Ready to ride that new motorcycle you bought? Not so fast. Although you think safety gear is all you need to be safe, you can lose your finances if you do not know the basics of motorcycle insurance. While you may not enjoy spending money on insurance, you need it, and you should have it. Most of the time, motorcycle insurance can be confusing, but this article has compiled a list of what you need to know about it.
Meaning of Motorcycle Insurance
Motorcycle insurance is a cover that offers financial protection in case your motorcycle gets an accident, stolen, or damaged. It also includes legal liability coverage if you injure other people or damage their property.
What Motorcycle Insurance Covers
Other than motorcycles, motorcycle insurance covers other machines, including mopeds, choppers, and speed bikes. In addition to physical property, if you are responsible for causing an accident, this type of policy covers bodily injury, property damage liability, legal fees, and costs associated with liability claims, up to your policy limits.
However, an insurance company can customize a motorcycle insurance plan to cover various areas, including:
- Full motorcycle replacement in case your motorcycle becomes severely damaged after an accident
- Medical bills in the event you need medical care or hospitalization
- Uninsured or underinsured coverage in case other motorists is at fault and does not have enough coverage or money to pay your costs
- Loss or damage to your gear and other safety equipment, such as helmet
- Comprehensive coverage to compensate you for any destruction caused by other elements, such as weather, theft, fire, vandalism, among others
- Collision coverage to pay for damages after your motorcycle collides with another vehicle or object without considering who was at fault
- Roadside assistance coverage when your motorbike breaks down unexpectedly while riding. This package covers the dead battery, empty fuel tank, flat tire, lost key, low oil, fluids, or water.
Importance of Motorcycle Insurance?
Motorcycle insurance is a legal requirement in most states. Moreover, if you played a role in getting other people injured or destroying their property, the coverage can protect you from losing your property and money. Motorcycle insurance can assist with your legal fees and defense costs if sued after an accident. Therefore, motorcycle insurance ensures everyone is covered.
The Right Amount of Motorcycle Insurance
How much money you should spend on motorcycle insurance varies depending on your motorbike type and the reasons you bought it. For example, it will be more expensive to insure a fast bike such as racing or a super-sport motorcycle. You may decide to increase your medical coverage or bodily injury. However, understand how much motorcycle insurance coverage your state requires and consider all the things you need to cover before deciding on the amount you should get.
How Motorcycle Insurance Works
Motorcycle insurance is similar to an auto insurance policy. It provides financial protection for injuries and damages you cause while riding your motorbike. Although a typical motorcycle insurance policy covers liability insurance, it covers the damage you cause up to your policy limits. However, if the costs you have incurred exceed your policy limits, you will have to pay the remaining fees from your pocket. On the contrary, if you use a different motorbike or borrow one from a friend and get involved in an accident, the motorcycle insurance might not cover you fully because it might act as either primary or secondary coverage. Nonetheless, after a loss, you can file a claim and be compensated up to your policy limit. However, you receive this compensation after your insurer deducts your deductible amount.
For example, assuming your deductible amounts to $1,000 and damage costs of $1,500. In such a case, you will pay for the $1,000, and your insurance policy will clear the remaining $500. On the contrary, if the damage costs are less than your deductible amount, you will not receive any compensation. Therefore, the higher the deductible amount, the lower the premiums, and vice versa.
Discounts Offered By Motorcycle Insurance
Like other auto insurance, you can save on motorcycle insurance. The insurance coverage you choose should be affordable. Motorcycle insurance plans offer various discounts, including multi-cycle, home ownership, transfer, loyalty, experienced rider, living in low-crime areas, and seasonal insurance.
Motorcycle Insurance Protects You During Track Days
Track days coverage depends on the terms you agreed with your insurance provider. Some insurance companies do, but others do not. However, those insurance companies covering track days provide these covers with much exclusion. In most cases, they do not insure accidents or losses during timed events, races, or speed tests. Nevertheless, if you were riding on a track day to improve your motorcycle handling and riding skills and then an accident happens, some companies pay for any costs or damages you might incur.
Exclusions To Motorcycle Insurance
Exclusion refers to any cost or damage that your policy does not cover. Thus, you cannot file a claim for an exclusion.
Some of the motorcycle insurance exclusion most companies do not offer includes:
- Damages and injuries resulting from protests, races, stunts, demolition, and riding on incomplete racetracks
- Damages or injuries you incur while using your motorbike for business, such as good deliveries or carrying passengers.
- Damages and injuries you cause while operating your motorcycle at work.
- Damages and injuries you get from criminal acts.
- Damages and injuries from deliberate self-harm.
- Damages and injuries resulting from operating your motorbike under drugs and alcohol influence.
Other Ways in Which Motorcycle Insurance Covers You and Your Motorbike
Motorcycle insurance can cover you in other ways, including supplemental coverage and rental coverage. Supplemental coverage assists in protecting extras such as wheels and custom paint. Rental coverage helps pay for a hired vehicle when you cannot ride your motorbike and lodging and food coverage when you are on a road trip and your motorcycle breaks down.
When to Claim from Motorcycle Insurance
The decision whether to file a claim or not depends on what you can afford because insurance pays for what you cannot afford to pay from your pocket.
The following are some instances when you can file a claim:
- If an accident occurs and you are at fault and can be liable
- When a motorcycle’s repair cost exceeds your deductible
- If someone else or you get severe injuries after an accident
- When you lack uninsured motorist coverage and get involved in an accident with uninsured or underinsured motorists.
How Motorcycle Insurance Claims Work
When something terrible happens, you should call your insurer and report the matter. The insurer comes and gathers all information from you and anyone else involved. The company then sends a professional to calculate the cost of damage, and depending on your policy, your insurer helps you get your motorbike or gets another one for you. If you had severe injuries or severely injured other people, the company also helps you with medical bills. After handling the urgent matters, you wait for your insurer to inform you about the next course of action.
It is essential to have motorcycle insurance to ensure everyone you interact with on the road is safe. GEC Insurance has you covered if you are looking for affordable motorcycle insurance. You can rest assured that it will meet your insurance needs because the staff will give you the detailed and relevant information you need to make an informed decision.
Always carry your insurance and ride safe!
