mcins

First off I'm not a Lawyer! I made this page to help others.

What you should know about Florida M/C Insurance, Before it's too late, it can also help in other states as well.
PLEASE CHECK YOUR STATES LAWS

Get a disability policy, Short Term and Long Term. see note below

Carry as much as you can afford of un/under-insured motorist protection Stack it!

This is intended to protect yourself, I have not mentioned anything about covering the "other" person if the accident is your fault!. (I'll touch that for a quick second) In Florida you are not required to have M/C insurance to register the M/C. Most people don't realize, if you are in a accident and it is your fault, and you have no liability, you will be charged with failure of Florida's financial responsibility law, and they can take your driving privilege away, I know sounds stupid where it's not required by law to have it on a M/C but it's true. Take a look at Chapter 324, Florida Statutes.

No people, all Lawyers are not just out to take your money, they can in fact save you from insurance companies, My lawyer has become a friend. (of course he rides a Panhead) I have asked advice from him about insurance, Only after it being too late did I learn most of this. One thing to remember do not believe everything your insurance rep. tells you, they represent the insurance company not you. They are there to make the insurance companies and themselves a profit, period!, (a quick note), use a reputable (major name) insurance company

Remember there are many motorists on the highways with very little or no insurance
First ask yourself what coverage you have, I hear allot of people say I have full coverage on my bike, I know I'm covered. Well not always true.

You do not have PIP on yourself, in Florida, (and other states) it is not available for any vehicle under four wheels. You probably do NOT have Medical payment coverage on your M/C policy, I actually had a argument with a friend of mine who thought he did, we had the same insurance carrier so I knew it was not available for M/C's through that carrier. You may not have UM on your MC policy either, (UM - UN-Insured or Under insured motorists protection), Make sure your UM policy covers UN -insured and UNDER insured motorists, some policies are different. many places just because you have it on your car does not mean it automatically covers you on your motorcycle!. (be sure of your states laws)

Most people think U/M (under or un insured motorists coverage) is the answer to all their problems, (well it may be when the accident is NOT your fault).

It covers you when the other parties coverage is too low or non-existent, a very wise choice is to get UM stacked on all your vehicles at the minimum totaling probably 300k (300k is a low ball figure), the more the better just start asking around how much medical bills are now! it is real easy to rack up 200-300,000 dollars in medical these days. However anything is better than nothing so at least get some type of U/M.
Again, UM will not cover you if the accident is your fault, U/M will not cover the other person if it's your fault, It does not cover your vehicle, their vehicle or any property.
(some states offer UM for vehicle damage (Georgia is one that does, FL does not)

Remember some may think insurance coverage like this is too much money, HOWEVER there are ways to lower your premium and still have good coverage, like raising your deductible, a low deductible has a higher premium, a $250 deduct may sound good right now, but your premiums may be much cheaper with a $500 or $1000 deductible, and allow you to afford higher UM coverages, which is MUCH more important than having no UM or a lower deductible! you might even be able to add a short term and long term disability policy!. I ALWAYS price check different deductibles. Remember it is all about what you can afford to loose, can you afford to possibly loose 500/1000 dollars? and have much better UM and not loose 100,000 thousand dollars when you are injured loosing money from work ect ect?. look at it this way, how long out of work would it take to cost you much more than that? About anyone can afford a little higher deductible - remember you are only going to use the deductible if the accident is your fault or the other party has no insurance.

Remember your insurance companies have the right to regain all their losses off the top of any law suit, My Health insurance has a lien against our law suit, if we win it they get paid first! (sometimes your lawyer may be able to negotiate this a bit lower)

So make sure your insurance coverage is HIGH so you may be actually able to get some cash in your pocket for sitting in bed losing wages for a year (or longer as in my case) (see disability policy note below)
Many of you think you have Medical payment coverage on yourself, well maybe you do, But I bet it's not on your M/C policy, Please check it out, your automobile (four wheel) policy will not cover you on your motorcycle (Yes I found this out the Hard way) (in some cases maybe your UM will ASK a lawyer)

If you have Health insurance it may or may not cover you, ASK a Lawyer to be sure!, Show them your binder! Many health insurance companies have disclaimers exempting hazardous sports, again get your binder out and read every word. When you start getting bills in excess of 6 digits you start getting very sick.

