pletcgm

I think it sucks that we cannot get liability insurance in case we accidentally cause an accident! I went to my insurance agent and asked if I could get libility coverage and he said that it would not cover that type of liability. That sucks! We can get it for a car, but not for our bikes!

Dusk

Wouldn't yor homeowners/renters ins. cover you?

Cheers

pletcgm

It covers you while on you home property. It does not cover you or your bike while away. I have a special rider policy on one of my bikes to cover it while away from my home.

jfmckenna

I was just wondering the same thing today. Did you go through more than one company?I'm surprised an Insurance Co for the right price would'nt insure just about anything.

randya

If you've got motor vehicle insurance, you're at least covered if you're hurt - your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage is in force when you're on your bike, too. If your bike is stolen from your car, your homeowners insurance should cover the loss. These seem to me to be the most likely instances when you'd want insurance as a cyclist.

I'm not sure why you'd actually want liability coverage for your bike. It's not like you can do very much damage with a bicycle, except in very limited or very unusual circumstances. Example - liability insurance is very cheap for motorcycles relative to cars and trucks, because cars and trucks are capable of doing a lot more damage.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a liability insurance policy for my bike even if it was available - I think it would just make you a target for claims...

BTW - I don't think liability insurance necessarily covers you if you 'accidentally cause an accident'; I only think it covers the damage done to someone else's property (vehicle or real estate) by your vehicle as a result of an 'accident'. And bicycles just aren't capable of causing that much damage...

kf5nd

Yup, I agree. The value of insurance is to cover you from catastrophic losses, not much exposure to that as a bike operator. Much more important to have good health, disability, and life insurance than liability insurance.

jfmckenna

Yea but if what I was wondering was if you scratch the paint on a soccer mom's lawyer husbands Lincoln Navigator (and for some reason can't get away ) then I don't have that kind of coin layin around...

AndrewP

My household insurance has paid for damage I did with my bike - running into back of parked car. It wasnt much in comparison with damage done in car-on-car accidents but was many weeks beer money

townandcountry

If someone is going to hassle you because you "accidentally" scratched the Lincoln Navigator, she shouldn't have been driving it in the first place. Scratches, dents, dings and stuff like that happens. I agree with kf5nd, better to get good health, disability and life insurance.

supcom

If you hit a pedestrian (or other cyclist) with your bike you can end up with a lot of liability.

Bop Bop

The title of this thread struck a cord and I decided to contact my Agent to find out what if any coverages I presently have or can get. I have both my Home and Auto with State Farm. I know coverages vary from company to company and state to state but this is what I was told.

My homeowners covers theft whether on or off the premise, subject to the deductible. If I hit a pedestrian my Homeoweners would cover the pedestrians medical bills, if any. If I hit a car or am hit by a car (depending on who is determined to be at fault) my medical bills if any would first be paid through my Health Insurance with any balances going to my Homeowners Insurance. If the driver of the car sustains medical injuries, his/her injuries would be covered under my Auto Insurance. As to damage to the vehicle itself, it would be covered under my Auto Insurance.

Additionally, if I where to be sued by the driver of the vehicle or a passenger it would be covered under my Auto Insurance and Personal Injury Policy (Umbrella Policy).

According to him, these are all standard coverages under State Farms Policies, he also informs me I do not need to add any additional coverage, complete any additional forms and/or notify anyone.

Sounds like a good deal to me. Before anyone thinks it, no I am not affiliated in any way with State Farm other than being a customer.

Dchiefransom

Liability goes for everything if you get sued. It would also cover "pain and suffering" if the amount of insurance was high enough.

Oscar

Homeowners and renters policies also cover liabilities in libel and slander cases too. Think of that when you are yelling defaming things at drivers.

Also, you can be a target for claims if you don't have insurance. They'll just settle for your house or retirement plan if the judgement is high enough. That's pretty rare, though, but insured people don't get sued more than "self insured" people.

dobber

That has to be about the most horse**** statement I've read in a long time.

HereNT

I'm kind of surprised that everyone thinks you can't do much damage with a bike. Even in car/bike only accidents, it wouldn't surprise me to sometimes see a fair amount of damage, especially if you end up landing on the windshield or something.

Also, running your bike into a car isn't the only way to cause an accident - a car could be trying to avoid you and hit another car. I'm not sure how the cops would interpret it, but say you run a red light, and a car slams on it's brakes, and then gets rear-ended. Not only could the car that got hit still be thrown forward and hit you (probably doing minimal damage to the front end) but the back end is now going to need a lot of repairs, too. And the front end of the car that hit them is going to need repair, too.

Granted, anyone that would have insurance or wonder if they need it on a bike probably isn't going to be running many lights...

But there are probably several ways that bikes could cause major damage to a car, because the car is not the only car on the road.

Heck, I'd venture a bet that a bike could even take out a semi truck if the circumstances were right - you're out too far around a blind corner on a nice quite country road somewhere and it hits the brakes and tries to move and jacknifes...

DnvrFox

Hey, one of the reasons I carry insurance, is to help the victim in the event I make a serious mistake. I know I do and will make mistakes, and I would like to be able to assist whomever I might injure to pay their bills. Yes, they might have to sue my insurance company to collect, but maybe not.

