Your liability coverage protects other people from you. On a bike, the bigger risk usually runs the other way.
Motorcycle · Updated October 2026
In a car, a frame, airbags and seat belts stand between you and the other vehicle. On a motorcycle, your gear does. When a driver turns left across your lane or drifts over the center line, rider injuries tend to be serious: fractures, surgeries, long rehab, time off work.
Your own liability coverage does not pay for any of that. Liability pays for harm you cause to others. When someone else causes the crash, you are relying on their insurance, and many drivers carry only the state minimum or nothing at all.
A driver pulls out of a parking lot on Glenstone and hits you. You have a broken leg and wrist, two surgeries, physical therapy and three months off work: $160,000 in losses.
The driver carries Missouri's minimum, $25,000 per person for bodily injury. Their insurer pays $25,000 and stops.
Missouri requires uninsured motorist coverage of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and companies must offer underinsured motorist coverage. For most riders, we suggest carrying UM and UIM at the same limits as liability. It is usually a modest part of a motorcycle premium, and it is the part that protects you.
Health insurance may cover medical bills, but not lost wages or pain and suffering, and it may have high deductibles or try to recover its costs from any settlement. UM and UIM are designed for exactly this situation.
Riders are vulnerable to drivers who leave the scene. Uninsured motorist coverage may apply to hit-and-run injuries, often with conditions such as prompt police reports. If you're able, note anything about the other vehicle, look for witnesses and call police from the scene.
Medical payments coverage pays smaller medical bills quickly, regardless of fault, and can help with deductibles while UM or UIM claims are resolved. Some companies limit med pay on motorcycles; ask what's available.
If you ride two-up, your passenger's injuries may be covered under your policy's liability, UM/UIM or medical payments, depending on fault and policy terms. Guest passenger liability is an option with some companies.
Missouri requires it on liability policies, and it is one of the most important coverages for riders.
It pays when the at-fault driver's insurance is too low to cover your injuries.
Many riders match their liability limits. We can quote several levels.
It may cover medical bills, but not lost wages or pain and suffering, and it can carry high deductibles.
Questions about your own situation? Call 417.206.3733 or send us your current policy. We are licensed in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and you can buy by phone without coming in.
Or send your details and an agent will call you back with options from the companies we work with.