Sorry to hear about your mishap.

What I’ve found is that each insurance company handles motorcycle claims differently. Some companies treat motorcycles as vehicles (like cars) and others treat motorcycles like “toys”. For example, my insurance company views motorcycles as toys, and thus my motorcycle claim did not affect my auto policies and rates (through the same company.) I’d imagine that if I totaled too many motorcycles they’d deny me future motorcycle coverage.

I’d recommend calling your insurance company and asking.

If I total my motorcycle, will it effect my car insurance? (both are from the same provider)!

They suggested me to paint the tank rather than replacing so that it will not be totaled, but my MC is old and Im planning to replace it anyway.

If the totalling on this MC will not affect my Auto insurance, I dont mind doing it.

-Vish

Now down to the nitty-gritty. Insurance is a complicated thing and the objective is to make money, not give it away in claims. Therefore, the worst thing to do is react emotionally to an auto accident. Yea, we all do it it’s a natural reaction, but always consider what the Ins. company will consider and that is how much is this going to cost us, how much is the covered party already engaged with us and how can we get our money back- no matter if you’ve been a loyal customer for 10 years. After all that and much more you may become the underwriters best study and you don’t want any fair-weather friends. Now you’re at his/ her mercy and you’re going to pay to have insurance in NJ. You now fall into the category of several risk factors they keep adding to the list, driver history/ where you live/ credit score, etc. as well as everyone’s worst enemy and the reason I complain even as a good driver (motorcycle/ car) about rates because in the end “EVERYONE IN NJ PAYS”. Insurance pricing is just ridiculous I don’t care how many dividends I get in return at year-end.

Anywhoo, sorry for your mishap but know that you have helped enlighten many.

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

Great post you’ve written by the way.

When I started riding and writing reviews for a local BMW/Ducati/Triumph/Vespa/Piaggio dealer one of the things I was happy to negotiate was that any loss or damage was on them. So I can ride all those nice, new machines without worry.

Now, if the weather would just cooperate.

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks

@Liz Petersen: I’d imagine car accidents will follow a similar path, but it takes far more damage to total a car, and insurance is more willing to pay out more money for repairs rather than total it. Insurance companies consider motorcycles to be toys, so they’d rather go the easy way out and just total it and cut a check.

The big gap in this article is what happens when you’re not at fault and you have to deal with the other insurance company. I don’t have any first hand experience with that so I decided to leave that part out instead of guessing.

@ish: That is crazy! I’m glad you guys were all right after your crashes. Insurance cuts both ways: sometimes it’s better to let the bike go, and other times it’s better to fight.

I’d be so scared of crashing a rental bike!

We sold the bike, and pretty much quit riding after that. Until we picked up Jupiter’s Travels, that book totally inspired us and then we got back in to it. So at the shop, we’re pretty damn knowledgeable about the whole insurance thing now.
But man, I’ll tell ya, you crash a rental, at least you don’t gotta deal with the whole insurance and fixing debacle. ha!

I wish someone would do this for car accidents (which are probably far more complicated). I got totally and completely screwed by an accident I did not cause, but it was word against word, and the claims agent was not willing to revisit my claim despite the other party being found guilty in traffic court. I have a couple more months to file a complaint with the insurance commission… better kick my butt into gear and do that.

Thank you…