If the rest of you are perfect and will never be the cause of an injury to someone else, and know that for a fact, my hat is off to you. Otherwise get some insurance so that an innocent bystander can be compenstaed for what we do wrong.

Last year we had a bicyclist killed by another bicyclist. They collided. Serious injuries DO happen as a result of biking. (The guy causing the accident is being prosecuted for manslaughter).

pletcgm

Thanks for that information! I currently have Shelter insurance and my agent there told me they don't cover liability off of the home premises. I am going to switch to state farm. Thanks again!

pletcgm

You are definitely right. A year and a half ago, I was going 31 mph and a car turned right in front of me. There was no stopping at that speed. In a split second decision, I ducked and my head went through the side window (I was wearing my helmet, THANK GOD) Anyway, I headbutted his wife in the side of her face and, along with the glass and pressure, I cut her face all the way down. She required plastic surgery. They were trying to sue me for the damage, but the police deemed it his fault for pulling out in front of me. His insurance had to buy me a new bicycle.

That is what got me concerned about this issue. What if the cop on the scene had hated cyclists and deemed it my fault, even though it wasn't?

Seanholio

Don't forget that the cop only issues a citation based on what he sees at the scene. This is completely different from deeming the situation to be someone's fault. Fault is to be assigned in court, so even an assinine officer won't be able to screw you that easily.

MichaelW

Membership of some cycling organisations (such as the UK Cyclists Touring Club) carries automatic 3rd party insurance.

TechJD

this was told to me by a lawer
Well even though cops claim not to assign fault to an accdent they knowning do so in the way the report is writen up and their digram
sorry I cant remember how it works but the courts and insuarnce companys read them the same way
it's in the vehicle assingment of letters like, vehicle A and vehicle B
just cant remember which one is the "at fault vehicle"
they can even write "no fault" on the report and that dont matter
it's deteremend by vehicle assignment

Bop Bop

Pltcgm,

Before you switch make sure the types of coverages you need for your home/auto are also there. In addition as coverages vary from state to state make sure what I have in AZ is the same thing you will get in TN.

DMax

Generally PIP is only applicable for bicyclists if you are involved in a loss with a motor vehicle. Slamming into a tree by yourself would not do it. Better to rely on health insurance for bicycling injuries.

Liability coverage - about the amount of damage you can cause with a bicycle... your exposure goes way beyond scratching someone's Lincoln. If you CAUSE an accident by your ACTIONS, you can be held liable for ALL damages - property and medical. Consider you do something like run a red light, strike a vehicle causing the driver to swerve, in turn causing them to collide with another vehicle, ending up with two totalled cars and a couple bodily injuries. Cars cost how much these days? Injuries can be anything from soreness to death - and can get pretty expensive pretty quick. Bicyclists can and do cause accidents.

One of the things that liability insurance does for you is DEFEND your case against claims. In other words, if you don't think you are at fault, and your insurance company agrees, they will fight for you in court. If you have no insurance, guess what? You pay for your own defense. Even if you win you are out possibly thousands of dollars. If your insurance company thinks you probably are at fault they will usually pay the claim, protecting your financial interests, which is what insurance is actually for - limiting your financial risk.

By the way, scratching a Navigator costs more than you probably think, and most Navigator owners tend to be pretty picky about them - that's why they drive them with the shiny wheels and other junk. And god don't ever damage a Dodge Viper's hood. Unless you want to buy a $10,000 hood that is.

Police do not determine liability. What a cop says on his or her report may affect the outcome of the claim, it may not. Liability is determined by claims adjusters and in some cases juries. The cop is essentially a witness; a very powerful witness but a witness just the same. And usually they didn't witness the actual event anyway but they are just documenting the facts at the scene. By the way, many accident reports are filed with no citations issued.

Bop Bop

DMax,

You have hit the nail on the head. What most people do not realize is that once you notify a carrier of a loss you have nothing to say about what happens past that point. If you read both your Home/Auto Policies you will find a clause in them giving up your rights to the carrier.

The carrier has the right to settle any case they want, for any amount up to the limit of there liability, whether you are at fault or not and without your consent. If the carrier deems it more efficent and less costly to settle a case, they not only can do it they will do it. If the end result is you get an increase due to a "chargeable incident", thats the price we pay for having the coverage.

randya

Whether or not to carry insurance is basically a matter of calculating risk v. benefits - it's a gamble that you take based on the potential risk of incurring a claim (how likely it is that you would need the coverage), and your exposure (i.e. what could someone get from you in a settlement if you didn't have insurance coverage).

When you buy an insurance policy, you're gambling (1) that there's a fair to good likelyhood that you will sustain a claim and that you will need the coverage and other support that the insurance company provides in the event of a claim, and (2) that you've got something to lose if a claim is filed against you in the absence of coverage, vs. the insurance company's bet that you won't file a claim or need the coverage and therefore that the premiums you are paying are simply profits for the insurance company.

While scenarios described by DMax are possible, I still don't think the probability of incurring a claim are anywhere near high enough to justify the purchase of a separate policy for your cycling activities, unless you are a real accident-prone cyclist or you've really got a lot to lose in the event of a claim.

Bottom line: If you're paranoid, buy an insurance policy; otherwise, just enjoy the ride!