Insurance question

[MidLifeCrisis]

Is it normal for insurance companies to refuse paying for damaged accessories on motorcycles, even if such accessories were added for protection? With a recent accident, a family member has been getting the full run around and being told accessories are included on snow mobiles, atvs etc., but not motorcycles, as motorcycles are not considered recreational vehicles!!!

Seems pretty odd to not be able to recoup your investment on crash protection items such as crash bars, engine guards etc., when such items lessen the damage inflicted to the bike in the event of a crash. In this case, the bike is totaled, so the crash bars while did their job the bike was still damaged beyond repair.

So far, they are refusing to cover several thousand in protection gear, climbing its more bling and not required, even though without any of the guards, a simple tip-over would cost hundreds to repair.

Anyone had experience with such situations and able to reclaim their loss?

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[Blake33]

What insurance company has the policy on your family member's Spyder? (I'm sure we'd all like to know.)

[Bob Denman]

That's the sad truth...
Reason: Insurance companies would go bankrupt providing coverage that the had no way of setting a premium for.
Example: Custom paint jobs, versus the OEM color scheme...
Every company knows that it'll have tp pay for a paint job as part of the repair.
They base their premiums on what was standard on the bike...
What if you had a $20000 custom job that was the pride and joy of your neighborhood?
They couldn't afford to pay for that accessory, unless they charged a premium for it.
So...
Keep track of what you've added, and purchase the extra coverage to protect it.

[Ex-Rocket]

I can only speak about my past insurance carriers, Dairyland and Geico. Both of them had $2000 in covered accessories that they covered if you were involved in a crash. I guess if you had a bunch of accessories on your bike you might be able to increase that amount for a fee. Thank goodness I never had to use it.

[Cruzr Joe]

Thanks for the good advice Bob

Cruzr Joe

[MidLifeCrisis]

What insurance company has the policy on your family member's Spyder? (I'm sure we'd all like to know.)

I won't bash the company. Just trying to figure out what the facts are. The policy isn't on a Spyder, but a BMW R1200GS. crash protection is pretty much a must on those and almost all have them. They just don't come that way from the factory.


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[MidLifeCrisis]

That's the sad truth...
Reason: Insurance companies would go bankrupt providing coverage that the had no way of setting a premium for.
Example: Custom paint jobs, versus the OEM color scheme...
Every company knows that it'll have tp pay for a paint job as part of the repair.
They base their premiums on what was standard on the bike...
What if you had a $20000 custom job that was the pride and joy of your neighborhood?
They couldn't afford to pay for that accessory, unless they charged a premium for it.
So...
Keep track of what you've added, and purchase the extra coverage to protect it.

Makes sense Bob. As sad as this new realization may be.


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[hackett43]

Is it normal for insurance companies to refuse paying for damaged accessories on motorcycles, even if such accessories were added for protection? With a recent accident, a family member has been getting the full run around and being told accessories are included on snow mobiles, atvs etc., but not motorcycles, as motorcycles are not considered recreational vehicles!!!

Seems pretty odd to not be able to recoup your investment on crash protection items such as crash bars, engine guards etc., when such items lessen the damage inflicted to the bike in the event of a crash. In this case, the bike is totaled, so the crash bars while did their job the bike was still damaged beyond repair.

So far, they are refusing to cover several thousand in protection gear, climbing its more bling and not required, even though without any of the guards, a simple tip-over would cost hundreds to repair.

Anyone had experience with such situations and able to reclaim their loss?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

My insurance which is safeco, Covers custom accessories if you opt to purchase. Which i think is good because i know a lot of people including some of my friends who spend a lot of money on custom acces. some spend more than what they pay for the bike itself ( crazy imo ). Back in the day insurance companies didn't even offer coverage for the custom parts.

[DocRags]

I had to call our company today about this issue since we picked up a new Can-Am trailer and wanted to make sure we were covered on the road. Our insurance policies on both Spyders are with Progressive; they have $3000 in accessories coverage automatically. If you want more coverage it is sold in $1000 increments to a total of $30,000 for accessories. Adding $2000 more was over $100/year in added premium. Call your insurance agent to check on coverage and add-ons that can be insured.

