Friday, November 20, 2009

What a f'ed up day. After spending way too much time on the phone with ins. agents here's what I'm looking at, the bike is totaled. Official estimate= $7758. State Farms value of the bike= $7500. By Kansas law if the damages exceeded 75% of the value of the vehicle or if there's a safety issue the vehicle is totaled. Well, we exceeded the 75% . There's a couple other things that the ins. co. must pay me for, taxes and registration, bringing the grand total that they'll give me $7993.

Option 1- Buy it back and fix it myself. Buying it back will cost me $2000, leaving me with $5993 to fix it up. There are 2 things that bother me about that option, there's a very good chance the frame is tweaked, there is spot on the frame on the left down tube that took some of the impact and bent the left front engine mount. There's also a chance that the input shaft from the shifter is bent, the left foot peg mount and shift lever are bent to hell. If there's any internal damage to the tranny then that'll eat up a chunk of the 5993. Other considerations are that once totaled it must be re-registered with a salvaged title and in order to do that it must be inspected by the Kansas Highway Patrol. While this may or may not work to my advantage, I'm not real comfortable with the cons or continuing payments on something I'm not sure of.

Option 2- Pay off the bank and put the remainder as a down payment on another Mean Streak. The dealer has an '08, red, 800 miles, pipes(V&H I think)hypercharger, aftermarket grips, vista-cruise, sissy bar, windshield(not sure what kind) for $7500. I haven't even seen it yet, but I ran the numbers by my banker and she said she'd do it.

Option 3- Pay off the bank, save what's left, add to it over the winter and have a good chunk of change for a Mean Streak come spring. It also saves me from having payments for a few months. I can feel fortunate in the fact that I still have my VN900 I can ride on the few nice days we'll have between now and spring.Right now those are my options, I haven't committed to anything, more options may present themselves. I also have a few more calls to make.

I'm beyond pissed right now, words can't begin to describe it. You work hard, put a lot of time, effort, money, and yourself into something and to have it taken from you in an instant and get screwed. The ins. industry is the largest unregulated scam in America(like we didn't know that already). They told me on the phone, "We just want to get you back to where you were before the accident" EXCUSE ME? WTF kind of statement is that? I told them then find me a bike exactly like mine or repair mine to what it was before your client hit me. Response=We wish we could but we can only give you fair market value, blah, blah, blah. The conversation went back and forth for 45 minutes. I stayed calm, didn't yell or cuss, but heatedly debated everything. Finally, when she couldn't answer my questions she basically said that by law they're only required to go so far and that's all the farther they're going.

Sorry for the rant, but I just had to vent. I've been down before, but never in this situation and had never had to deal with ins. like this, talk about an eye-opener.

7 comments:

Rob said...

It sounds like you have your options planned out well. I am thinking of buying a new ride myself and planned on waiting till March10. I figure I will save the best I can till then. Were you hurt in that crash? If so have you asked about a Bodily Injury Claim? Either way good luck and I see a new cycle in your future.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about what happened. Glad to hear you came out OK. Those pictures said a lot. You may still come out ahead buying the bike back fixing it and selling it yourself or trading it in. You will end up with something better, patience..

Ride on,
Torch

MeanStreak said...

Rob, other than bruises and extremely sore muscles I wasn't hurt in the crash. I've had several adjustments by my chiropractor, but that's about it. By law, in Kansas, her insurance doesn't have to pay anything until medical costs exceed $2000. I'm not there yet, but I'm keeping records of everything.

Torch, I'm not real comfortable with the possible frame and tranny damage. I love that bike, but it has to be safe and reliable, there's question marks on those issues. Like you said, patience, I'm a very patient person.

Thank you both for your positive thoughts, it's greatly appreciated!

Rob said...

I hate even bringing this up b/c I dislike ambulance chasers and am not litigious at all but did you ask the Claim Rep about a monetary award for pain and suffering? Some states do not allow this but others do. It sounds like her insurance company took full liability for the loss so you may be entitled given she is liable. Again just trying to give a fellow enthusiast some advice and maybe its not worth it but if you had some pain associated with the accident then maybe its worth the question. GOOD LUCK>>>

Mr. Motorcycle said...

Sorry to hear about your crash, and glad you are O.K.

As for the bike, You got exactly what your policy pays for. Read it, understand it, and ask questions if you don't.

Unfortunately you are assuming that the insurance company owes you replacement cost value on your bike, but you actually only have an actual cash value policy. You are getting compensation for exactly what you paid for. The only way you aren't, is if they undervalued your bike as is, prior to the loss.

I do take it personally when people slam insurance companies like they are villians, when what they are saying is based on lack of education on the subject matter.

Sorry for the rant.

MeanStreak said...

Sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree, but, IMHO, the insurance industry is a scam. If you take it personally, oh well, I'll not apologize for my opinion. You're right I didn't read the fine print, my mistake. Kind of hard to read her policy though, considering she was at fault and her insurance accepted full liabilty, so reading my policy would have no bearing with this incident. However, I will be reading my policy. This was indeed an eye-opener.

Steve Johnson said...

Go with option 2, but ask the old lady to kick in a couple grand to help you get another motorcycle. Tell her that her insurance company is screwing you over, and you just want to get back on the road. You never know, she may be feeling very sorry about it.