Motorcycle Insurance Checklist

Motorcycle Insurance Checklist

1. Bodily injury liability – New York State requires minimum liability coverage of $25,000 to protect people you injure because of your negligence.

Increasing the NYS minimum liability coverage has several benefits, including assurance of continued free legal representation in the event you are sued.

Most importantly, I strongly recommend increasing this coverage as much as possible so that you can increase your Uninsured/Underinsured coverage.

2. Uninsured/Underinsured motorists coverage – This is the most important coverage of your motorcycle insurance policy, which you can buy.

Uninsured and underinsured coverage will protect you by reimbursing you for pain and suffering, the value of your injury, in the event that you are injured in a motorcycle accident by someone else who negligently caused your injuries and who had less liability insurance than you.

In other words, if you have a $300,000 liability insurance policy and the other vehicle which struck you had any amount of liability insurance less than $300,000, your underinsured endorsement option will pay you the difference.

As an example, if the other vehicle had $25,000 liability coverage and you suffered the typical type of injury, which we see in most motorcycle accidents, the insurance company for the other vehicle will pay you $25,000, and your underinsured endorsement option will pay you an additional $275,000.

Use our uninsured/underinsured calculator to find out how much uninsured/underinsured coverage you should buy.

3. Property damage liability – This will reimburse other parties for property damage you have caused because of your negligence. This can include another vehicle you damage or other items, even a storefront you accidentally drive into.

4. No-fault or Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – No-Fault or PIP is not available to New York motorcyclists or passengers of a motorcycle. However, No-Fault is available to a pedestrian that is struck by your motorcycle.

5. Medical payments – This is available to motorcyclists and passengers of a motorcycle to help pay for medical bills, but is usually only available with relatively low limits. This is extremely inexpensive, and I strongly recommend taking the maximum coverage available.

6. Collision – This coverage will reimburse you for damage caused to your motorcycle, whether or not you are at fault.

7. Comprehensive – This coverage will reimburse you for the damage or loss of your motorcycle in the event of fire or theft.

Disability Insurance

Should you have disability insurance in case you’re injured in a motorcycle accident?

We don’t think losing a leg is as simple as “it’s just a step into opportunity,” as the motorcyclist in the Mutual of Omaha video below says, but we agree that it’s a good idea to have disability insurance if you earn money and ride a motorcycle. It’s also another good reason to have uninsured and underinsured coverage.