[boborgera]

My insurance company [Foremost] cover's up to 3 thousand for accessories that are permanently mounted.
And thats not on a separate rider, Just part of the standard policy..

[jwulf74]

Same here.. Progressive and they cover up to $3,000 in accessories unless you want to purchase additional coverage... they do not include Medpay which we might now add. Wife went down on her 2-wheeler on the 27th (caused by someone turning directly in front of her)... she managed to miss t-boning him but had to lay it down... thankfully he had Medpay as we are working through his company to re-coup the loss and medical bills. We are now also re-thinking adding Medpay to our policy...

[NancysToy]

Policies vary...check your written policy. My progressive policy offers a certain amount of standard coverage, and I carry additional coverage at extra cost. Depending on the adjuster, factory options or accessories which were included at the time of purchase are often covered under the base policy. have the adjuster show you the weasel words in writing. They often say one thing where the policy says another.

[Bob Denman]

...And as you're all finding out; they'll be happy to sell you the additional coverage to properly protect your pride and joy...
Seriously though; safety items like crash bars are still accessories if they didn't come as standard equipment on the bike. If you paid extra for it, you've got to make sure that it's covered.
$3000 in accessories coverage seems to be the common amount that is thrown in at no extra cost... so watch your totals!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

My insurance company [Foremost] cover's up to 3 thousand for accessories that are permanently mounted.
And thats not on a separate rider, Just part of the standard policy..

Same here, I just received my renewal policy for two Spyders as follows an 08 GS and a 11 RSS ...100,000 /300,000 per acc., passenger liability incl....50,000 property......Uninsured motorist the same coverage.......collision 1,000 Detuctible ( easily covered ).....TOTAL per year $ 394.......I'm Happy ...Mike......PS...This also includes Towing and Roadside assistance ( reasonable)

[Silvervette05]

Mid, I think the insure co look at add ons just like a car dealer does when you trade a car in, they look at the book value and
not any of the add ons, You may put $5,000.00 in add ons to your car or bike but that does not bring the value of your car or bike up,

[Bob Denman]

But Mike,
How do you put a price on your genius?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

But Mike,
How do you put a price on your genius?

" PRICELESS " ..M

[Bob Denman]

Then you're getting a GREAT bargain on the premium that you pay!

[MidLifeCrisis]

Mid, I think the insure co look at add ons just like a car dealer does when you trade a car in, they look at the book value and
not any of the add ons, You may put $5,000.00 in add ons to your car or bike but that does not bring the value of your car or bike up,

makes total sense. Believe it or not, my only other insurance experience was with my dad wrecking his truck 30 years ago. (we've been lucky) The same insurance company covered all items on the truck at the time, including the camper shell, tools, new tires, etc... My original question seems pretty foolish now, other than the fact that I know my dad would never have paid a penny more for any additional coverage. Things were so thoroughly taken care of with my last experience, it just seemed more should have been covered that was bolted on as protection, rather than plain ol' farkles.

Then again, that was 30 years ago and there was much less abuse, so I guess I'm not so surprised. We'll definitely be looking at everything much more closely now though. A while back I posted a question about AAA and weight out the pros and cons and decided it was worth it. The wife and i haven't used our coverage at all, but the person involved in the accident had AAA and it was a huge life line. Things could have been far worse. Too bad none of us thought about the bolt on protection on his bike as farkles. Pretty easy to see farkles as shiny accessories, wrapping, LEDs and the like, but dull metal guards! How did we miss that? Interestingly enough, the insurance company never asked to see his bike, or our Spyder for that matter. They did insist on seeing our cars at purchase time though! They could have said no coverage on farkles at the time and clued us in, but they don't even allow more than 2K in farkles (learned this after the fact). I guess we know why. Lesson learned....

Definitely not as smart as Mike.

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[Tango]

ALL motorcycle insurance co.'s include some accessory coverage. Some more than others. I have $5,000 accessory coverage from Foremost. Tom