Think I need some education here... I'm definitely not an insurance expert. I end up leaving more with more questions that I went in with. I sincerely hope I NEVER actually need to worry about using these things, but I know they are a fact of life.
Pretty sure I had extremely 'gunnar' policies to begin with, I backed some down today in order to save a bit of money. Going over it with my agent made it painfully clear I was paying to insure assets I don't even have. I was over-insured. Saved about $500 on 2 bikes per year with a click of a mouse, and still have very good policies. So I find myself tonight trying to fully wrap my head around what is a good idea to be insured for, and what is too much. I'm not a fan of minimum coverage, so I'm willing to pay the extra. But that doesn't mean I don't wanna be able to ever sit down again! =)
For now, I'm wondering:
1) If your bodily/property liability is used up, and (if they have it) the other involved persons underinsured coverage is used up... what happens then? They come after your assets until they are gone?
2) Is stacking worth it? They make it kinda hard to compare your policy with policy changes to see if its cheaper to stack, or to just bulk up your coverage. I assume they're hoping you do both. Which means you'll pay more.

I'm finding its more beneficial to customize my own policies with input from carefully crafted questions to my agent. Hey, why not, all their answers always seem carefully calculated, right?

 

My liability limits are maxed out on my autos but very low on the motorcycle policy. I figure the odds of me being at fault in a motorcycle accident are pretty slim - much more likely to be the victim.

 

Do you have stacking on your policy? That would kinda make sense to me. Because then if your MC is used up on underinsured for example, you auto policy would take over. That is how I understand it to be anyhow.

 

If you are liable for something, your insurance policy will pay out until it hits the policy limit. You can be sued for any additional money you are liable for. Not sure if they can take everything, but you could potentially spend years working off a judgement, etc.....

The only way to know if stacking is worth it is to get rate quotes.

One other option is to purchase an umbrella liability policy- they cover all types of liability, and per dollar of coverage, it should be much cheaper, and could cover you to a significantly higher limit. In addition to actual expenses, it's also possible (though maybe not very common) to get sued for pain and suffering, punitive damages, loss of income, current loss of income, etc.....

 

Would an umbrella policy be an additional policy then that covers extra liability on top of all your other policies?

 

State laws vary, so best to get an answer from a lawyer or agent from your state. For instance, stacking is not allowed in Louisiana, while it may be allowed in Pennsylvania.
Generally, if you are at fault, the other person gets to make a claim against you and your insurance, and, if they want, against their UM. You can not make them go after their UM before going against you personally (at least in Louisiana). However, if they have a big claim, they can get your insurance, then their UM, then try to execute against you. Your state should have some exemptions from seizure, but that often is not a whole lot (unless you live in Texas).
Yes as to an Umbrella policy. It is on top of your underlying (primary) policy. Usually, you have to have maximum underlying limits (for example $300,000 CSL or $250,000/$500,000). Shop around, and you may find some good deals on umbrella policies.
Also consider that your own UM limits will help protect you if some idiot creams you while you're riding.

 

I'm definitely going to look into this further once I get some other things straight with them. I'm not super insurance savvy, but what are you refering to as UM?

 

Uninsured/underinsured motorist. If someone causes damage to you and that damage costs more than their insurance limit of liability, your insurance will step in and cover the difference.

 

 

I never did follow up here.
I ended up having another meeting with my agent. I wrote down all my questions and went in armed this time. He answered all my questions with ease and even gave me some literature he printed out to help explain it even better.
Basically in short, he was able to reduce my premiums significantly by actually insuring me for what made sense. I ended up telling him that as long as I (myself) was insured properly, I could really care less about total losses of the bikes. He disagreed with me, but taking that into account, he suggested to me to think about what my assets were worth in total. And we customized my policy to cover that (and a little bit extra) and made sure that in the event of a bodily injury that I will be taken care of. Then he went on to explain it all when I asked.

I walked away with a new premium that was significantly lower than when I walked in. Enough so, that I could add a third bike, and be just over what I was paying for 2 bikes before. A couple days later, I took my dec page to another provider to talk about an insurance quote on a similar policy. He wasn't able to even come close in coverages per dollar and actually admitted while BSing at the end with him that as long as my premiums stayed in that range, that I was insured properly and for a good rate.

As it turns out, it IS good to have meetings with your agent once in awhile and discuss these kinds of things. Just makes me think all the money I wasted by blowing off those phone calls to setup a meeting