Collision insurance question??'s

[duganc1717]

Someone I now crashed there bike last night and it appears the bike may be a total loss, the bike has collision on it.
Now here's the question, the owner does want to total the bike. Do you have the option with the insurance company of not totaling a vehicle once a claim has been made?

[scubasteveRR]

You can buy the bike back from the Insurance company but USUALLY they will send you a salvaged title that can't be registered unless you fix everything on the Insurance report and have receipts for it all. it's a tedious process. IMO it would only be good for a track bike unless you spend the time to fix everything and get a rebuilt title from the State Police who check it all out.

I ended up buying my first crashed bike (a 2004 CBR 600rr) for only $1,200 and sold it as is for $2,000 BUT when the title came to me it was a regular title so I went to the registry to inquire about a salvaged title so I wouldn't get in trouble selling it but the lady said there was nothing at the registry saying the bike was totaled. I think my insurance company just messed up? I informed the new owner and he didn't care (obviously who wants a salvaged title instead of a cleared one) so it went with a full on title that I could have gotten much more for the bike, I was kicking myself in the ass since it only cost $1,000 to get it back to new looking. oh well. I sold it too him before I ever received the title so I couldn't go back on the deal since I already had cash in hand and I need the cash to pay off the loan on the bike because as usual, the insurance company gave me less than what it was worth and what i paid for it 3 months prior to the crash.

[Rossco]

Looking to add another crashed bike to your collection?








Sorry, couldn't help it.

[Duffy]

I got into a collision last year. I just told my agent that I was going to fix it up out of pocket and was not going to put a claim in for it since to probably fix it would be less than the $500 deductible. So my insurance just fixed the other guys car and left my bike alone. So my title is still free and clear, not even sure that if a car/bike fax is done on it it will show that it was involved in any accident, not sure how that works. Although it may be a different issue if there is a lien against the bike/title.

I'm sure your friend could just call and ask his agent. I did. I played the "what if" game to see what would work best for me.

[duganc1717]

Let me clarify a little, bike has no lein, owner (co-worker) wants to keep the bike as a road bike not a "track bike". What were trying to figure out is if the book value is say $6.5k and there is $3k dollars worth of damage I'm assuming the insurance company will want to total the bike?...

Is there a way to negotiate with the insurance company so they do not total the bike? Maybe take $2K for damages instead of $3K?

[duganc1717]

Looking to add another crashed bike to your collection?








Sorry, couldn't help it.

My crashed bike's clutch works though....

[scubasteveRR]

Let me clarify a little, bike has no lein, owner (co-worker) wants to keep the bike as a road bike not a "track bike". What were trying to figure out is if the book value is say $6.5k and there is $3k dollars worth of damage I'm assuming the insurance company will want to total the bike?...

Is there a way to negotiate with the insurance company so they do not total the bike? Maybe take $2K for damages instead of $3K?

good question, i'm sure you can ask them but they might not becasue then they might be liable for not totalling a bike that is not road worthy.

not saying it's not road worthy but the insurance might not do that.

I'd be interested to know the outcome either way though...

[Rossco]

My crashed bike's clutch works though....

Touche.

[DoubleRGirl]

Let me clarify a little, bike has no lein, owner (co-worker) wants to keep the bike as a road bike not a "track bike". What were trying to figure out is if the book value is say $6.5k and there is $3k dollars worth of damage I'm assuming the insurance company will want to total the bike?...

Is there a way to negotiate with the insurance company so they do not total the bike? Maybe take $2K for damages instead of $3K?

with only 3k worth of damage they might not total it. when my bike got stolen they valued it at just over 6k, and they needed the damage to exceed the value before they would total it out. if he has good coverage, maybe go ahead and total it, buy it back, fix it up, and use the rest of the money for a new toy

[cdseven95]

$6.5k and there is $3k dollars worth of damage I'm assuming the insurance company will want to total the bike?...

Probably not.... if the estimate is truly 3k it will not be totaled.

[Stoneman]

Probably not.... if the estimate is truly 3k it will not be totaled.

I was always under the assumption that damages would have to exceed the value of the vehicle in order for it to be 'totalled'...

[duganc1717]

Probably not.... if the estimate is truly 3k it will not be totaled.

I was always under the assumption that damages would have to exceed the value of the vehicle in order for it to be 'totalled'...

Thanks for the info, good to know.

I just walked around the bike and made a quick list then looked up some prices online. I was always was under the impression once the damages exceeded half the value of the vehicle it then would be a total loss.

[cdseven95]

They want to pay out the least amount possible.... If you have a 6.5k bike and 3k in damages why would they want to pay out 6.5k instead of fixing it for 3k....


If you have a 6.5k bike with 6k in damage most likely they will total it... Because chances are it will supplemented out past the initial value during the repairs and they will end up paying say 7.5k on a bike they could of got out of for 6.5k.


