Adding insult to injury

[Thomas Martin]

I was hit from behind by a speeding, uninsured driver, driving recklessly and she admits that she was having a panic attack. She was not cited by the police for anything. My injuries included 6 right foot fractures, 5 vertebral fractures, deep knee and elbow abrasions and were complicated by a sub massive PE. The blood clot completely blocked blood flow to my left lung and may cause some permanent lung injury.

I just received a letter from my auto insurance carrier notifying me that they will not renew my auto insurance policy. The reason cited was the amount of claims made, which included my uninsured motorist (UIM) coverage for my injuries. The State insurance commissioner said that some insurers are canceling policies after one uninsured motorist claim. This is because statistically if you have one UIM claim, you are more likely to have another UIM claim than someone who never had a UIM claim. When I do find auto insurance, it is going to be very expensive because I have been dropped.

As an aside, my bike lawyer said that drivers who hit cyclists frequently have no auto insurance.  SIR members should consider maximizing their PIP & UIM auto insurance coverages.

My injuries from being hit by someone going 60 mph, could have been much worse. (No brain injury, no spinal cord injury, no long bone fractures & no internal organ injury.) All of my physician friends emphasize how lucky that I was and I certainly agree.

I can now ride a stationary bike without much pain. I will stop the blood thinners when I begin riding outside. After 4 months off the bike, I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. I do plan to continue riding brevet.

Ride Safe

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

[Evil Jim]

WRT to the insurance carrier being absolutely unethical...if you make a claim (AKA, expect payment against your policy) we will drop your coverage...do you carry all your policies with the same carrier?

If so, or even if you only hold auto policies, then I would cancel all coverage with that carrier.

I would also post who they are, as a warning for anyone else who may have policies with this unscrupulous company.

They deserve no one's business.

Jim

I don't want the world...
        I only want your half.

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[Jeff Loomis]

Unfortunately this behavior is standard for insurance companies.  I learned this the hard way with home insurance many years ago.  After two theft claims I was non-renewed and learned that we all have an "insurance report" similar to a credit report that the insurance companies share among themselves.  Once you are dropped by one for making claims, it becomes almost impossible to get decent insurance.

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[Evil Jim]

Yes, I know this goes on too much...insurance has been a massive rip-off for decades, if not longer.

IDK if it will help anyone, but we have all our non-work coverage through State Farm, and I've made various claims over the years...including Underinsured, not sure if any of them have been Uninsured.

No negative consequences and our agent has always been top notch, for our needs.

Jim

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I don't want the world...
        I only want your half.

[James Olson]

How does an uninsured motorist get away with hitting a cyclist from behind and not get cited with anything? Bottom line, it is illegal to drive without insurance.

And most importantly, dam that sucks!

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[Mick Walsh]

I just had a claim settled with underinsured motorist, got my renewal notice from the insurance company this week.

Sorry you’ve had such a bad experience Thomas🙁

On Jul 22, 2025, at 10:45 AM, Jeff Loomis <je...@loomisclan.com> wrote:



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[Bradley Hawkins]

My State Farm insurance is going strong after our accident and even went down in the last premium. We were hit by someone with only $25k in liability. Waved going after any assets they might have. Didn't want to ruin someone else's life too. My insurance is picking up the tab but $300k/$300k/$100k is looking pretty paltry and I only had one broken bone while Susan had 4. I can't even imagine how awful it would have been if I had to pay out of pocket and full price. 

Getting dropped is better than a bankruptcy. 

Bradley Hawkins
composer, arranger, & cellist 

hawkinsmusic.com
206.417.5000

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[Phil Neff]

Sorry about your experience, Thomas. These stories are very sobering. Jumping on this thread with a question, please reply directly:

I don't drive (don't even have a driver's license) and have not found any good options for insurance for cycling only. Does anyone have recommendations for that?

Thanks,

Phil

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[Marcus Moore]

Phil,
Good question - when I had a driver turn in front me, I had the same issue - no personal insurance to cover me & the driver had minimum third-party coverage, plus it was not worth chasing them for money (advise from John Duggan's team - who were brilliant in assisting through "the process": www.dugganbikelaw.com).

There's probably cycle specific coverage that's initially for bike theft &/or damage, but there may be an opportunity there for uninsured driver injury (I haven't taken that sort of coverage though) or maybe through house or renter's insurance? (I now have a car, so did make sure I now have insurance that I wish I had when I had my arm broken!)

It's not just cyclists that need to consider 'personal' cover, the same applies for a pedestrian hit by a vehicle - no or minimal third-party vehicle insurance leaves the injured out of pocket!!

I had all of my medical costs covered by my health insurance, who then 'claimed' 50% of the third-party payout to cover their costs - I'm still out of pocket, but it wasn't too bad.

Your experience(s) may vary,

Marcus (not in Oz)

[Joe Platzner]

Corey Thompson is always the right answer for bike wheel questions. Peter Beeson is to insurance what Corey is to bikes. Both understand what we do and are experts in their field. Just sayin.’  

On Jul 23, 2025, at 12:14 PM, 'Marcus Moore' via Seattle International Randonneurs <seattl...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Phil,

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[mimi boothby]

I’m pretty sure we have some folks here who work in insurance who can recommend levels of insurance in the appropriate categories. Please feel free to weigh in.

I’m so sorry this happened to you.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

mimi torchia boothby

[Xiangzhou Kong (kmxz)]

Velosurance does provide an "uninsured motorist coverage" option, but I've heard about anyone's experience with it, so I'm not sure if it's worth the cost.

I don't have a car either, so I'm relying on my health insurance, supplemented by the "medical payments" coverage of my bicycle insurance. They sound sufficient for medical expenses.

On Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at 10:02:43 AM UTC-7 Phil Neff wrote:

[Paddy Kelly]

On my car insurance, I have insurance for under insured and non insured drivers.

I ended up claiming of this when I was hit by a car 7 years ago in Boston as a pedestrian.  Compression fracture of the spine , broken arm. Out of work for 2 months.

Didn't increase the premium when I claimed. And was not out of pocket. Health insurance company then put a lien on what they spent though.

Hope not to use it again when cycling, but it is there.

Paddy

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