A motorcycle crash leaves riders with the worst of it, since no steel cage or airbag absorbs a careless driver’s mistake. Insurance companies regularly attempt to deny valid motorcycle accident claims, and they are very good at finding ways to challenge coverage. At Schefman & Associates, we know how to counter their tactics and help injured Detroit riders pursue the money side of the accident that was not their fault.
Why Are Motorcycle Claims More Complicated?
Motorcycle cases seldom follow the simple path of a two-car fender bender. Several recurring complications with motorcycle accident claims in Detroit include the following:
- Severe, lasting injuries
- Disputed fault at intersections
- Hidden helmet and speed arguments
- Multiple possible insurers
- Skeptical jurors and adjusters and bias against riders
- Arcane laws applicable to motorcycle operators for specific coverages to be in place
Each layer gives the other side another place to chip away at what you are owed. Our firm builds the proof that pushes past the assumptions working against riders and treats a motorcycle case on its own terms.
Does Bias Against Riders Affect Liability?
Yes, it often does, and it shows up early. Drivers, police, and insurers often assume the rider was reckless, showboating, even when the driver caused the wreck by turning left across the rider’s lane at a Detroit intersection like those on Jefferson Avenue. That bias can shade the fault analysis from the start; every Michigan driver has seen a rider on the road and just scratched their head.
How Do Insurers Try to Deny or Shrink Your Claim?
Insurance companies know the bias against riders helps them pay less, so they lean into it. From the first call, an adjuster may look for ways to pin part of the blame on you or to question how hurt you really are, or get the information in a way that may suggest there was no contact with a motor vehicle. Predictable tactics we encounter in these cases include:
- Blaming the rider’s speed
- Pointing to a missing helmet
- Calling injuries pre-existing
- Pushing a quick lowball offer
- Delaying benefit payments
Michigan actually lets most adult riders go without a helmet under set conditions, so a missing one does not automatically sink a claim the way insurers suggest. Our firm responses with medical records, scene data, medical testimony, and eyewitnesses.
What Is Your Motorcycle Claim Worth?
A motorcycle claim splits into two streams. Michigan no-fault pays your medical care and lost wages, and a separate claim against the at-fault driver covers pain and suffering. Under MCL 500.3114(5), a rider hurt by a car does not draw those no-fault benefits from a motorcycle policy, since they come first from the car’s insurer.
What Is the Filing Deadline for a Motorcycle Claim?
A motorcycle injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver generally must be filed within three years of the crash. The no-fault benefit side runs on its own, shorter schedule, so the medical claim and the injury case are best handled together.
Count on Our Detroit Motorcycle Accident Lawyers
Riders need a firm that sees past the easy stereotype. Our attorneys bring more than 60 years of combined experience to Michigan injury cases and have recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured clients, and Schefman & Associates takes motorcycle cases on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we obtain money for you.
Call our motorcycle accident lawyers in Detroit at (248) 594-2600 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation today.