Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Insurance questions, after my rear end collision

I was rear ended last Friday by a 74 year old man fiddling for something on the floor of his car, while I was sitting at a stoplight. Anyway I called my agent (progressive) they are saying, if you file a claim with us, you will have to pay the $500 deductible. So they recommend I just go through the other driver's insurance. Well, they finally called me today, they said they had just talked to their customer and verified he did indeed run me down. The woman casually asks if I'm ok, and I told her I still have some pain in my right shoulder where I landed. She seems to shrug it off and just asks if I went to the ER, and I proceed to tell her yes I did, and the name of the hospital. Both Progressive and the other driver's insurance want me to get the bike up to the dealer where I bought it, so they can examine it, dealer is 80 miles away. I'm starting to get pi**ed, my boor bike is in tatters, not to mention my shoulder pain, and I have to get the bike to my dealer! What about a rental bike, ( I do have a second bike, but they don't know that) it is the height of riding season and I my Triumph is seriously damaged, (my dealer says the earliest they could get it fixed is early October). Am I being unreasonable or are these insurance companies low-lifes? I mean this all happened through no fault of my own, why do I have insurance if I have to wait month's for my bike to be repaired and no replacement is provided? What about my helmet, I was told you shouldn't use a helmet that has been in a crash, are they going to replace it? Any thoughts much appreciated.

Mark,
First thing in the morning, get a lawyer!

I know of no insurance company that is happy about loosing the bet with a customer and having to pay out, so don't feel it's directed at you, everyone usually gets it. Those that don't just got lucky.
Don't file anything with your insurance, that will cost you money that you will not get back. Just let them know it happened so they can record the incident. They might even be able to help with the claim if you are really having a hard time with the other guys insurance company.
Dealers suck period, you might be able to find someone to do the work faster, but I would let the dealer suck the insurance company dry seeing the cost of dealer parts for anything. The time to repair is only based of the amount of back log of bikes they have to repair at the moment. Not to mention on an insurance claim, they may have to wait a while before they get paid for the work, so they are slow on those to begin with.
By all means keep all medical records and costs so you can claim them on top of the cost to fix the bike.
Getting a loaner bike seems like asking a lot, they might go for it, but I would expect a car.
For sure replace your helmet and put it on the claim.

For a bike accident a lawyer might not be a bad idea.
I am a believer in karma; getting a lawyer and suing the guy and insurance company seems like going too far unless absolutely nessessary. I would just want my body and bike fixed so I can go on my merry way.

The less it drags out the better in my book.

I could be worng but they have no right to tell you where to take your bike to get it fixed. I'm going through stuff with my insurance right now and the way they explained it to me (my insurance people are really straight forward) is that they can suggest places to take you bike but the final decision is up to you.

I'm with you on the Karma thing, but I did talk to a Lawyer today, he said I have two years in Virginia to file a personal injury claim, so I am going to give it a few months, hopefully the pain will go away, then I will submit the bills to be paid, I'm surprised they haven't offered me a couple of grand to go away. I am more interested in my shoulder healing properly.

I do think the best place for it to be repaired is my dealer tho...............

I think they actually want it taken to a dealer to be sure that someone who knows the bike can inspect it. 80 miles does seem a bit far though. Might suggest they pay for towing and have it taken there by a towing co. Your co. probably wants to make sure they don't miss anything. My dealings with Progressive have been good the 3 or 4 times I dealt with them. I wouldn't get a lawyer until it seems there is no alternative. If the guys ins. will pay to fix the bike and you thats what you are after, right? I don't think asking for towing or a rental is unreasonable.

tell them you'll be more than happy to have THEM take it to the dealer...if you take the $$$ from YOUR co they do have to deduct the deductable...but they WILL un-deduct the decuctable AS SOON as the other CO pays it to them.... (ask me how I know THIS bit of triva) ...

you night have a bit of a struggle tring to convince someone that your shoulder is very sore if you ask them for a rental bike...not saying it isn't OR that you can't ride with a bum shoulder...just saying it might be an easy target for them to dispute your PI claim...

