Motorcycle Insurance Articles
Coverage Of Medical Expenses Under Motorcycle Insurance
2010-07-26
Insurance is a requirement in every state when operating a motor vehicle, and a motorcycle is no exception. In many respects, motorcycle insurance and automobile insurance are very similar, but they differ in some very important ways, impacting a motorcycle operator's motorcycle insurance quote.
If you have an accident in a car, and it's determined that you were at fault, your insurance liability provisions kick in, and the amount of coverage you have bought for property damage and for bodily injury is exercised. Whose bodily injury your policy pays for includes yours (the driver's), your passengers and anyone else you were responsible for injuring (the other driver or passengers, or pedestrians). If you are at fault while operating a motorcycle and you get involved in an accident, your personal injury provision applies only to the people (other driver, passengers in the other car, -pedestrians) you injured by your negligence. You are not covered, nor is any passenger you might have been carrying. Motorcycle insurance does not work the same way car insurance does, and it will serve the driver well to know the difference between the two.
The reason is clear: More than 80 percent of people who ride motorcycles and who were involved in a crash receive serious injuries. These include brain damage, lost limbs and spinal cord damage as well. These injuries require much health care, and extensive health care is expensive. Insurance companies want to insure clients who won't need to file a claim. If a motorcycle operator has very good health coverage for himself, then he can avoid having to buy additional coverage to insure him in case of an accident, but his coverage won't pay for any injuries a passenger might sustain that he was at fault for. Therefore, it would be foolish and dangerous not to have a rider covering passengers attached to his policy.
An important add-on to a motorcycle insurance policy is coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers. If another driver involves a motorcycle operator in an accident and does not have insurance, or doesn't have sufficient insurance to pay for all the biker's medical bills, the biker would be responsible for whatever medical expenses he incurred from the accident. Even if he had good medical coverage on his own, making claims on his policy could cause him to have to pay substantially more for premiums, or even be at risk for cancellation. If he carries uninsured/underinsured driver coverage, this risk can be avoided.
When shopping for a motorcycle insurance quote, making sufficient provision for medical coverage is an absolute must.