Insurance deductible?

[2eighTZ4me]

My buddy's house burnt up Thurs. evening. My two bikes - an 04 Harley 883 Sportster and a 93 Yamaha FZR600, were both in the garage being stored over there. They're totaled. I had insurance on them. USAA is telling me I've got a $1000 deductible on the Harley and and a $500 deductible on the Yamaha. I'm sure they're going to be a total loss. I can't even find the front forks for the Harley, and the Yamaha is buried under the garage door that collapsed on top of it. I filed the claim Friday morning, but the fire dept. hasn't "released" the property until the investigation is complete.

 

I don't plan on replacing the bikes, I just want a check and to move on. Can someone explain to me what's in store for me next? I've never had to file a claim before (and I'm 45) so I don't know what to expect. Pretty sure some of you out there have had to deal with things like this. So, does that mean I have to shell out $1500 in order to get payment, or do they take $1500 off the top of what they would give me for outright value?

 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to take it up the wazoo from the insurance company anyways. The Harley was dead mint with only 5000 miles on it and over $2000 of additional chrome accessories, while the Yamaha was a one-of-a-kind showroom custom with all kinds of go-fast goodies and a custom hand paint job. I've researched book value, and I know to stand firm on what they're worth, but I'm a newbie to this and don't know how the process works. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Matt K]

They'll give you book value...Minus your deductible. FYI, Comprehensive coverage is the CHEAPEST of all. You save maybe $10-20 every 6 months by having your deductible so high. I keep a $0 deductible on my Comprehensive for all my cars, and $150 collision. The difference for me was an increase of only $60 every 6 months over $500 deductible comprehensive & $1000 collision. Comprehensive will cover fire, theft, vandalism, acts of God, windshields, etc.

[cockerstar]

Do you have documentation of everything that was done to each bike?

[2eighTZ4me]

Yeah - no - no documentation. The bikes were bought off folks that "went all in" like we do with our beloved Z's - at a discount, yet still near market value at the time, PLUS extra $$$ for the "goodies" that were on the bikes. Matt - thank you for the input. I think I have comprehensive on the Harley, but just liability on the Yamaha. I'm going to call USAA tomorrow and get some more details. I just want to be armed with information and know what questions to ask when I DO call them.

[kiwi303]

Hmm, wouldn't you be covered under your buddies house coverage as goods in his house at the time of the fire? The House&Contents coverage insurance company should give him a payout including book value of vehicles stored in the house in an attached garage and he passes on to you the book value of the bikes...

 

That's how things would work here, through I would be surprised if US and NZ insurance is identical, it should be broadly similar.

[Xnke]

It would usually be covered in his homeowners policy, but if it's not:

 

USAA will give you book value minus deductable on the harley, if you have comprehensive coverage.

 

You will get nothing for the yamaha if you only have liability coverage. Nothin'.

 

I have USAA on my Z, and my agent down there in texas actually drives a '75 280Z. They play fair but if you're not covered, then you're not covered.

[kiwi303]

on a side not not directly related to the bikes, when it comes to comprehensive coverage there are usually 3 options depending on relevant local laws and insurance markets: Replacement, Book Value, and Agreed Value.

 

Simply put if it is totaled, under Replacement the insurance company is required to deliver to you a replacement car of similar make/model/condition as the written off vehicle, OR provide sufficient cash to purchase an equivalent vehicle, less deduction of course. if delivering a car (unusual unless dealing with a large car yard where the sales yard, finance company and insurance comapnies are all subsections of a larger holding company) they will usually bill you the excess. This requires proving what value the vehicle was at the time of loss, was it modified with lots of high value items, was it a rusty banger that was one inspction from being banned from the road by the traffic cops? All that makes for a fight with the insurance company at times as they don't want to pay top dollar if they can get away with lowballing.

 

Totaled under Book Value, the assesor just determines if it was in poor, average or good condition before the totalling, and the insurance company just looks the car up in the book and hands over the cash minus the deduction. Simple and easy but you better have a stock car as modifying them won't change the payout.

 

With both the above the value of the car, and hence the payout drops over the years as your car ages, however in my experience the insurance company doesn't drop the policy charges as the payout value declines! Their profit margain just gets bigger.

 

Agreed value is by far the simplest. This is what I use, if the vehicle is written off the assessor just states it is totalled and the insurance company ponies up the agreed sum, less deductions...

 

 

 

 

 

I bought my van for $8,000 in 2005, and insured it for an agreed value of 8,000 with an excess/deduction of $750... over the years the value of the van has dropped, equivalent models with far less miles on the clock are now selling for around $2,500. If it was totalled now I would receive $7,250, while my policy premium payments are within a few dollars a month of those of my peers who took out a replacement value policy which would now only pay out $2,500 less deduction/excess.

 

Agreed Value has a lot of advantages in my opinion.

[mutantZ]

Not sure if there will be a difference in how the insurance company works in your state, but when I had my motorcycle stolen they determined the value based on replacement cost. They said they checked 3 venues (whatever that means) to find a comparable machine to determine what the market replacement value was. Luckily in LA everything is way overpriced so they paid me out above blue book, also my bike was not quite 2 years old so they prob checked in with the dealers. Depending on the year of your bike and the demand in the area you are in, you may be able to recover enough to replace the bikes. Good luck with your claim.

[Tony D]

I haven't seen anybody mention it yet, but you should be able to go against the insurance on your friend's claim for the additional $1500 of your deductible.