Overlanding in Colorado
OK, so you’re on a website about motorcycles and there’s this whole section on overlanding. Why?!
Rider Justice is a law firm dedicated to helping motorcyclists. (And we are freaking awesome at what we do.) But our passion for this community goes well beyond the law. Because motorcycle riders enjoy the outdoors and the same travel experiences that overlanders love, it makes sense to share our knowledge with this community, as well, since our expertise can enhance everyone’s adventure.
Overlanders and motorcyclists alike take great pride in tricking out their vehicles (2-wheeled or 4-wheeled) to go higher and farther in more comfort. But that means their financial investment – and risk – is higher if they get in an accident. We want to help all adventurers protect their investments and lifestyles so that, if you’re in an accident, you and your passengers aren’t left stranded by inadequate insurance.
If the worst happens and you’re in an accident (with a tree, or a deer, or another driver), call us. Our founder, Scott O’Sullivan, has been helping injured riders and overlanders for over 25 years. We’re here for you.
Meet Scott
Scott has been overlanding since he was a scrawny kid in New Jersey. Back then, it was called car camping and Scott owned an old FJ40 that he thought could climb trees. (It couldn’t.) Overlanding has always been a passion of his, one that he introduced to his sons, and one he continues to enjoy today.
“I am so passionate about the motorcycle and overlanding communities. It is my goal to help these outdoor enthusiasts enjoy their favorite pastime to the fullest. Because I’m an attorney, I know this means educating them to have the right insurance because there are so many other uninsured drivers on the road. I cannot stress enough that you cannot rely on another driver to have the right insurance even if the accident is their fault. You MUST protect yourself so that if the worst happens, I can help.”
Have you been in an overlanding accident to or from your camping trip? Confused about what your insurance should cover?
Call (877) 562-9425 for a free discussion about your rights and what you’re owed.
How Does Rider Justice Help Overlanders?
We are always here for you on your worst days but we also want to celebrate your best days, too.
We’re here to help you…
- Enjoy the great outdoors without risking financial ruin by helping you get the right protection. Get the right insurance then go out to enjoy your best days!
- Access all the compensation you’re owed by insurance companies after an accident by providing specialized, compassionate legal help. After your worst day, we help get you the care and compensation you need.
Serving the Overlanding Community in these States
Colorado
Georgia
Tennessee
Oregon
Virginia
South Carolina
What You Need to Know about Insurance for Motorcycles and Overlanding
You need to protect your toys, which means you need to get the right insurance. It is crucial that you don’t put your trust in the other driver (that caused the accident) or that any insurance company will do right by you if something should go wrong. You need to protect yourself.
We do not sell insurance, we aren’t agents, and we have no interest in working in the insurance industry. Let’s get that straight.
Instead, we talk to motorcyclists and overlanders to help them understand what insurance coverage they need so that they can go back to their own insurance agents and have productive conversations.
Use a Broker Agent
“I highly recommend independent broker agents. When I did the build-out on my truck, I submitted all the invoices and I even sent pictures to my broker. My broker then submitted all of the required information to the insurance company. But it wasn’t even easy for her! When she first got the insurance company’s call center and she explained that I needed my overlanding equipment covered, they told her, ‘We don’t know what you’re talking about. You can’t do that.’ And she shot back, ‘Yes, I can do this. I need to talk to somebody else right now.’ By the end of the day, my truck was fully covered. I can tell you what kind of insurance you should demand, and then you need an independent broker to go to bat for you.”
-Scott O’Sullivan
We can assess your insurance needs with one quick call. You’ll be able to hang up with us, then call your agent with all the details you need for proper insurance coverange.
Call us: (877) 562-9425
If You’ve Added Anything to Your Truck or Jeep or Bronco Since You Bought It, You Need to Increase Your Insurance
Truth: most insurance agents do not understand the overlanding community and they do not know how to offer the right coverage. We can tell you exactly what to ask for so that your vehicle and all the toys you load into it are covered.
In our line of work, we have witnessed too many overlanding friends get into accidents (with deer, trees, other cars) only to discover that they don’t have the insurance coverage they thought they did. This is especially true for people who bought a sweet stock vehicle and then added thousands of dollars of equipment to it, like bigger tires, bed sliders, roof tents, and more.
When they get into an accident, these people can only recoup what they originally insured the vehicle for. They are often out thousands and thousands of dollars.
What Insurance Do I Need for My Camping and Overlanding Gear?
Most people don’t understand that, when they get new camping toys or embellish their trucks and rigs, they also need to increase their insurance. It is much less expensive than you might imagine, but you have to ask your insurance agent some very detailed questions to get exactly what you need. Sometimes this means you have to push and advocate for yourself.
This is another reason Scott recommends having an insurance broker to work on your behalf.
It doesn’t cost you anything extra to work with an insurance broker. Their fees are paid by the companies they represent. The cost to cover your equipment won’t be impacted at all if you use a broker, but you can end up with the wrong or inadequate insurance if you don’t use a broker. So, go through a broker!
– Scott O’Sullivan
The rest of this page will answer a few questions about insuring your overland vehicle and gear. Please read Adventure Derailed for a deeper dive and critical information to share with your insurance agent.
One rule of thumb: You need different insurance for the items you affix permanently on your vehicle and the items you load into your vehicle.
Were you in a truck or Jeep accident? Contact Scott O’Sullivan immediately for help. We are attorneys who specialize in helping the overlanding community recover their losses after an accident.
Call (877) 562-9425
I tricked out my truck for overlanding. What kind of insurance do I need?
