Why won’t the insurance pay for my Maine motorcycle accident?

If you’re experiencing problems with the insurance company after a motorcycle accident in Maine, you’re not alone.

Even if you are lucky enough to carry collision insurance, you may find that your own insurance company will give you the runaround and try to underpay for the damage to your bike or try to get you to take a low amount if your motorcycle has been totaled. Your company may give you a hassle about paying for your medical bills which they are supposed to do under the “med pay” provision of your insurance policy.

Although there are rare cases where a victim of a motorcycle accident can get a decent settlement without the help of an attorney, almost always the insurance company for the person who caused the accident will offer a settlement far below the fair value of the case and will also often delay and give the victim a hassle about medical records and other paperwork.

You want to get your property damage paid for right away, but you may find that the company representative will be dragging his feet and making it into a drawn-out process. When he finally does agree to pay for the damage to your motorcycle, if he does, he is apt to propose a number that is far below the amount required to replace the bike or to repair it to its pre-accident condition.

Then there is the matter of getting your medical bills taken care of. You know that the other party was at fault in the accident and that his insurance company is supposed to pay for your hospital and doctor bills, but the fact is that nearly always the company will refuse to pay any bills until there is a final settlement of the case. Sometimes the insurance company will agree to pay the bills and pay you a little bit more if you will sign off on your claim. This would be a big mistake, because 1) there may be future medical bills which you could then be personally liable for, and 2) your case is undoubtedly worth a great deal more than whatever the insurance company will offer you. You are entitled to be compensated for much more than only the medical bills. A fair settlement of your case will include not only the amount of your bills for hospitals, doctors and medications, but also for any time you missed from work and a reasonable amount for your pain and suffering and all of the disruption that the injury has caused in your life.


As experienced Maine motorcycle accident attorneys, we’ve dealt with uncooperative insurance companies many, many times, and we can help you to get a fair price for your property damage as well as to see to it that your own insurer reimburses you for your medical bills to the extent of your med pay coverage. That is just the beginning of course. You can have confidence that we will also make sure that you receive a fair and full value for your injury.

Although we generally cannot get the other party’s insurance company to pay for your medical bills in advance, we can generally make arrangements with the hospitals and doctors to hold off from going after you for payment until your case is resolved and money is available to take care of them.

Here are just a few questions we’ve heard about insurance coverage after a Maine motorcycle accident:

• Why won’t the insurance company pay for my medical costs?
  

Insurance companies want to retain as much of their profit as possible. One of the ways they can do this is by avoiding payment as long as possible. They can try to avoid paying for your medical costs by claiming your injuries were not caused by the accident, or by saying that the accident was all your fault, or partially your fault. Your health insurance may refuse to pay for any medical bills until the coverage limits of the med pay provisions of your own policy are used up.

• Why do I have to wait so long for a settlement?
  

In his book The BIG Secrets About Maine Injury Claims: What No One Is Telling You About The Process, attorney Don Lowry explains that insurance companies are not interested in settling cases quickly. The more they can prolong the case, the longer they hang onto their money—and the better chance they have of waiting you out in hopes that you will get desperate for money and settle for a small amount. An experienced Maine injury attorney will move the case along as quickly as possible, but there is no way that a fair amount can be recovered if the case is settled too soon. Once a case is settled there is no way to get anything more, even if you continue to rack up more medical bills or continue to miss work.

• Does it make any difference if I was a passenger?
  

When there is a collision between a motorcycle and another vehicle there may be a question of who was at fault, the driver of the bike, the driver of the other vehicle, or both. The amount of recovery for a person who is at fault in an accident may be lowered or even eliminated altogether, depending on the degree of fault. There is no such problem with a passenger however, because except in very rare cases the actions of a passenger will not be a cause of the accident. So it is possible that where both the motorcycle driver and his passenger are injured in a collision, the passenger may be able to fully recover for her injuries while the driver many get nothing.

• What if the person who caused my accident had no insurance?
  

If the person who hit you has no insurance, you may be out of luck. It is always possible to go after a defendant’s assets, such as his home, cars, recreational vehicles, etc., but more often than not this will not be feasible. For one thing going through the process of having someone’s property sold to pay a debt, such as what is due for your injuries, is a very protracted process which takes quite a long time. Furthermore we find that most people, especially those who do not have auto insurance, do not have any assets that would be worth going after. Hopefully you purchased uninsured motorist coverage when you bought the insurance for your bike. This would make it possible for you to get paid for your injury when the wrongdoer had no insurance or not enough coverage to cover the fair value of your claim. We always recommend that everyone who buys insurance for a motor vehicle, whether it is a car or a motorcycle, should take at least $300,000 in UM coverage. You will find that the additional premium for this coverage is not very expensive.

• What if I signed something after the accident?
  

Remember, insurance companies are always motivated to retain as much money as they can. If an insurance adjuster contacted you shortly after your accident and offered you money to sign a settlement, the amount was most likely drastically less than your case is worth. Normally when you sign a release, that is the end of the case, and you cannot take it back or ask for more compensation. However, there is an outside chance that with an experienced Maine personal injury attorney on your side, the ill-advised settlement could be set aside, allowing you to proceed with your case to get a reasonable settlement.

• Whose insurance pays for expenses if someone died in the crash?
  

Sadly, far too many motorcycle accidents involve a death. Wrongful death cases are both tragic and complex. There is the possibility of making a claim for pain and suffering and medical care incurred prior to the death, but often the deceased person died instantly in the crash, so the only claim would be the loss to the survivors caused by the death of their loved one. Such losses might include burial and funeral costs and loss of income which the deceased would have earned from the time of death to his or her retirement as well as the loss of companionship suffered by the survivors. Projections of future earnings can often be quite complicated and will require retaining an expert in the field of economics. Under Maine law the survivors in a death case are limited to recovery of $500,000 for loss of companionship.

At Lowry & Associates, we believe that insurance companies should not be allowed to duck their obligations. We will make sure that you get the most compensation possible. Send us an email by filling out the contact form on this page or call 888-485-9501 today to get started on your Maine motorcycle case.


Lowry & Associates handles motorcycle cases throughout the state of Maine. We have offices in Portland and Bangor, but serve clients across the state, including Lewiston, Biddeford, Auburn, Augusta, Waterville, Brunswick, Sanford, Presque Isle and more. Contact us today for information on your case in every county including Cumberland, York, Androscoggin and Penobscot.