Insurance, and Why You Need More of it

[lostdaemon]

I already had ok coverage, upping it to the max available only added $10, for like $60/month.

I also have USAA for all that stuff - banking, insurance etc. If you're military or military family, use it - it saves a lot of money.

[jpbear]

Thanks for the great thread..

1. If one has medical insurance from employer - will it cover your accidental injuries for major hospitalisations?
2. There is an Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance as part of employer benefits - after reading about Ethioknight (Rip), I am going to look more in detail about this benefit.

Having a family (Wife and kid) , and being the sole breadwinner, some of this stuff needs to be looked up ind etail..

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by jpbear

Thanks for the great thread..

1. If one has medical insurance from employer - will it cover your accidental injuries for major hospitalisations?
2. There is an Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance as part of employer benefits - after reading about Ethioknight (Rip), I am going to look more in detail about this benefit.

Having a family (Wife and kid) , and being the sole breadwinner, some of this stuff needs to be looked up ind etail..

I can let you know what happened with my medical insurance but different plans will have different results. They paid my full $78,000 and sent me a copay of $1500 Now they are trying to get back all the money they spent by putting a lien on my payout, which is legal, they can recoup all of the money they spent, up to a max of half my total settlement.

So let's say I didn't have uninsured/underinsured and the girl did a hit and run. I'd be left with a $1500 copay, $1800 for the ambulance and then all the copays for medication, doctors visits, physical therapy, xrays, MRIs as well as any copays for future surgeries I may need. With medical insurance and no settlement this accident could have cost me around $5,000-$10,000 just in medical bills, and that doesn't include the money I've lost from not working. Disability is only paying me 50% of what I made before so that's a 50% cut in wages over the past 4 months.

As you can see even with medical insurance the bills can still stack up quite quickly. Instead what has happened is I've paid the $1500 copay and $1800 ambulance cost and then received the first chunk of my settlement, 33k in my pocket. Then all my future medical expenses are going to end up like this.

I'm filing through my underinsured with my lawyers help. My lawyer has sent me a new, very good doctor as well as physical therapy and they also set up all my MRI's and xrays, that kinda stuff. I pay nothing out of pocket for these services nor is my medical insurance paying for them. Instead each of these services has a lien on my underinsured payout. Now here's the cool thing about settlements, they include pain and suffering which is based off the amount of your medical bills so let's say I'm currently at 100k more of a payout. 33k goes to my lawyer, 33k goes to these services, and 33k goes to me. Now let's say I end up needing another surgery that tacks on another 50k in medical bills and pain and suffering to my settlement. Now my lawyer gets 50k, the services get 50k and I get 50k.

Basically every doctor visit and PT that I go to nets me more money simply because of the way pain and suffering is calculated. All of my lost wages are also included in the settlement. However I'm not going to see any of this money for a long time, either until I'm 100% healed or that extra 150k gets maxed out. Until then more and more is being added to the settlement

[areifel]

Sticky

[broilmebk]

Bump
I finally got around to calling my insurance guy. Originally he set me up with pretty much the minimum, but after this I bumped up to 100/300 liability and UM for $50/year. Thanks jiggles

[Joshorilla]

Funny enough I just brought my insurance today, in Britain we have three tears since auto insurance is mandatory by law, third party, third party fire and theft & fully comprehensive, price difference is £150, £250, £420 per year, i've got fully comp but I have to pay the first £250 of any claim.

It's a riders policy so it covers me for any motorcycle / scooter I own up to 250cc, so I could get a 125cc scooter and dirt bike etc as well and the only extra I would pay would be for petrol.

Worth it imo.

[Jiggles]

blumpkin

[ryan.chin]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

blumpkin

I ended up paying 100 dollars for my insurance, total. They paid me over 1500. WHATSUP.

[Jiggles]

K?

[ryan.chin]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

K?

Sometimes I imagine you dying.

[choneofakind]

This is why you're on my ignore list Ryan.

[thisisbenji]

The fact that Jiggles crash was at 25 mph got me thinking.

When I go on bicycle rides I typically average above 21 MPH, I'm at speeds at or above 25 MPH very frequently and I have close calls constantly with cars who just don't see me or feel that I shouldn't be on the road and attempt to get as close to hitting me as possible.

I wonder what my options would be if I was hit by someone who didn't have enough coverage for my medical bills?

[ryan.chin]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

this is why you're on my ignore list ryan.

what!

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

The fact that Jiggles crash was at 25 mph got me thinking.

When I go on bicycle rides I typically average above 21 MPH, I'm at speeds at or above 25 MPH very frequently and I have close calls constantly with cars who just don't see me or feel that I shouldn't be on the road and attempt to get as close to hitting me as possible.

I wonder what my options would be if I was hit by someone who didn't have enough coverage for my medical bills?

Mexican doctors? Or maybe hitch a ride to the UK?

[Kristofferzero]

Thanks for posting this.

I was thinking about this stuff a couple months ago but it was all kinda confusing and I never really got around to doing anything about it. I wasn't even thinking about the uninsured/underinsured option either.

Right now I have the bare minimum for the exact reasons you've stated.

At the moment, however, I can't really afford to increase both my Bodily Injury & Property Damage and Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist options. So looks like I'm going to add the Uninsured/Underinsured option later, which now kinda scares me...

Regardless, doing both ups my policy to $288 a year with Progressive. Is that reasonable?

[Jiggles]

Dude you can't afford $288 a year? That's less than a dollar a day. In total I'm paying $2200/yr for 4 bikes right now

[ryan.chin]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Dude you can't afford $288 a year? That's less than a dollar a day. In total I'm paying $2200/yr for 4 bikes right now

That actually doesn't sound too bad for 4 bikes... Did your premium go up because of your accident?

[Kristofferzero]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Dude you can't afford $288 a year? That's less than a dollar a day. In total I'm paying $2200/yr for 4 bikes right now

I can, but at the moment I'm literally living off of $600 until, at most, November.

I had a job until about 3 weeks ago and my financial aid for this semester is late. Once I get either the $288 is no problem, I just don't wanna risk spending $200 on this if I do have to make the money last for two months.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Kristofferzero

I can, but at the moment I'm literally living off of $600 until, at most, November.

I had a job until about 3 weeks ago and my financial aid for this semester is late. Once I get either the $288 is no problem, I just don't wanna risk spending $200 on this if I do have to make the money last for two months.

Can't you pay per month? $25/mo. Imagine what an accident would do to your finances if you weren't covered

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by ryan.chin

That actually doesn't sound too bad for 4 bikes... Did your premium go up because of your accident?

Not yet, it likely will once my underinsured claim goes through. The 1000 is $1600 the rest are 250s

[Kristofferzero]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Can't you pay per month? $25/mo. Imagine what an accident would do to your finances if you weren't covered

Yeah that's scaring me, too.

Didn't even think of that, I always just pay the full amount for the year. I hope I can, changing my policy only shows the increase difference, not the options for payment.

[Jiggles]

I don't know of an ins co that won't let you pay per month, look into it, 100% worth it

[mustang5.0]

chances of a biker going down and being hurt are very high in LA.. my homie went down on his new HD...cost over 400k but he gets to keep his hands and spline.. lots of surgery and he flatlined a few times...
he is under insured and stuck with a ton of bills.. he is going to be bankrupt and jacked up for life

and get life ins too

[Joshorilla]

Originally Posted by mustang5.0

chances of a biker going down and being hurt are very high in LA.. my homie went down on his new HD...cost over 400k but he gets to keep his hands and spline.. lots of surgery and he flatlined a few times...
he is under insured and stuck with a ton of bills.. he is going to be bankrupt and jacked up for life

and get life ins too

That's quite sad, it's for just those reasons why it's Illegal to ride without insurance here, and illegal to sell "underinsurance". Reading a sad story like that, how could you not afford insurance / good gear?