You got the Jeep (or Tacoma truck or Forerunner or Bronco…) and then you JACKED IT! You added bigger tires, sweet wheels, a lift, tough bumpers, search lights, auxiliary power, a rooftop tent, hitch, roof rack, fly-fishing rack, kayak rack, bike rack… This vehicle is now more valuable than your house, right? (Well, at least in your heart.) Now, it’s time to insure it properly.
Insure the stuff you attached to your vehicle with the appropriate amount of Comprehensive and Collision Insurance.
When you have a car camping vehicle, you need to make sure you have enough comprehensive and collision insurance to cover everything. What is the difference between the two types of insurance? Here is an easy way to understand them:
- Comprehensive: “It hits you.” (Such as a deer, a falling tree, etc.)
- Collision: “You hit it.” (Such as a standing tree, light pole, giant rocks while you’re off-roading, etc.)
(If someone else hits you with their car, their insurance should cover you. But we’ll talk about that down below. Most people don’t have enough insurance to cover your losses, so you need to buy extra. Read on.)
“You’ve got to have collision and comprehensive insurance. Imagine this: you’re out in the wilderness four-wheeling and you hit a stump or you hit a tree. Doesn’t matter. Your insurance will cover it, especially if it’s thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Collision and comprehensive covers your vehicle regardless of fault. If a tree falls on your vehicle, or if you hit a tree, collision and comprehensive will cover things that are permanently affixed to your vehicle. Just get it.”
–Scott O’Sullivan
Insure the stuff you load into your vehicle with your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.
You read that right. Anything you load into your vehicle to head out on the open road is covered by your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. Think: coolers, tents, cookware, drones, bike, clothes, TV and more. If you don’t have that stuff adequately covered and you get in a collision (with a tree or another car), you may have to replace it all without any insurance help. It adds up.
This is a complicated area of insurance, so please (again, please!) visit Adventure Derailed to learn why I’m sharing these numbers. But, in a nutshell: You need to increase your homeowner’s or renter’s coverage to get 100% of the value of those items, but the math is wonky, so read Adventure Derailed.
“Anything that you load into or onto your truck – kayak, boat, coolers, cameras, sleeping bags, all the gear that you put in the truck – that’s actually covered by your homeowner’s insurance. But here’s the catch: as soon as it walks out the door of your house, they only cover 10% of your total content coverage. So, you’ve got to increase your coverage.”
– Scott O’Sullivan
Get or increase your Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage.
If someone else hits you, they probably won’t have enough coverage to pay for all your losses. It’s that simple.
In Colorado, the minimum coverage that people must have is $25,000. (A lot of people don’t even carry insurance. Imagine getting hit by one of those jerks.) Let’s say another driver hits you hard enough to cause $50,000 worth of damage to your car and they even injured you and your rider. But that driver only has $25,000 worth of insurance. How will you pay for your medical bills, copays, your car’s repairs, and all of the gear you lost in the accident?
The only way is by protecting yourself with a UIM policy. Click here for all of the details about UIM coverage and how much you need before you head out of your garage.
“Right now, at least two-thirds of the people on the roads in Colorado are driving with no insurance or only the limited $25,000 coverage. If those people hit you, you will never recoup your full losses. I want all riders and overlanders to have at least $100,000 to $250,000 in UIM.”
-Scott O’Sullivan
How much is all this new overlanding insurance going to cost me?
This is the good news! All of this additional insurance won’t cost you much. Our founder, Scott O’Sullivan, has a Toyota Tacoma that was worth $40,000 when he bought it, but he added $30,000 worth of overlanding gear to it. When he increased his auto insurance to cover his truck at $70,000 instead of $40,000, his bill went up $40 for the year. That is a small price to pay for the thirty grand he could be out if he totals his car.
Increasing your homeowner’s and UIM insurance is also relatively cheap, compared to the losses you’d face if you didn’t have them.
“It’s so simple and inexpensive to add this insurance, but unfortunately, nobody knows until it’s too late. I have had some horrible calls with people when I have to tell them, ‘No, you don’t actually have full coverage. You have minimum coverage. You’re not going to have any money to replace your truck or your toys.’ Please, just make sure you have the right insurance.”
– Scott O’Sullivan
Overlanding is meant to help you get away from it all, leave the stress behind. Make sure an accident in your overlanding vehicle doesn’t ruin you financially. Call us for a free chat and free advice! (877) 562-9425.
If you’ve been in an overlanding accident, don’t take the first offer an insurance company makes.
We can probably get you more. Call (877) 562-9425.
Insurance Checklist for Overland Vehicles
Here is a checklist to help make sure that you’re covered properly when you head out on your next overland adventure:
- Comprehensive and Collision: Make sure that you have enough to cover the true value of your vehicle. (i.e. If you bought an old 4Runner for $4,000 but added $10,000 worth of equipment to it, you need enough insurance for a $14,000 vehicle.)
- Liability: Purchase a minimum of $250,000.
- Underinsured Motorist (UIM): Purchase a minimum of $250,000.
- Umbrella policies on top of the liability and UIM policies for your vehicle: If you own a home, you probably need a minimum of $1.25 million in coverage.
- Content coverage on your renter’s or homeowner’s insurance: This is for all of the gear you load into your vehicle (think: coolers, kayaks, drones). As soon as it leaves your home, only 10% of your total content coverage applies. So, you need to increase your coverage so that you get 100% of the value. For example, if you put $7,000 worth of gear into your vehicle, you will need over $70,000 of content coverage on your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.
For a more in-depth understanding of these types of insurance, read “Adventure Derailed.”
We are happy to review your existing insurance and recommend additional coverage that may help you in the long run. (We don’t sell insurance! We can help you get what you need out of your existing insurance company.) Call us: (877) 562-9425.