Fribley

Well, another joins up.
About two-three weeks ago I was sitting on my couch watching TV, it was a beautiful day outside. I decided that I wanted to do something, so I figured I would ride a bike, which meant that I would have to buy a bike to ride. So i did what i always did when i was younger and went to Walmart looked around a bit, i had always heard that bikes from walmart were crap but i figured they meant the huffy/roadmaster's. I figured buying a $210 mongoose would be decent for the purpose's that i wanted it for. WRONG!!! terrible terrible idea. I got 30 minutes of riding in with 15 minutes of that putting the chain back on the gears, a noisy terrible ride and basicly just complete crap. Luckily i was able to get Walmart to take it back. I decided i wanted a decent bike and starting looking online as there is no LBS in my town. Did some research, (lurked around on here unregistered for a week or so) and decided that a Trek hybrid would be ideal for my purposes. Found a dealer in a town about an hour away and dropped close to $400 on a Trek 7100 Friday (about the max i could afford i really wanted the 7.2FX). I was busy all weekend with family and golf and yard work that i didnt get a chance to ride til today when i made about a 1.5 mile commute to work, and i loved it. Haveing a decent bike definitely makes it soo much more enjoyable then what i remembered of bike riding before. I was actually a little disappointed when i got to work that i couldnt keep riding. I plan on doing alot of riding and am even thinking about possibly dropping the insurance on my car for the next few months and going car free. This will hopefully help me lose a little weight as being 21 and 275 at 5'9" is a little heavy. I am really looking forward to getting into this.

Tom Stormcrowe

Welcome to the addiction

c_m_shooter

I bet you can find a longer way home.

Mazama

Welcome aboard.

Neil_B

If you enjoyed commuting on your bike, you might want to start using it for other errands as well; trips to get groceries, going to the barber, returning a book to the library, picking up a DVD, etc. It's a good way to build up your mileage and your confidence.

Oh, and welcome to Clydesdale/Athena!

jobuddha

FWIW, if you decide to go car free - don't drop the insurance on your car. Most insurance companies have an "out of use" policy (or something along those lines). It basically means your car will be parked and not driven, but is still covered in the event of theft or vanadlism. Did this with one of my cars a few years ago and it cost about $100 a year for the coverage.

Air

Welcome!!

AirBeagle1

Howdy Fribley!

noteon 

Yeah, with some bridges!

st0ut

The 7100 is a great bike. I was bumming my wifes 7100 WSD while i was getting my replacement bike.

it's faster and more manuverable then it looks. i could even go areo on it for a bit by standing on the pedles, moving my butt off the seat and placing my belly on the seat. I got my replacement bike after my wife saw me jumping her bike off a 6 in curb. from a wooded trail to the pavment..

So to say the the 7100 is JUST a comfort hybrid is true only if you use it as one.

Wogster

If your insurance company doesn't, then pull the collision and liability, but leave the comprehensive coverage on, this is basically the same thing.

WalterMitty

This is good advice. I've got one vehicle on a "low mileage" policy that restricts me to <7500 miles a year. It sits in the garage and I use it when I need it (It's a Z71). It saves a bunch of money and you'd be surprised how few miles you can use once you break the habit.

You'll want to really dig in to the details of the coverage you have and what you get for it. In the states I have lived, "Uninsured Motorist" is one of the biggest rackets in the business. All UIM pays for are medical expenses for passengers of my vehicle if we are struck by an unisured motorist; and it only pays *after* any other applicable medical coverage has been exhausted.

Did you follow that? It doesn't fix your car or property, it won't pay your medical bills if you are covered somewhere else (like at work) and it only kicks in if the other party isn't insured and the crash is their fault. I haven't had anyone in one of my vehicles that isn't covered by health insurance in one form or another for, ever(?), and virtually all of the basic policies cover things that are my fault. So what are the chances?

Many Insurance Agents aren't very forthcoming about what is, and what is not worth having. It is very worthwhile to schedule an afternoon with your agent, go line-by-line down your policy and see what you've got and what it's worth. Then choose accordingly.

Tom Stormcrowe

What stinks is the fact that in Indiana, we have mandatory insurance and it includes mandatory uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage......what's the point?

zoste

I'm not at all familiar with Oklahoma or Indiana...the laws or the driving patterns...but in and around Philadelphia, very nearly half the cars on the road have no insurance. That's right, HALF. If one of those driver's runs a red light, or a stop sign and injures you, you have no source of recovery for your injuries unless you have purchased uninsured motorists coverage. It is coverage for "pain and suffering" and has nothing to do with medical payments whatsoever (in Pennsylvania).

Here's another scenario - you're on your bike when some driver runs you off the road and the driver keeps on going. As the victim of a hit and run, you might be able to get your medical bills paid by your automobile insurance or your health coverage, but you recover nothing else (no recovery for your injuries) unless you have purchased uninsured motorist coverage.

THAT, my friend, is "the point". The law (in most jurisdictions) requires you to protect other people if you behave in a negligent manner. Why would you not protect yourself from other people's negligent conduct?

Please don't be too quick to drop ANY insurance coverage until you know exactly what it is you are dropping.

Tom Stormcrowe

Alright, although I wasn't arguing with the need, just that since there is a mandatory insurance, why not just package it all up in a comprehensive policy and not make you purchase a secondary policy. That way, if you are hit by an insurance scofflaw, you're still covered.

