsured motorist coverage and make a claim against it, the insurance company will only offer you $12,000 for settlement because if you contest their decision, it will cost you 40% of your settlement for the attorney so you cannot get more than $12,000 anyhow. Your coverage is really only worth 60% of what you think it is. If you want $100,000 uninsured motorist coverage, better get $140,000.

[Fxsts103ci]

damn just noticed Kevdog you'r from Mass. What do you have like 4 insurance companies in the whole state?