MI's no fault law sucks. I can't stand it. But you can pay no deductible if the other person was at fault on broad form or if you file a tort in stardard collision. In most cases, your insurance company goes after them for the deductible.

 

question. i am new to the insurance thing. but what are you talking about? the only thing i know of is what my superiors told me with what happened to his busa about a month ago. from what i remember him telling me is that they offer him 6k for them to take it or 7k for him to keep it and fix it on his own. or the other way around but i think the numbers are right. i think i wont get that much but if it works out like that i would prolly keep it. anything over 4k, which is what i have invested in the bike, i will be making a profit.

am i wrong or anymore input?

 

I had some bonehead rearend me quite a few years ago. The insurance offered me way less than what I could replace the bike for. I forget the numbers but say the average asking price for that bikewas $5500...... they were saying they'd only give me $4000. This was before the internet but I found every ad (newspaper, trader magazines etc) that I could for bikes that matched mine. I showed them the ads and proved I could not replace the bike for what they were offering. Like anything else listed for sale, some sellers were asking ridiculously high prices which helped to bump up my average. They agreed to average all of the ads and give me that price. Like I said, I don't recall the exact numbers but I ended up with more than enough to go out and replace the bike that day without having to seek out a deal. This is something to consider if they try to lowball you on your bike's value.

As far as buyback, it's exactly as you said. If they determine your bike to be worth $5000 you can either hand over the bike and title and take a check for 5 grand or keep the bike and take a check for something like 4 grand. That will all depend on how the insurance company determines salvage value. I've had friends get perfectly good bikes back with very minor damagefor $500 and I've had friend's who's insurance company wanted 2 grand for bikes that looked as if they'd been hit by a train.

The fact that you have your bike in your possession works in your favor. The insurance company may not work too hard to get it from you,they might just let you keep it for next to nothing. Sometimes, it's different when the bike ends up in a tow yard. This is because the insurance company will (sometimes)pay the bill to get it out to avoid storage charges then send it to a salvage auction. At this point, they see the bike as property that they have money invested in and will just as soon let it go to auction as let you have it back. It's entirely possible that you could get $5000 or maybe even more and still get to keep your bike. It's all in how you handle things with the other driver's insurance company.

 

Oh yea, Michigans insurance laws suck. Bassically, with liability, it covers some medical expenses (i think) and will pay the other motorists deductible if you cause the accident, but will not pay anything toward your costs, that's why it's liability only, nothing to fix your damages.
I had a guy side swipe my truck while it was parked, never found out who did it and I had full coverage, with a $500 collision deductible & $200 comprehensive. They said, even though it was parked and I wasn't in it, or even around, it was still hit by another vehicle so it was collision, $500 deductible and since neither myself, or the cops, or the insurance found out who did it, I had to pay the first $500 of the repairs to cover the deductible.
Another time, some punk *** kids stole the ground effects off the front bumper, that was charged up as vandilism, comprehensive, $200 deductible, I still had to pay the $200. Nothing for free

 

I was riding my trusty thumper two years ago when some taxi driving lowlife turned into my path via a "stop" sign. I went in hard (it was raining) and busted up my bike and when I came round I wanted to slap this guy about. Except I couldnt move..

I was bruised from head to toe and suffered a few broken bones, so it was a ride in a white van for me straight to the hospital..

I worked for several insurance companies as an accident investigator (ironically I was off to the scene of a carcrash) and knew the cop who handed the case quite well. It got interesting as the Traffic Cops handed the case to the techincal police because of my injuries. The taxi driver was comprehensively insured, and had an eyewitness (his passenger) who testified that I was a lunatic..

Several trips to the court for sworn statements had me totally discredit the eyewitness. After interigation the best she could come up with was "I dont remember.." and the fact she was the drivers girlfriend helped some too.

The guys lawyer asked for a reconstruction, and failed to show up, and last month the Judge was going to make a decision. It is now a criminal case as the guy failed on two occasions to show up in court. All he had to do was be honest, admit his guilt and the insurance would pay.

Now the retared SOB has a warrant for his arrest, where he will do hard time for reckless endangerment of life and failing to go to court. Sadly for me his insurance company pleaded that they have no knowledge of him, and another trip to court had them in court, which resulted in a whoops, our bad, seems he is insured.....

They still wont pay out until the Judge makes a conviction, which wont be until they catch and arrest this guy..

I dont even have liability insurance on any of my bikes, as there is no legal reason to do so, and the insurance companies dont help. I tried to insure the blade comprehensively, but was told that even to get liability I would have to have a existing policy with a car or house. And I worked for these guys..

This guy in your case is 100% guilty.. Even if you were doing 100mph drinking a late talking on a cellphone you have the right of passage, and its his responsibility to not pull in front of you and cause an accident. Maybe you could have stopped. But you dont have to. Trust me if you were in a cement truck he would have seen you and waited...

CJ

 

lol thats funny i like that.

glad to hear you made it out of yours ok

 

2questions.

1.What to say and what not to say to the insurance adjuster for the other company?

2. can i try to do a little bit of work on the bike to see if the engine seized or just leave it alone?

 

Just be careful what you say. Don't say anything like "maybe I could've stopped if....." Just be very adamant that you were riding safely andthe guy pulled out way too close to give you ANY time at all to do anything about it. Do not let them push you around and get you to twist your words. Be polite and answer their questions but if they ask you the same thing a few times just tell them that you've already answered that question.

This is the worst case scenario. Don't get too worried yet. They may just pay you with no hassle at all. Just be prepared in case they try to blame you for some reason. Also, as I said in an earlier post, write every detail down and have it notarized. (most banks have a Notary) this will prove the date you wrote it. That way if they start hassling you 6 months from now they can't catch you saying "I don't remember."

You can work on it. It's yours until they pay youfor it but I'd get an estimate or two before you touch it.

 

IFthey want to total it and take it can i start taking apart the front fender to see what i can salvage to see if i want to keep the bike?

 

I'd get estimates before you do anything. Otherwise, the insurance company might claim that you added to the damage claim after the accident.