Hi my wife recently test drove a bike from a dealer. She dropped it. Now the insurance company (Progressive) is saying that she is not covered even though she has full coverage because she needed to get a special waiver from the insurance company prior to test riding. No one I have talked to including the dealer has ever heard of this. She has taken motorcycle classes and has a motorcycle license. Has anyone out there had a similar experience or any advice to fight this? The dealer says there is about $4,000 in damage.

interesting because I have progressive and they cover me on any bike and I have it in writing. 

Was the full coverage for auto and motorcycle?  When I was looking for a used bike I called my insurance company (State Farm). Because I only had auto insurance at the time, they told me I would not be insured on a motorcycle and likely would not be covered by the owner's insurance, either.  My only option was to find a bike I was pretty sure I'd buy and insure it. They told me if I didn't buy it they would refund any unused portion of the coverage.

bike coverage only for Progressive.  Look at your declarations page.  And also, some dealers carry their own insurance for just this sort of thing so look at the waiver.

thanks for the responses. Yes she was covered under my full coverage motorcycle insurance. We did notice the part of the policy that mentioned that the auto coverage only covered " 4 wheels" The letter from their lawyer said that because the motorcycle was not a "non-owned , replacement, additional, or covered motorcycle.  She was not covered. Really not sure what other kinds of motorcycles there are  .

that's probably the "amendment" list.  Good luck.

At the dealer-ship that I help out at over here in the UK when a customer takes a bike on a demo we take a photo-copy of thier license and they sign a waiver confirming that if they crash it they buy it. We don't seem to have any problems with that arrangement and from what I see most people who take demo rides eventually buy a ducati from the store, I also think that when they come through the stores front door they have already made thier minds up to purchase the particular model that they are demoing.

sgeier I hope that you and your wife get it sorted quickly as I can imagine its a real worry.

Geoff...

Most dealerships in Australia seem to run a "you bend it, you mend it" policy.  So unless your own insurance covers you... you're on your own.

When I demo'ed a Monster Evo, from Ducati Leeds, I had to sign a waiver stating that If I damaged the bike, I would pay £500 towards the repair. This seems to be the case with most bike shops that I've had dealings with. Anyway, I didn't damage the bike, and I bought one!

When I test drove the Evo I had to show I already had motorcycle insurance.  I think it was just for my own bodily injury, not the bike itself.  They wouldn't let me ride it without proof.

When I returned to riding in 09, I had Mercury insurance.  I contacted them to let them know I would be test riding bikes and what my coverage options were.  I was told that I would have to buy insurance to cover any accident/damage while testing a bike.  I set it up with my agent to give me rates for the various bikes I was interested in and I gave them my credit card number...I would call them prior to the ride and "activate" the policy at the amount appropriate for the bike, then it would be canceled after the ride with a minimum fee.  Only did that twice as I ended up buying the bikes I test rode, so kept the insurance.  I'm now with Geico and not sure how they would do this.

Back when I was considering a used bike at a local dealer, they told my I could only test ride the bike if I "bought" it.  In effect, we would sign all the papers transferring ownership to me, but not file them.  This would protect the dealership against damages if I hit someone or was sued, etc.

Quote from: orangelion03 on October 16, 2011, 10:05:38 AM
Back when I was considering a used bike at a local dealer, they told my I could only test ride the bike if I "bought" it.  In effect, we would sign all the papers transferring ownership to me, but not file them.  This would protect the dealership against damages if I hit someone or was sued, etc.

This is how my local dealer ran things.  Of course it doesn't answer your  insurance question.  I would imagine you aren't covered under your insurance (except for personal injury) because it wasn't owned by you and it wasn't on your existing policy.  That's IMHO and might not be worth the time it took to read it.  Good luck sorting this out.

Quote from: orangelion03 on October 16, 2011, 10:05:38 AM
Back when I was considering a used bike at a local dealer, they told my I could only test ride the bike if I "bought" it.  In effect, we would sign all the papers transferring ownership to me, but not file them.  This would protect the dealership against damages if I hit someone or was sued, etc.

I have seen several dealerships do this for new bikes which is due generally to the bikes still not being owned technically....except by the manufacturer or the bank whereas the used bikes are owned by the dealership and they are generally covered under the blanket protection of the dealership for customer bikes that are test ridden during repair process by employees, as well as all bikes sitting on property and so forth...I have been told that on a used bike, I would be responsible for the intial repair deductable in the event of an accident...but of course....policies vary from dealer to dealer....1 dealer here takes a $2000 hold on your card before you go out on a bike as a repair deductable blanket protection just in case....