State Farm claim vs pay for it myself.

C

crashedmybike

Member
Hi,

Crashed my bike. I was doing about 45km/h. No other vehicle was damaged. A left turning car pulled in front of me at an intersection. My reaction, hitting the breaks to avoid colliding, caused the bike to come out from under me, low siding. The left turning car did not stop at the time of the accident. No plates were obtained. No witnesses.

The damage to the bike is such that a complete repair will cost more than the showroom value of the bike.

2010 250 kawasaki ninja. I have $500 deductible Collision.

My questions.

#1. If I decide to make the insurance claim how would this affect my rates next year and the years after? Would my rates double or triple?
#2. If I decided to talk to my insurance company about what happened, but, also decided *not* to make a claim, would the fact that I had discussed this incident affect my rates next year and into the future?
#3. Is there a time limit within which the insurance company has to be notified about the accident if a claim is going to be made?

My insurance rate is very cheap at the moment. I have no history of accidents or speeding tickets. The cost of basic repair, parts & labour, just to make the bike roadworthy, is going to be quite a lot. And then still, the resale value of the bike will still be cut in half. Its only $4000 brand new.

The cost of repair, to make it roadworthy is going to be about $1200.

Can I make a claim without another identified driver, and without also being "at-fault" in any way?

Thanks for any insights you can provided.
 
Last edited:
That sucks, similar thing happened to me but in my car on a rainy day. I was the second car back and ended up lightly rear-ending the car in front of me. his car was fine but my engine/axle was toast. Guy in front told the same story as me and said I Was not at fault but I got hit with careless driving (down to following too closely). insurance went up. Car was a write-off. Did not go through insurance and dumped the car instead (wasn't going to get much anyways).

I wouldn't bother going through insurance as you have no proof so they would most likely not give you anything without penalty. As far as I know, discussing it has no impact because there is no record attached to it. It will purely be a financial discussion between you and the agent.

just my two cents.
 
First of all, glad you are ok and walked away.

On a cheap bike (especially one coveted by many new riders), I would just ride it and pretend it never happened. What is actually required to make the bike rideable? (vs what is required to make the bike look like it was before). Fixing it only to have it scratched up again (which is quite likely) is normally not worth it. Also, forget about a bigger bike, as the at-fault accident will make for crazy rates (in the neighbourhood of double, but some insurance companies won't take you, so the actual increase could be more).
 
GreyGhost said:
First of all, glad you are ok and walked away.

On a cheap bike (especially one coveted by many new riders), I would just ride it and pretend it never happened. What is actually required to make the bike rideable? (vs what is required to make the bike look like it was before). Fixing it only to have it scratched up again (which is quite likely) is normally not worth it. Also, forget about a bigger bike, as the at-fault accident will make for crazy rates (in the neighbourhood of double, but some insurance companies won't take you, so the actual increase could be more).
Click to expand...

$1200 to make it rideable. And it will still show big signs of road rash. Thanks for the rpely!
 
Fix it yourself. Whatever the cost will be to repair it you will pay it back 10 times over the next 7 years in insurance premiums.
 
I'm still looking for more opinions, advice, facts (if you have them) here...

1. If my insurance is 70/month how much can I expect to be paying in the future, based on a claim like this? Would I go to 90/month or 190/month? Will my rates begin to increase every year after this?
2. Will I be found at fault since there is not evidence to support my story?
3. Can I talk about this with the insurance agent without making a claim and not have my rates affected next year?

What would you do?

Thanks to everyone!
 
crashedmybike said:
I'm still looking for more opinions, advice, facts (if you have them) here...

1. If my insurance is 70/month how much can I expect to be paying in the future, based on a claim like this? Would I go to 90/month or 190/month? Will my rates begin to increase every year after this?
2. Will I be found at fault since there is not evidence to support my story?
3. Can I talk about this with the insurance agent without making a claim and not have my rates affected next year?

What would you do?

Thanks to everyone!
Click to expand...

1. Your insurance will likely be something like 140/mo next year and slowly decrease back to 70/mo over the next 6 years. If you have a car, your car insurance may increase as well.
2. The rules are clear, you are at fault. If you had contacted the other vehicle, you might not have been, but since you crashed without touching any other vehicle, it's your fault (not saying I agree with this, just telling you the rules the insurance companies use).
3. I don't know. Legally you are supposed to report the at-fault accident to your insurance company even if there is no claim, but most don't. Whether your agent will run you a quote with an at-fault to see what difference it makes without leaving a note in the file is the question (will the computer system automatically record that quote?).

Personally, I think you would be crazy to claim this if you plan on continuing to ride. Pay the $1200, ride your bike and have fun. Chalk it up to a relatively cheap lesson (many people this year have lost their lives to left-turning vehicles).

Good luck.
 
GreyGhost said:
1. Your insurance will likely be something like 140/mo next year and slowly decrease back to 70/mo over the next 6 years. If you have a car, your car insurance may increase as well.
2. The rules are clear, you are at fault. If you had contacted the other vehicle, you might not have been, but since you crashed without touching any other vehicle, it's your fault (not saying I agree with this, just telling you the rules the insurance companies use).
3. I don't know. Legally you are supposed to report the at-fault accident to your insurance company even if there is no claim, but most don't. Whether your agent will run you a quote with an at-fault to see what difference it makes without leaving a note in the file is the question (will the computer system automatically record that quote?).

Personally, I think you would be crazy to claim this if you plan on continuing to ride. Pay the $1200, ride your bike and have fun. Chalk it up to a relatively cheap lesson (many people this year have lost their lives to left-turning vehicles).

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for clearing up the legalities of this issue. Your points are well taken.
 
SLaP said:
What is actually broken?
You have pictures? Let's see what we are talking about here.
Click to expand...

Sorry, no pictures to show.

Bent or broken = forks, front wheel well, right handlebar, right handle brake, right foot brake and pedal, right light, (a number of small things) and the burning black road rash along the right edge from the front, across the tank fairing, up to the back edge behind the seat. Thanks for your reply.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom