Submitted by Kelly Law on
Everywhere I turn, I hear and see these motorcycle insurance companies selling minimum insurance coverage and telling people to save money, stay legal for less, save time and money shopping online for insurance, etc. When you’re on a tight budget, it may seem like a good idea to save money by carrying a basic policy on your motorcycle, but as a motorcylce personal injury lawyer who has handled hundreds of motorcycle injury cases all around Chicagoland and Indiana, I can tell you it’s not enough to carry the state minumum insurance coverage.
As motorcycle injury attorneys, we recommend riders carry additional coverage to protect themselves. When an injured rider factors in lost wages, rehabilitation, and pain and suffering, a state minimum policy is generally not enough. For example, if you break a leg or arm, require surgery, and are off work for twelve weeks, the state minimum limit is not going to be enough to help you. But, if you have $250,000 in underinsured coverage or a $1 million dollar umbrella policy, you will be much better off. Or imagine even worse, the driver who hits you has no insurance and you only have state required liability insurance, then you get nothing; zero, unless you have uninsured coverage. And if your uninsured coverage is only $25,000, that is all you get.
So, again, you can be drowning in debt and struggling to pay your monthly bills. We recommend an underinsured motorist policy and umbrella policy that increases your coverages and an uninsured insurance policy to protect you against drivers who drive with no insurance. You may be thinking that in these tough economic times, it makes more sense to cut these extra costs, but if you are thinking it, what do you think others are thinking? There are more and more uninsured cars out there because of the bad economy and plenty of drivers who have bad driving records or are repeat drunk drivers who often can’t get anything other than state minimum coverage and they are the ones causing the most accidents.
You are the one on the motorcycle, you are the one at risk. The guy in the 3,000 pound car or fifteen ton semi-truck doesn’t have to worry as much as a motorcycle rider. If you are a motorcycle rider cruising the roads in Indianapolis, Chicago or anywhere in bewtween (Joliet, Elkhart, Ft. Wayne, South Bend, Muncie, Aurora, Cook County, St. Joseph County, Lake County, Will County, or anywhere else), you need to protect yourself with the highest insurance limits you can afford. Don’t think just because you have “full coverage” that you are protected. You need to be the one to carry the highest limits possible on your motorcycle. If you don’t, the results could be disastrous. If you have questions about motorcycle insurance claims or motorcycle injury cases or motorcycle accident law, give the motorcycle injury lawyers at Kelly Law Offices a call. We will even represent your for the property damage to your motorcycle for free.
