Uninsured, parked motorcycle is hit by insured car--what happens now?

July 10, 2006 5:23 PM

What happens if someone crashed into my motorcycle while it was parked, and I don't have insurance on it?

The other day someone knocked over my motorcycle with their car while attempting a 3-point turn. The bike had been sitting there untouched for a while because my insurance had expired.

The person does have valid insurance and will be reporting it tomorrow. I'm curious what will happen when/if his insurance tries to contact mine, and how I get the money for the bike.

This is in the state of Maryland, and both parties are residents.

posted by bangitliketmac to law & government (6 comments total)

my car was hit in a parking lot (in California) after I had gotten out of it, on my way into the store. The guy's insurance took care of it all, because it was totally his fault. I don't think they even took down my insurance info.

Good luck with your case!
posted by toomanyplugs at 5:27 PM on July 10, 2006

Your insurance shouldn't even be involved. Happened to me (with car and insurance though) and the other insurance company just wrote me a check after an adjuster came out to look at the damage to my car.

I talked to my agent but her insurance never called or contacted them.
posted by karmaville at 5:28 PM on July 10, 2006

While gassing up at 7-11 I had someone at the pump in front of me back over my motorcycle in their suv. The bike was totaled and their insurance covered the replacement. At the time I didn’t have insurance (not required in Washington.)
posted by Tenuki at 6:01 PM on July 10, 2006

Because it wasn't your fault, whether you had insurance or not is immaterial, and the at fault party's insurance company really doesn't have any reason to contact your company - they should be contacting you directly.

They might request that you have the motorcycle taken to your repair shop (Harley shop or whomever does your body work) where they'll send an auto damage adjuster to meet with the people there (most field adjusters don't have enough experience with motorcycles to make an accurate estimate).

If they do have adjusters who are experienced with motorcycles, they might send someone to your home, or have you take the bike (if it's currently working/ridable) to an inspection location. Either way, once an estimate has been completed, payment should be issued to you for the amount of your damages immediately thereafter.

Good luck!
posted by mewithoutyou at 6:01 PM on July 10, 2006

You're lucky the person is cooperating. You can go one of two routes, usually. One where you get it fixed and your insurance company pays for it (less the deductible). Then your company gets the money out of the other party's company, and reimburses you for the deductible.

The other method is to have an adjuster from the other person's insurance company meet you at the repair shop where you plan to have it fixed. The shop should show the adjuster all the damage and how much it'll cost to fix. Then they'll issue a check to the shop for the work, and it gets fixed up.

The key: don't let the adjuster show up at your house and decide how much damage has been done. Their job is to figure out how little they can pay you. You want to get the bike fixed to the exact condition it was in prior to the hit, and a shop you trust can make sure that happens.
posted by knave at 6:04 PM on July 10, 2006

Your insurance shouldn't even be involved.

Ditto. Imagine he had hit you instead of your bike. Would it matter if you had health insurance? Nope. He's damaged your property. They pay.

The key: don't let the adjuster show up at your house and decide how much damage has been done. Their job is to figure out how little they can pay you.

That's actually not what an adjuster does. An adjuster determines an estimate of how much they think the damage is worth, and then provides their client with a figure of what will be covered per the policy, and facilitates the policy payment to the victim. Most of the time, this is truly sufficient, they have a vested interest in not getting sued by clients for failing to fulfill their policy contracts (and they have a maximum payment ceiling -- the policy -- plus their own insurance against selling bad policies). The insurance company is not at fault here, the insured party is. If the adjuster comes in with a figure that is lower than what it actually takes to fully repair the bike, you can still sue the damaging party for the remainder.

Just be careful when you're accepting a payment from an insurance company that it is also not a contract releasing the policy-holder from any further damages you might seek.
posted by frogan at 9:18 PM on July 10, 2006