Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hi,I would like to know who owns the bike when it,s an insurance right off,does the insurance company own it and have the right to sell it,or only the liability to pay for the damaged parts? My "friends"tell me that it is still my bike and the insurance company don,t own it even if it,s a right off and they have no right to sell it and keep the proceeds.Maybe we have been ripped off all these years!!

The insurance company own it they pay you out for it, they auction it, you can bid for it just like any body else.

It also depends on whose insurance is paying out for it. If you have it fully insured and are claiming on your policy, then the insurance company pays you and keeps what left of the bike to sell at auction.

If you are not at fault and claim through the at fault party's insurance, then they pay you the market value of the bike less salvage, which means you keep the bike and can either sell it to get more money or use it for parts.

The difference is that on your policy, you have made an agreement/contract with the insurer that says they keep the bike if they pay out. With another party's insurer you have no agreement/contract with them.

Your entitled to pull any accessories that you put on it that were't specifically included in the policy though.

Mates ... if they didn't answer to mate i'm sure none of us would waste our time on them ...................

Cheers Brett

Im pretty sure you can also choose to reject their claim and keep the bike... but it means you wont get paid out...

If you actually read the policy you'll find that it is probably a condition of claim that you agree to sign over the bike/car to them if they deem it a write off. They can reject your claim and void the policy, and just hand you a cheque for refund of your premium.

The only time I'd argue with this is if I had a mint classic that you'd never find again. The problem is if they repair it, then they have to warrant the repairs for a certain length of time, with our car and NRMA, that is for as long as we keep the car. So they aren't prepared to take the risk of having to fix your bike in a year or two. If the insurance wanted to write off our car (and I bet it was a close thing) I wouldn't have argued, just taken the payout and got something else.

Hate to say it, but people get too emotionally attached to these machines...