[modded]

Bodily Injury & Property Damage: 250,000/500,000,100,000
Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury: 250,000/100,000
Medical Payments: 2500 each person
Comprehensive:250$ deductible
Collision: 250$ deductible
Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: 10,000 property
Accessory coverage: 3,000

Would this be a good policy for 588.00$
19 years old
0 riding experience
MSF discount

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by modded

Bodily Injury & Property Damage: 250,000/500,000,100,000
Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury: 250,000/100,000
Medical Payments: 2500 each person
Comprehensive:250$ deductible
Collision: 250$ deductible
Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: 10,000 property
Accessory coverage: 3,000

Would this be a good policy for 588.00$
19 years old
0 riding experience
MSF discount

Excellent choices and not a bad price considering your age

[modded]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Excellent choices and not a bad price considering your age

Yea that's what I was thinking considering geico quoted me almost double that. By the way, this was from progressive.

[NevadaWolf]

Might as well bump this.

When I got my bike, I had a whooping 1 hour to run down to the DMV, wait in line while wrangling up insurance, get the proof faxed, wait in line some more, and ended up walking out with my shiny new plate two minutes after they closed. So at the time, I got the barest of bare minimums.

So, of course my wreck wasn't covered and learned how little I actually had coverage for!

Now I have time to shop around so checking and a) who covers track days and b) who'll cover the most possible without sending me into the poor house.

Thanks for the numbers Sean, that'll help in realizing how expensive accidents can get. 25k SOUNDS like a lot but yeah... Think I'll add a digit to that.

[Jiggles]

I don't think many insurance companies will cover a track day

[Alex]

It's actually the opposite; most insurance providers do cover trackdays with no questions at all. A common factor that is used to determine coverage is whether it is a timed or competitive event. So racing is out, but open trackdays or track schools are usually still within ones' standard coverage.

[NevadaWolf]

By reading others experiences, it's all in what you were doing and why. Continuing education on proper motorcycle handling with classroom sessions and ride time to practice lessons is what I told my original insurance company. I plan on living in the C group as long as I can!

With State Farm, I've read as long as its not a timed competition with prizes of any sort they tend to cover accidents out there.

[Joshorilla]

Most tracks here insure for you in the price of the day, it may be worth inquiring at the track if they offer insurance. Then again you Americans probably mean medical insurance since the idea of free medal care for all is a little weird for ya

[Bones85]

This thread has made me question my insurance policy. I have liability, collision, comprehensive, accessory coverage and uninsured/underinsured but my uninsured/underinsured is only $10,000/$20,000. My policy costs $450 a year through Progressive. I'm 21 with a perfect driving record and a Ninja 250.

I live in Florida and ride year round and I know that there a lot of people without insurance here or only have minimum coverage, which makes it even more important that I have a good policy.

However, I'm not sure if I can afford it. I go to college full time and don't make much money (I only work part time).

What do you think I should do? Thanks.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by Bones85

This thread has made me question my insurance policy. I have liability, collision, comprehensive, accessory coverage and uninsured/underinsured but my uninsured/underinsured is only $10,000/$20,000. My policy costs $450 a year through Progressive. I'm 21 with a perfect driving record and a Ninja 250.

I live in Florida and ride year round and I know that there a lot of people without insurance here or only have minimum coverage, which makes it even more important that I have a good policy.

However, I'm not sure if I can afford it. I go to college full time and don't make much money (I only work part time).

What do you think I should do? Thanks.

have you checked the price difference?
its not as much as you think, if you have a good driving record.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Bones85

This thread has made me question my insurance policy. I have liability, collision, comprehensive, accessory coverage and uninsured/underinsured but my uninsured/underinsured is only $10,000/$20,000. My policy costs $450 a year through Progressive. I'm 21 with a perfect driving record and a Ninja 250.

I live in Florida and ride year round and I know that there a lot of people without insurance here or only have minimum coverage, which makes it even more important that I have a good policy.

However, I'm not sure if I can afford it. I go to college full time and don't make much money (I only work part time).

What do you think I should do? Thanks.

What are you're liability limits?

