Do insurance companies all suck? What can I do now???

[jesse_k]

As some of you have read in past posts my brother was hit by a car on his motorcycle and it was the cage drivers fault (he was cited)...well after looking at the bike and seeing that there was a lot of cosmetic damage, the insurance company decided to total it, now, here is where it gets tricky.....he has a ton of aftermarket stuff on it, full muzzy, jet kit, sprocket, chain, flush blinkers, wheelie light, and a brand (2 week old) paint job and the insurance company is standing by that for a 2000 zx9r they will give 5100. That is it, they then told him that the aftermarket parts can not be claimed because of the policy that he had. Now this just does not make sense to me. It was the other drivers fault so therefore shouldn't his insurance company be paying to have the bike put back to the way it was or paying for the aftermarket parts?? If anyone knows about this please let me know as we are getting mighty tired of dealing with the insurance company that seems to not want to do anything for us. Thank you!!!

[hohum]

Insurance + MA == ASS RAPE

Sorry, but its the truth. How much of the aftermarket stuff was destroyed in the wreck? If you can salvage a bunch of it I'd say, let insurance co. total the bike, then buy it back from them (you can usually buy back the totaled bike for dimes on the dollar) and then either you can sell the aftermarket stuff thats good and get rid of the carcass, or repair the bike at your discretion.

Honestly, unless you read the fine print of the policy, most of your aftermarket stuff is considered worthless by the insurance company and not covered.

Cheers,
Chris

[SWEET_Z]

I had a car salvaged one time and the shop let me salvage any bolt ons i could before it went to auction. They should let you take any mods that are still worth anything off the bike. Hohum is right tho, you ussually need additional coverage for aftermarket stuff.

$5100 seems reasonable for a 4 year old bike. You can look up retail at kbb.com and try and talk them up a little. Probably get a good deal on a left over right now, it's the perfect time to be bike shopping.

[Bad Dog]

When I got hit on my bike the insurance adjuster was a biker himself, he totaled the bike and let me keep it in order to strip what I could and sell off the parts.

Never no, ask the insurance company if they will let you do that in order to recoup the cost of the aftermarket stuff.

[R7]

I'd take the money and run I think if the insurance company didn't total the bike, they'd have to repair it as it was including your aftermarket parts. Seeing they totaled it, you're getting fair market value for it. Maybe a attorney could get a bigger check out of the insurance company, but that's gonna put le$$ in your pocket than what they already offered you

[RandyO]

Originally posted by jesse_k
it, now, here is where it gets tricky.....he has a ton of aftermarket stuff on it, full muzzy, jet kit, sprocket, chain, flush blinkers, wheelie light, and a brand (2 week old) paint job and

why would these items make the bike worth more?

I'll bet the full muzzy system costs less than the complete stock exaust it replaced. are the jets in it now worth more than the stock jets taken out? sprockets,chain....

If I was the adjuster, I'd REDUCE your check cause it has not been maintained with OEM parts, but cheaper parts instead.

[Stoneman]

Unfortunitely, the aftermarket stuff means nothing to the ACTUAL value of the bike. Many insurance companies view those items as '...items needed for the general operation of the motor vehicle...'

It hurts, it sucks. But it's the way it works. Best thing he can TRY is to contact his insurance agent and INSIST that he goes to bat for him. But BEFORE he does that, he should get WRITTEN estimates for the items he THINKS he should get reimbursed for...

[SEVENSGT]

Okay, here is how it went with me....


My insurance company only wanted to give me used KBB for my 8 month old SVS, I took it, it wasn't enough to cover the loan. I put what they gave me towards the loan, and went after the cars insurance company for the balance, which I got. When he talks to an attorney they'll best know what to do..

[skiierx]

My 2 cents on this subject is, when I spoke to my insurance company they told me to save the receipts for aftermarket parts and use them to support the additional value. I would use those receipts to ask for more money, get a receipt for the paint job, they should cover that as well.

Now when they come to pick up the bike, if you cannot buy it back then strip the thing clean. Talk to some other zx9 owners who might have some broken parts laying around to swap out, that way you can make some money back. I have had some friendd take everything off the engine, carbs, air boxes and so on, take everything you can!

Jamie

[Stoneman]

That's the other thing: If they're gonna 'total' it and NOT cover the aftermarket stuff, pull the salvagable parts off. If they ain't coverin' 'em, tell 'em you want 'em. Not sure if they'll buy it, but it's worth a try...

[tls25rs]

Is this value from his insurance company or the person that hit him's insurance company? His insurance company will, as is the situation, more than likely only give him book value for the bike, as this would be a collision claim. However if he is going after the person that hit him's insurance company, this is no longer a collision claim it is a damage to other persons property claim. In this situation it should be the responsibility of the at fault driver's insurance company to get him back onto a bike that is of equal caliber to the bike that was wrecked.

