[rail the trail]

I am considering a hitch mount bike rack. I value my bike more than my car so if I am rear ended am I screwed or will their insurance pay for the bike. Chances are the car will be fine, just the rack and bike are in the most danger. Thanks for any info.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

I didn't get as far as having a damaged bike, but my rack was toast when I got rear-ended by another motorist; my insurance company was fine with replacement (and took the old one in trade so to speak, so no spare parts bonanza), sounded like if my bike had been toast it also would have been no problem but fortunately the bike was unharmed (brand new build, too). The guy who hit me had also supplied invalid insurance info per my insurance company later on in the process. Your insurance policy is not necessarily the same...

 

[rail the trail]

Shouldn't the other guy's insurance have paid for the damages, assuming it was his fault?

 

[Deme Moore]

In theory. But like he said the moron who hit him provided invalid info ie no insurance.

Hopefully you have uninsured motorist to cover that. Which is a fancy way of saying you get billed twice for collision coverage on your car... LOL.

If you don't have collision a lot of insurance companies will ignore you anyways. They figure you have to sue them and that costs money/time. If you do have collision usually ins. companies figure it out amongst themselves.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

Ideally, he should have given me 400 on the spot to pay for the rack and no need for insurance at all but he wasn't offering nor was he on the up and up, and my insurance company didn't want to chase him personally for that amount I guess. His car didn't do too well, front bumper, grill and a headlight were kinda messed up, so he at least had to pay something...

One other time I got rear ended with the same rack with less force, no damage to anything of mine that I could see but it did punch her bumper back a bit with a nice square hole in it!

 

[Jayem]

Realize that with bikes on top, there's a damn good change they could get ripped off and damage the top of your vehicle and of course get damaged themselves. If a force is applied the acceleration of the bikes on top could easily exceed the max force the roof rack can take.

 

[rearviewmirror]

Just get a hitch rack. There are too many "what ifs" in life to worry. As someone pointed out, you can get just as much damage on a roof rack. If you bike is in your car, well maybe you'll roll it. Maybe you'll get hit by a car once on the road or riding from trail to trail. Jump the hurdle when you get to it. 9 out of 10 times in a rear end collision you're going to get paid, if they don't have insurance then your uninsured motorist should kick in.

 

[A1an]

Hopefully you have uninsured motorist to cover that. Which is a fancy way of saying you get billed twice for collision coverage on your car... LOL.

If you don't have collision a lot of insurance companies will ignore you anyways. They figure you have to sue them and that costs money/time. If you do have collision usually ins. companies figure it out amongst themselves.

Not all states offer Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage for Property Damage. Florida, for example, only has UM for injuries (so if the other guy is underinsured or has no BI, your policy kicks in). States like VA or GA offer UM for either PD or BI...but you have to elect those coverages and pay for them. If you don't pay for them, you don't get them.

Not sure about the last paragraph though. If you aren't at fault for an accident and don't have collision or UMPDon your policy, your insurance company won't fix your car. PERIOD. It doesn't matter if you threaten to dig up Johnny Cochran to go after them, they aren't going to give in and fix your car if you never purchased coverages to for your own vehicle. If you aren't at fault & don't have the coverages you can go after the at-fault carrier. If you are at fault and don't have Collision coverage...tough luck.

Unless you have some sort of baller auto policy, collision won't cover the hitch mount bike rack or the bikes attached to it. Best to give your insurer a call to see if they will cover this. You can purchase endorsements to cover vehicle accessories and I would imagine a bike carrier would be included under that endorsement, but I highly doubt the bike itself would be covered since it isn't a part of the car.