An uninsured/under of $10,000 isn't going to do you much good. Worst case scenario you're hit by a person with no insurance and you get $10,000 from your underinsured. What's that going to cover? If you have to go the hospital at all then not much. My broken leg is about to max out my 250k underinsured policy, if I'd had a higher policy I'd be able to get more "free" treatment but now I'll have to start paying out of pocket.

Best case scenario, the guy that hits you has a 10k liability and in that case you can't even use your 10k underinsured because they don't add together. For example, since the girl that caused my accident had a policy of 100k and I had underinsured of 250k, I can get 150k from my underinsured, so 250k total not 350k.

Ask you're agent how much upping your underinsured will be, maybe it will take you're payments up to $500-$600 a year. I recommend at least 100k for underinsured. Let's say it costs you $150/yr more. Thats about $12/mo, anyone can afford an increase like that.

Also remember, that only protects you if someone else causes the accident, if you crash on your own you'll have to use your medical insurance. There should be some sort of student plan available for that.

Think of what's at risk when you ride, I wasn't able to go to school nor work after my crash. What would happen to you in a situation like that? Would you be financially capable of taking care of yourself?

[psych0hans]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

What are you're liability limits?

An uninsured/under of $10,000 isn't going to do you much good. Worst case scenario you're hit by a person with no insurance and you get $10,000 from your underinsured. What's that going to cover? If you have to go the hospital at all then not much. My broken leg is about to max out my 250k underinsured policy, if I'd had a higher policy I'd be able to get more "free" treatment but now I'll have to start paying out of pocket.

Best case scenario, the guy that hits you has a 10k liability and in that case you can't even use your 10k underinsured because they don't add together. For example, since the girl that caused my accident had a policy of 100k and I had underinsured of 250k, I can get 150k from my underinsured, so 250k total not 350k.

Ask you're agent how much upping your underinsured will be, maybe it will take you're payments up to $500-$600 a year. I recommend at least 100k for underinsured. Let's say it costs you $150/yr more. Thats about $12/mo, anyone can afford an increase like that.

Also remember, that only protects you if someone else causes the accident, if you crash on your own you'll have to use your medical insurance. There should be some sort of student plan available for that.

Think of what's at risk when you ride, I wasn't able to go to school nor work after my crash. What would happen to you in a situation like that? Would you be financially capable of taking care of yourself?

And he knows from first hand experience. If you were in India, I'd say let it be, but it isn't and everything costs 100x in America, so Its better to pay the 2-500$ now that to have to pay 100-300k later... Think about what's more affordable to you...

[Bones85]

I looked at what it'd cost to upgrade the coverage to 100/50/300 uninsured/underinsured and to my surprise, it'd only cost me approximately $50 per month for everything. If I drop the uninsured/underinsured completely and just keep liability, comprehensive, and collision then it will cost me about $11 per month.

What do you all think? Is it worth it to pay $468 more a year for the uninsured/underinsured coverage?

[lgk]

Originally Posted by Bones85

I looked at what it'd cost to upgrade the coverage to 100/50/300 uninsured/underinsured and to my surprise, it'd only cost me approximately $50 per month for everything. If I drop the uninsured/underinsured completely and just keep liability, comprehensive, and collision then it will cost me about $11 per month.

What do you all think? Is it worth it to pay $468 more a year for the uninsured/underinsured coverage?

IMO yes,
you won't be able to afford the damages that would be caused by you or the expenses if you seriously injured by an under insured party...

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Bones85

I looked at what it'd cost to upgrade the coverage to 100/50/300 uninsured/underinsured and to my surprise, it'd only cost me approximately $50 per month for everything. If I drop the uninsured/underinsured completely and just keep liability, comprehensive, and collision then it will cost me about $11 per month.

What do you all think? Is it worth it to pay $468 more a year for the uninsured/underinsured coverage?

I would, and I'd go for 250k

Ask about an umbrella policy

[xaple]

Is it because I'm 18 that everyone wants in the upwards of $1,000 without any collision coverage?

The bare minimum people still want $700 from me.