The insurance companies don't follow a set percent of repairs to value though

[scubasteveRR]

I was always under the assumption that damages would have to exceed the value of the vehicle in order for it to be 'totalled'...

I thought the damage only had to be more than half the value of the bike

my bikes damage was under the value of the bike and they still totalled it? bike was valued at $5,200 and the damage estimate was a smidgen over $3k

I even told the insurance adjuster I didn't want to total it but they said I had no choice in the matter.

But then again they mess up the whole title thing and gave me a clean title not a salvaged one so maybe the person I was dealing with was new or something like that??

[Stoneman]

They want to pay out the least amount possible.... If you have a 6.5k bike and 3k in damages why would they want to pay out 6.5k instead of fixing it for 3k....


If you have a 6.5k bike with 6k in damage most likely they will total it... Because chances are it will supplemented out past the initial value during the repairs and they will end up paying say 7.5k on a bike they could of got out of for 6.5k.

That makes more sense. Does anyone have a definitive answer? Now my curiosity is piqued...

[scubasteveRR]

as is my curiosity... what cdseven95 wrote makes perfect sense to me and I was shocked that my insurance made me total the bike.

Maybe it's a motorcycle thing in terms of safty or maybe with the cosmetic damage to my bike they anticipated more money since the bike wouldn't start as well?? (which ended up being the bank angle sensor)

[duey]

I was told the other day after receiving the estimate for the damage on my bike that the total damage(s) must be in excess of 80% of the KBB in order for it to be totaled.

My HYM is KBB at ~15k, and my total damages for my recent incident came to a total of just under 8k worth of damages and the adjuster did not total it.

[Eric Baker]

Yeah It has to have damages of more than 70-80%, depending on company, or if there is damage to something important structurally. On a bike, if the frame has any visible damage, it's usually totaled because that can turn out to be very unsafe.

[rice_rocket]

My brother's insurance company only totals if it's 100% loss.. Metlife, which was mine, totalled my bike after it got whipped to the ground in a storm. A scratch on the frame as well as some fairing cracks and scrapes totalled it. It was just last season on a 2000 f4 and they gave me a pretty darned good price for the value. Told me that I had no choice if they total it, there is no negotiation. I could buy back and try to get it inspected, but with the frame scratches they said I'd have to pretty much take it apart and polish the whole thing and also make sure the frame was good... ie waste of time.

Buy back was also pretty expensive, so essentially it was definitely worth my time for them to take it without even questioning it. ie buy back was 3K they were going to write it off for 4K..

[camhabib]

I was always under the assumption that damages would have to exceed the value of the vehicle in order for it to be 'totalled'...

For a car it's 50% of total value (from experience at least), bikes, because they're often times less expensive, it may be different.

[njsrikar]

as far as my experience goes, the damages(parts+labor for fixing) has to be 80-90% or more than the current value of the bike.

Also in MA, if the bike is 12years or older(not sure of the number, please dont rely on it), it will still have a clean title after totaling.

I had an '88 Ninja 750 rear-ended by a car in my parking lot. The insurance surveyor came up with $5k+ of repairs/damages(thanks to DanK's help ) and he valued my bike at $1950 or so.

So he totaled my bike and then I bought it back from him for $25, but because of the MA law, it still had clean title which helped me sell it on craigslist . btw this happened in 2009.

[REVNH]

It's not a set rule. Different companies have different thresholds for totalling vehicles. Most set that number at 80% of current value, but it's different carrier to carrier. I'd be very surprised to see a total with $3k in damage to a $6500 motorcycle. Why not just simply ask the carrier involved, they'll tell you.

[Sheppo]

When I totalled the HD this spring, it was 70 - 80 % of value... Mine booked at $10,300, total loss at $7800 estimated damage.

[BMFR6]

I won't even pretend to be a claims guy at all, so I don't have a good answer on this. The two things i'll say 1) the valuation will probably be different from bike to bike and insurance company to insurance company 2) If you've ever bought aftermarket parts for the bike and you expect to see those costs recouped in the event of a loss, keep all of your receipts.

[jc.cyberdemon]

i own an autobody shop and write estimates all the time. As stated before the ins. co. will total out a vehicle at around 70 to 80 percent of its resale value. So say you got a car the resales for 4500 and you do 3200 worth of damage they will total it out. I have also talked insurance companies out of totaling a vehicle at owners request. but really i had to say that i would be willing to repair it for the cost that it would be just before totaling it out. not sure on bikes though. I own a salvaged title bike and got it fixed for reall cheap doing the work myself and then got it inspected. title now says rebuilt and the bike itself has a tag that says salvaged title on it. dont know if that helped you but in short yes you can get insurance copmpanies to not total out a vehicle if the repairs are bieng done at a licensed repair facility and your insurance co is nice enough.