Question for insurance experts: lowsided my bike, claim or fix it myself?

S

Skiptomylou

Member
Hopefully I can get some expert advice from insurance agents on this board, because I'm afraid to call up my insurance company at this moment.

Bike => ducati 848, lowsided with damages of around $6500 dollars, I got a quote from the Ducati dealership just now. I know it's friggen expensive, but the plastics aren't cheap on a Duc. :(
myself => clean driving record, 31 years old, no prior claims.

I'm with SF insurance with $500 deductible, so it seems like my obvious choice is to make a claim.

But, I was wondering, how much would this claim affect my future insurance situation?
1) Would it increase my premium? I've heard yes and no to this question, and if yes, I'm sure it's still worth it since the damages are so $$$$
2) Would it increase my future premium, let's say I decide to buy a new car? I currently drive a beater, but I was planning to buy a sports/sporty car soon. :(
3) My current car insurance is with a different insurance company from my bikes', would a claim affect my car insurance?

Thanks for listening, man I'm so sad right now....
 
1) some companies have accident forgiveness (I don't think statefarm is one of them, but I could be wrong). I would expect on the order of a 30% premium increase for the claim, however statefarm has their special rate groups, the claim may drop you from the preferred group which will make statefarm rates terrible.
2)When you get an auto policy, you really should disclose your accident and it may affect your rates.
3) Some companies keep track of bike/car collisions separately. I was in a similar situation (two different insurance companies) and I squished a bike. My car policy did not increase, but I was ineligible for the one at-fault accident forgiven rider on my policy. 5 years later, they added the rider for free.

Glad to hear you are ok. Option B is put a fibreglass body on it, take the insurance off and head for the track.
 
Sorry to hear about your bike, and hope you're doing OK.

State Farm doesn't really have a published Accident Forgiveness program that I am aware of. I have contacted agents in the past, but always got a somewhat cryptic reply. It sounds like they offer Accident Forgiveness (or Partial Accident Forgiveness) for free if you have been a client with them for a while. I have no idea how long you have to be a client in order to qualify. I also don't know if it will suddenly show up on your policy renewal when you qualify, or if they only keep track of it internally.

I suggest you contact an agent (perhaps not even your own) and start asking some hypothetical questions. Only State Farm can tell you how much this will increase your rate.

Good luck.
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, looks like I will need to contact SF myself. Maybe someone from SF on the forum can give a bit of info on this? Or someone who has previously claimed with SF?

As for myself, I'm totally fine. Had full leathers on.
 
It's a sad commentary on our industry when people are afraid to use the coverage they purchased for fear of what it will do to their rates.

I guess it comes down to this. Your loss is $6500-ded=$6000. If you can swallow it great, if not make the claim.

Here's one other piece of advice though. If you're not willing to make a collision claim when it happens you might as well cancel that portion of your insurance coverage and reduce your premiums a bit.
 
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