I was more wondering what the point, beside additional profit to the insurance carriers, that is, to make them separate policies.

zoste

I can't imagine why they would be separate policies...in PA uninsured/undrinsured coverage is NOT mandatory, but if you purchase it it shows up as an additional line on your declaration page (and, of course, on your bill ). I do know that the insurance industry has a mighty powerful lobby, and knows how to make obscene profits.

WalterMitty

Follow the advice given above to the letter.

Having said that, several and sundry insurance agents (and office help) presented (or let/led me to believe) UIM as providing coverage to me over the years that it did not. Just the name is misleading.

I would ask very specifically (in your individual home states) just what UIM covers. We have *serious* uninsured motorist problems here in OK, as well as mandatory insurance laws, but UIM covers none of the scenarios described. That is, not without lawsuits and other flaming hoops all on your dime.

As for the sales point of "protecting yourself from others", UIM is so narrow in scope and conditions that other insurance products give better coverage. Caveat Emptor.

zoste

UM = "uninsured motorist coverage"
UIM = "underinsured motorist coverage"

The first (UM) provides bodily injury protection (pain and suffering coverage) if you are hurt by the negligence of a driver who has no insurance.

UIM provides coverage if your pain and suffering exceed the defendant's coverage. An example of UIM: Pennsylvania requires automobile insurance, but the mandatory minimum coverage is only $15,000. If your injuries are more serious, that might not be enough to fully compensate you. Let's say you are injured so severely that you miss six months from work...$15,000 would not come close to full compensation, so you can collect on your underinsured coverage.

rollerdavem

Umm, if I could interrupt the insurance seminar... (j/k)

WELCOME Fribley!

Look, don't worry about giving up your car just yet, just ride every chance you get til your butt stops hurting.

Then look back and see how you did. You'll be in a better position to decide.

So glad to see you here, let us know how it goes.

RD

WalterMitty

This is pretty close to the details in OK. Other restrictions and limitations apply depending on how much liability insurance you carry. In the case of both the UM and UIM, if I also only carried the minimum coverage, my insurer only pays up to that amount; so it's the UIM (or 0 for the UM) + whatever my limits are = amount of coverage. If you carry fairly high limits you might get into decent coverage, but only if the crash is not your fault.

In my case a hard look at the policy details, limits and exemptions made sense to drop it. I am one of those guys that buys medical and disability insurance through my place of work. I buy the "Family Plan" type package so the rates are competitive.

So whether I fall off a ladder cleaning gutters or am involved in a crash that my auto insurance might cover (with or without a convoluted legal process) my family and I will be covered. So I decided my dollars spent for protection would give better value in an instrument that covered more of the things my family and I do, than the narrow classification of an at-fault UM/UIM up to the liability limits of my auto policy liability limits. I mean, the item looks cheap enough on your insurance bill, but that's because it doesn't pay out for all of the ways you may get hurt, and when it does it's only up to some relatively low limits.

I *sincerely* apologize for the thread hijack, but it came as a real shock to me to see what I was wasting on up to 4 vehicles for very limited coverage. That amount, plus not much more, covers my entire family for medical and long term disability and I'm covered no matter what I am doing.

Now, if your auto insurance is the only insurance you have for potential medical and disability coverage, by all means leave UM/UIM on; but you really need to evaluate your total risk and how you are managing that risk. My problem for many years is that I was *buying it all*.

(Struggling to get back on topic) If you're thinking about going "car-free" think about the protection you may still need as you venture out into the world. Many policies cover the driver (you) no matter what you drive, so if you drive a rental car or whatever that's a consideration.

Most importantly, go find an insurance agent you can trust and get the straight scoop for your zip code. I am not an Insurance Agent and I don't play one on the Internet so get professional help.

zoste

I would also like to apologize for the thread hijack and to welcome Frib...that being said...

That is called "gap" UIM coverage and I think that it should be illegal for insurance companies to sell gap UIM at minimum coverages because they NEVER have to pay - the other guy's insurance will always be at least as much as your minimum UIM. They are stealing the premium and I agree that you shouldn't carry gap UIM at minimum limits.

Pennsylvania has "excess" UIM coverage, so even if you carry minimum, your coverage is added on to the primary coverage.



Me neither...and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night


Excellent advice...

Insurance seminar concluded. Be sure to turn in your receipt in order to obtain continuing ed credits

ScrubJ

+1000

Wogster

What the law says, really doesn't matter, it's what your POLICY says, your policy should spell this out completely, about what is and isn't covered, in regards to an uninsured or under insured person being at fault, or anything else. In many cases you have different levels of coverage, where if the person at fault has no coverage, your own coverage kicks in. You need to read the policy, if it contains things you do not understand then schedule a visit with your agent or broker to go through it. Often UM or UIM type deals are legal minimums, and often the insurance companies have enhanced coverage if you don't like the legal minimum, of course the more you buy, the more you pay. You need to also compare the policy year over year, insurance companies like to change policy terms without pointing it out to you, that they changed it, but the wording in the policy will be different.

Now here in Ontario we have no fault (really all fault) insurance, if someone hits your car, you claim with your insurance company, which then deals with their insurance company. The real issue is that for most policies, you get one "free" claim, but on a second claim your rates go up, even if neither collision was technically your fault. This is why you see so many older cars with bashed in fenders and doors, the damage wasn't extensive, so the driver didn't bother putting it through the insurance, they either did nothing or had a shop deal with the internal damage, which they paid for out of pocket. It's a great scam, you sell someone a mandatory product, and then threaten them with sky high rates if they use that product, so they don't dare use it.

v1k1ng1001

Welcome!

talleymonster

Awesome Sig!!