My son hit a tree with our 500 sportsman, bumper, radiator, all mounts are bad and it looks like one of the front shocks are bent, steering is bent up, pod broke etc. My question is do you think insurance will total it out or fix it.
Also, does a damage report need to be done by law enforcement before turning it into insurance?, he wasn't hurt and the
Its enough damage so I will need to turn it in I just don't know how much it will increase the premiums in the future, I'm insuring one other four wheeler.
Any info would be appreciated.

 

Hey man welcome to the world of the wrecked sportsman. I totalled my dads(mine now) 01, slammed a tree going 60 around a turn, couldnt power slide because I was riding double(VERY BAD IDEA!!!!) We had full insurance on it. We didnt have to report it to the enforcements at all, I even went to the hospital, I had pulled my arm right out of the socket(Damn that hurt!)(barely missed the tree with my head) and my arm had horrible bark burn from my arm hitting the tree, Also my foot got caught on the bars and it slammed against my tendon things that connect to your toes and I couldnt walk good for a while, That made me hit the ground hard too and had a bruised side, My cousin(passenger) flew right over top of me and landed on his side and only got away with bruises. Anyway A at the time I was helping/working at a polris dealership sales and service. I helped out in the shop and doing wood, so when he seen it 6 hours after i left there all mangled his jaw dropped, The insurance totalled it immediatly, entire left side was ripped off, and frame was bent, the resivoir was cracked, front plastic damage and clutch cover and footwell damage aswell as the entire metal framing to the footwell. A now football for a rim, a popped tire, entire steering on both sides, 4wd on the left side, strut assembly, filters, hub, 4wd shaft. The handlebars were bent to hellaswell as everything on it except the pod and so is the steering stem, Got away with fixing it for 600 total with used parts and of course an unbeleivable labor and parts disscount! yours shouldnt be too bad although I havnt seen a pic of it yet and dont know what exactly is bad. Im guessing around 12-1500 or so, maybe alot less but ebay is the way on alot of those broken parts. Mine only took 2 days to completely fix, the insurance gave us alot more than it was worth, i believe it was around 45-4700? i know it was in the 42 and up range tho. If possible, if your pod is broke try and tell them theres alot less miles on it, that is if it will not show miles, you will get more for it this way. Also unplug the wiring going to the handlebars main switch so it will not light up the pod or so the wheeler will not start. The fact of it not running will give you a cheaper buy back price if they total it and the fewer miles will raise its initail value before the wreck. When we got our 05 sportsman we went with the same insurance co and it didnt change in price, full coverage aswell. The 01 has a salvage title now. I hope this helps, Brian P.S. do you plan to fix it if its totalled or just sell it?