By Tim Shollenberger and Adam Wolfe
Because of a decision authored by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week, a biker who gets seriously injured by a careless driver will have a much better chance of getting full and fair compensation for all of his or her injuries, including uncovered medical bills and lost wages. Why? Because a biker who gets his or her cycle insurance from the same insurance company can look to BOTH his cycle coverage AND his car or truck insurance policies for additional coverage if the following conditions exist:
- The biker’s cycle policy and car/truck policy are underwritten by the same company; and
- The biker’s insurance company does not have the biker sign a Waiver of Stacked Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage.
The name of the case is Gallagher v. GEICO.
Your authors highly recommend that you speak with your insurance agent about this very important change in Pennsylvania law.
There is nothing worse in our experience than to have to tell an injured biker or his family that there is not enough insurance to pay their bills and their lost wages or to protect them if they have problems in the future. So please, have that conversation with your agent. It costs you nothing to ask and might mean the difference between paying your bills or falling into a financial hole that you will never climb out of. We have seen it happen. Don’t let it happen to you.