Lawyer up buddy. I don't know much, but this sounds like an injury case and I'm sure they'll be happy to help you.

An insurance policy is contract law. The other party's coverage is only as good as their policy limits and coverage. You'll need to ask the claims agent for anything and everything, including their arranging transport of the damaged bike. Once you reach the limits of the insured, your further recourse at compensation is to seek legal means for restitution, which means it comes out of the pocket of the insured.

If possible, avoid making statements with regard to the facts of the accident and your physical condition over the phone. Some claims reps have a 'funny' way of asking questions that will lead a claimant.

Write down all names, dates, and facts including phone conversations. If the at-fault party has State Farm, you should give me a call. PM me if necessary.

Man, I guess I was very lucky..I was "ascended" in the same manner, but just "bumped", smashing the tail lens, and creasing the fender on both sides, but no injury to me. His insurance (GEICO) had me a check for like $900 in 4 days, my insurance never knew of it...Replaced fender and lens on my own, pocketed remaining $500....I think it was an Isuzu "ascender"...

You will have to pay out your deductible but through the wonders of subrogation you will get it back sometimes this takes 6 months but you will get it back. I would file the claim. Why else would you have insurance if not to use it? Progressive will make the pay out to you and will then go after the other driver for the money, rather than you having to do it. As for riding to the dealer, I would think that a towing charge could easily be added to the claim. It would be if it was a car.

What Dill says is exactly what Progressive did with me. They paid me (waived the deductable) and went after the other ins co and insured. I had no worries except telling my agent what happened and fixing my truck.

who is your dealer, clinton?
that is where I would sugjest you take it.
I have never had a problem there.
they are about 80 miles from me also.

also ,the at fault insurance should pay to tow your bike to where ever
you choose to get it fixed.

I was hit in March. I went straight to the ER to rule out any broken bones, and then followed up twice with my family doctor. You need to see a doctor if your shoulder hurts, not only to make sure its nothing serious but the insurance company doesn't really consider you injured if you don't need medical care.

Document everything - every phone call, correspondence, everything. Who you talked to, what they said, and when. Your notes will help you in the long run.

Anyways, the guy who hit me was arguing about who was at fault, but I knew his company would ultimately accept blame since he was ticketed and there was a witness who saw what I saw. I filed a claim with my company in case it looked like it would take a while, but later canceled it because the other company did accept fault.

Anyways, long story short, my dealer is 70 miles away. I hauled the bike there myself so we could go over it together and make sure nothing was missed. I wanted the bike totaled so I wanted to make sure they got the complete estimate right the first time, rather than have to addend it later. I recorded all mileage and had them reimburse me for it. You can certainly also ask them to tow it to the dealer, but if they are paying for the towing they may be more insistent on taking it to a specific place that may be closer.

I also scratched my helmet, jacket, pants, etc, and submitted photos and replacement receipts of everything, which I asked for reimbursement for.

In the end, I had these categories of reimbursement, that you may think about:
-Cost of totaled bike (or repairs)
-Replacement of damaged clothing/safety gear
-Mileage for doctor visits, taking bike to dealer
-Medical costs, paid out of pocket

If you have any specific questions, PM me.

As one who has handled both sides of these cases (PPI - Plaintiff's Personal Injury) and Insurance Defense - let your mouthpiece do the talking.

If asked by anyone as to how you're feeling, my stock bit of advice is, "As well as can be expected under the circumstances, thank you."

There may come a day of reckoning where you will be asked specifically, "Can you do "X" "Y" or "Z"?" Chances are that someone might have videotaped you. If you know you can, be honest, and say, "Yes, but with a great deal of difficulty," or, "Under the circumstances, I had no other choice, but paid for it the following day/s."

Best to you and wishing you a "Speedy" recovery.