Dealing with Insurance on a Claim!!

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viperblue1

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May 14, 2004
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Just wondering if anyone has had the unfortunate experience of dealing wth the insurance man when it comes to totaling a sled.. I hit a hidden culvert in Ironwood, MI on Friday and I think they are going to total my VIPER??? The question I have is ... has anyone bought their Viper Back from the Insurance Company.. And if so? How much did you have to pay for it! I just want all the information I can get when I deal with the insurance company, because I know that they will try to scew me some how!!!

It is a 2002 Blue Viper with electric start and reverse... :o|
 
Totaled a few sleds in my day. Alot depends on the company....Some are great, some suck real bad. Rule number one......add on parts mean nothing! Buy-back varies ALOT. You should be able to buy it for around 900-1200 but there are some companies now that have realized they can resell them for crazy amounts at on-line auctions. 2000-3000 is what late model wrecked sleds are going for. personally, If it was me (re-read first sentence ;) , I wouldnt make the claim, Its not worth it in the long run. I'm sure everything is destroied on that side of the sled and the tunnle might be slightly bent but you can buy all of those front end parts used for less then 500.00 Then straighten the tunnle and ride it. I still have insurance on my sleds, but I'm only going to make a claim if they get stolen. just my .02 ===SRXSRULE===
 
why does everyone assume they'll get screwed? i work for a large insurance company, in auto claims. do your research online at nada.com, kelly blue book, in the local paper, even ebay. have some good solid numbers for the adjuster as he is settling the loss. that way if he is offering you way less than the current market you have examples to your point of wanting a higher settlement. when buying the sled back, you will pay anywhere from 25-50% of the vehicles value. in days gone buy you could buy the sleds back for 5-800 bux, but no more. the higher the value of the unit, the more you pay for buy back. remember it is a negotiation. if he isnt giving you what you want and your far apart, offer to give in half if he'll give half. meeting in the middle will usually settle a claim faster than arguing over 100.00 bux here or there. remember your add on accys (unless you have ins'd them for added value of the sled) ADD NO VALUE TO THE SLED. take them off return it to stock and sell or use it on the next sled. then you get more out of the sled. good luck, ski
 
Insurance

I totaled my 2000 SRX 2 years ago and ended up making out pretty well on the deal. I initially wanted to buy it back and fix it up but they wanted about $2000 for the sled to buy it back and I was going to get $4500 for the claim. Whack off the $500 deductable and I was left with $2000 to play with. Mine was really bad and I figured I'd end up about break at best even if I fixed it back up myself. I ended up just taking the money and buying a piped Viper. SRXRULE is right though, add on parts mean nothing so don't expect to get anything for them, but also remember to take them off and replace with the original parts if you take the money and dump the sled. I pulled my track, silencer, and a bunch of aftermarket parts before they picked mine up.
 
I had a sled totalled last two years ago; '02 Vmax 700. The damage was extemely basic and lite, a ding in the trailing arm and the right footwell was slightly dimpled upward. I managed to have an estimate that totalled the sled ($4800 to fix). The adjuster figured the sled was worth $5500, I bought it back for $3000 and pocketed $2300 ($200 deductable). I put around $200 into it and it looks brand new. Liberty Mutual was great. The claim was settle quickly, even with the mishap happening in Canada. My rates never changed and I was told by my agent they wouldn't. The only draw back is that sled is still a gem and I can't get full coverage on it. Even though I got to keep my title, I can't get full coverage with L. Mutual. I suppose if I were to switch companies, I could insure it fully again since I didn't have to apply for a salvaged title.

Anyway, I'd claim it. That's what you pay for. This is small potatoes compared to the damage caused annually by tornados, hurricanes, and other disasters.

Jon
 
Thank you to all that replied... I am taking the Viper to the dealer this AM and see what he comes up with for an estimate and go from their....
 
We have claimed a few times on sled insurance ... from our experience with Home Owners you have to pay for insurance, but don't ever plan to claim on it! We have 4 -5 sleds insured along with houses and cottage ... our insurance is outragous after 2 claims. We were also told if we claimed again we would be dropped.

On the other hand my boyfriend has Acuity and they were great with his two claims. Even the buy back option was good ... they paid him 4300 in 2003 for an 01 sled and he got to keep the sled. The sled only had minor damage to the trailing arm and a kinked footwell/tunnel. His agent is great, every thing was said and done with the claim with in a week.
 
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