Disability policy

Get a disability policy! Short Term and Long Term, make sure it's at least 70% (just my opinion) of your current pay (you can always trim down some but not allot), Make sure you have short term and long term disability insurance, Do not rely on S.S. It takes years to collect from them and only if you are completely disabled.
MAKE sure your disability policy will cover you on your M/C, if you have any doubt ask a lawyer for advice after showing him your binder, I'm sure you know one or know of one that will take a few moments to help out, if not make an appointment with one it will be the best lawyer fee you ever paid. It's too late for me to get Disability insurance now, but my SO (who also rides) has it.
We lost the larger of our two incomes. (thank god my wife worked) But still believe me it did not take but a short couple of month's to be broke, creditors calling constantly.

Please for your own good make sure you get a disability policy, It Can happen to YOU!
Believe me when I say it hurts when you tell your kids they can't go somewhere with the school or friends because you couldn't afford it.
If I had known what I do today we would not have had all those problems, Did you know Bad credit goes against you when trying to buy AUTO and Home Owners insurance? Well it does. and yes even if you have been hurt in a accident and can't pay your bills, filing bankruptcy may be a option for you, I should have done that myself.

So folks Go Check your policies, ask advice from a personal injury lawyer in your area (state anyway). Tell your insurance agent what you want after speaking to a lawyer and being informed. Do not let him tell you what you "need", advice is one thing, but double check everything, in Ga. I was told that UM on the motorcycles was not stackable by the ins. carrier, but a lawyer said yes it is stacked, just like the auto policy. So I double checked with the state insurance commissioner. (btw it is in Ga.) do the mat, will raising your deductible allow you to raise your UM? - (it did for us a whole bunch with 7 vehicles insured) At the very least judge your insurance needs by your income, worth and monthly expenses, I don't care how much you make you need good coverage for medical bills, loss wages.

I know I rambled here but I feel very strongly about this, check into your policies before it's too late, Again I say, ask advice from a reputable personal injury lawyer in your area.

Disclaimer: (I hate these things) but I've had some comments here so..... here it is. I am not a lawyer or a insurance salesman, nor do I know all the laws,
Ask a Lawyer for professional advice!, Check for you states Insurance laws, make sure you know the difference between auto and motorcycle insurance laws, they vary allot!

Never completely rely on your insurance agent. When getting insurance at least be educated in what you are buying, a little research could save you in the end!, there are some really good insurance salesmen out there that want you to have proper coverage, many folks get tons of liability and never cover them self! PLEASE get good advice in your state about Motorcycle insurance and Disability payment coverage.

This is only for Georgia at this time - but a state law is going into effect on UM coverage changes Jan, 2009

We now have UE along with UM UE being extended coverage (which costs you more)pay attention to your policies, read them and price them out

So basically said there is now standard um like we currently have in Georgia and UE Say you have 50/100/25 UM I actually lowered my property UM to 25 (the last number) because none of my bikes are worth more than 25k and you can not collect more than they are worth and it saved me money anyhow 50/100/25 um protects you to 50k for under or un-insured motorists like we all know (if you don't you haven't been here long) the numbers work like this the at fault driver has 25k liability their ins pays up to that 25k liability limit , your 50k um will cover up to 50k UM limit, but only pays 25k the difference between your UM and their liability - if they had no ins coverage your UM would pay up to your 50k limit (which is great as we know and how it should be) now we in GA. have a new option UE un/underinsured Extended coverage which works like this at fault driver has 25k liability, you have opted for the UE at your same level of 50k you can now collect up to 75k between BOTH policies the at fault drivers policy pays their limit of 25k and now your _UE_ pays to your max of 50k. get it? BE warned! and check those prices!! my policy would had gone up 41 dollars ever 6 month for the UE over the UM at my current limits lets still use 50/100/25 um as a example ok in order for you to have 50k of um you MUST carry 50k in liability coverage, you cannot buy UM for more than you are willing to buy liability coverage for (one of my pet peeves) anyhow raising your UM to UE ONLY gives you a little more coverage IF the other party does not have coverage to your new UE limit as exampled BUT being the brainiac I am with insurance, I priced checked higher liability coverage to raise my UM along with it and found it was about 4 dollars every six months LESS to raise all my liability policies (lets just say now I have 100/300/25) and it cost me LESS than it would had to get UE I now can collect 100k UM regardless of what the other driver has raising my limit to 100k so say the at fault only had 25k liability I can now collect that 25k plus my collect on UM up to my limit of 100k make sense? what it is doing is giving me 25k MORE Than I can get max from the UE policy for less money than adding the UE by raising me liability protecting others from me a little bit better and at the same time protecting me from others far better! keep in mind in Georgia all you insurance policies if with the same company are stacked, (we have 6 vehicles) unli9ke in FLORIDA where you actually have to add stacked UM

Do not distribute without MY express written permission and proper credit given to the author