I was involved in a an accident with one of my cars where the other drivers insurance company tried to total and give me book value on the car. The book value was no where near what it would have cost to purchase the same year make and model of car to replace the one damaged by their client. I refused to accept the check for book value on my car and told the claims rep for her insurance company that I wanted them to replace my car for the amount that the check was for. After lookihng at the prices of the vehicles that I had located which were virtually identical to the car that was wrecked, the claims rep for her ins. co. agreed that it would not be possible to do so and then increased the payout for the accident to a level which would have allowed me to purchase a replacement vehicle of the same caliber that their client wrecked.

Your brother is the victim here. If their client had not wrecked your brother's motorcycle then he would to this day have a nice bike and be happy. He needs to make this clear to the claims rep for the at fault driver's insurance company. Once this is clear then he needs to stick to his guns and fight until they will give him a check he is satisfied with. This is soo much easier if there is any level of personal injury as well. If your brother was injured in the accident and there are medical bills etc involved with the accident then the ins. co. should be more than willing to settle the claim in any way that would avoid your brother sueing them for any number of things including medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, time lost from enjoying his bike etc.

I do not believe in lawsuits just to make a buck but if the ins. co. is giving him the run around and he has the time and patience to make their life miserable then your brother can come out even, if not ahead, of the game.

As has been stated above, insurance is a joke. It is just a way for companies to charge whatever they want to insure you only to refuse you coverage when an incident occurs.

Good luck with this......

Joel

[SSearchVT]

It's unfortunate your brother wrecked his bike, and it got totaled. The thing going in his favor is the number of people who will have to touch the bike now, and the fact that the insurance company doesn't really care about it. Most times they are going to have a salvage yard come by and pick up the carcass.
I had a car totaled out that I had put a ton of work into, custom seats, stereo, etc. I stripped that thing within an inch of its life before I turned it over. I did however toss some of the original parts back in the car first (factory stereo and speakers were sitting right on the dash). If you are concerned about the exhaust, take it. Good Luck...

[Ducrappy]

I totalled my last bike, a Ducati 996S in May of this year. It didn't involve another person, so I was only dealing with my own insurance. At the time of my wreck, the bike in its stock form was worth around $12,000. But, not including the $3,000 custom paint job, there was a total of about $8,000 in aftermarket parts installed on the bike. I ended up fighting with my insurance company for quite a while and finally had to give up because they wouldn't budge. I ended up with very little over the quoted $12,000 listed for the bike. Insurance companies suck.

I had an additional coverage on my policy to cover $5,000 in aftermarket parts, but the way they looked at is was that the add-on parts had depreciated, and in the case of anything that replaced a stock part like my magnesium wheels, it would not be as simple as adding on the value of the new wheels to the worth of a complete stock bike. Any aftermarket piece that replaces a stock part, even if it costs twice as much as the stock part, is barely worth any more than said stock part.

The only way I could have received book value + the $5,000 in custom parts is if the bike was stolen and not recovered.

Originally posted by SSearchVT
... I stripped that thing within an inch of its life before I turned it over. I did however toss some of the original parts back in the car first (factory stereo and speakers were sitting right on the dash). If you are concerned about the exhaust, take it. Good Luck...

This is an excellent idea. If they're only going to give you book value of the bike, take everything off that they won't cover. If you don't, you're just giving the shit away.

[By-Tor]

It gets tricky to get more $ than blue book unless you already had a written fair market value of the bike before the accident.

When I wrecked my 954, the insurance adjuster let me strip off all of my after market parts (pipe, damper, flushmounts, spools)

[benVFR]

I don't understand why your brother's policy has anything to do with the accident if it was 100% the cager's fault. The car driver's insurance should be doing all the paying.

Note that you can take out insurance and/or a modification on the policy to cover the aftermarket parts IF you think of it ahead of time.

Progressive (not available in MA) makes it very clear that you can do that. It is even on their web form to get a quote, they ask you to enter a $$ value for how much gear & mods you would like to have coverage on.

$5100 actually seems like a very fair price on a four year old bike though. Would you even get that if you sold it in mint condition?

Ben

[highsider]

Did your bro get a lawyer yet????

A good attorney ought to be able to get the rest of money out of someone's insurance company - whether out of his own underinsured motorists coverage, or out of the global damages incurred (inclusive of the medical bills, missed work, etc.).

Other alternative is to strip the bike before the assfuck insurance company comes to get it, and sell the parts on e-bay, or re-use on the next bike.