Insurance question --Those with modifications, please chime in

[razorlab]

heres the reply I just got back from my State Farm agent:

"Good morning Jordan, here is the response I received from auto underwriting in regards to upgrades and modifications on vehicles they stated that Equipment that is fixed onto the vehicle would be covered but there is sort of endorsement to the policy or anything to guarantee the value of those upgrades or modifications. In the event of a claim the insured would want to keep receipts/pictures to support the extra value they are seeking. I would take before and after images of the vehicle and the modifications as well as save the receipts to support the extra value."

I personally would not trust that would cover your modifications at all, but that’s just me.

Sponsored

 

[gixxersixxerman]

Keep your stock parts, get in a accident have them tow it to your house or shop that you know. remove aftermarket parts install stock parts. Never let them take the car to a yard. they wont let you get shit off the car then.

 

[Jmanlevan]

I personally would not trust that would cover your modifications at all, but that’s just me.

That's what I'm thinking...Definitely going to look into some sort of additional coverage, maybe something of the likes of whats been suggested on here so far.

 

[Evolution]

I think this whole insurance thing comes down to who was at fault. Obviously, if you get hit and the other person is at fault, their insurance company really cant say anything about your mods since you dont have a policy with them. However, if you were found at fault, I doubt they would be covering your mods if you dont have the listed under the policy.

As I recently found out, my insurance company covered my mods that got broken during my accident even though I dont have them listed on my policy. I went through my insurance instead of the at fault party because we didnt know whos fault it was going to be (5 cars involved) until the police report came out, which took weeks. There was about $6000 in mods that got broken and my insurance company didnt even question it. So again, I think this all boils down to the exact situation that you are in.

 

[VinDiesell]

Those with Geico, you will need to call CS and give them a list of all the aftermarket parts you've purchased along with the price. Make sure to save all the receipts. However, the aftermarket parts will only be covered up to 3 years. And you are not going to get all the money back from your parts.

 

[Jmanlevan]

I think this whole insurance thing comes down to who was at fault. Obviously, if you get hit and the other person is at fault, their insurance company really cant say anything about your mods since you dont have a policy with them. However, if you were found at fault, I doubt they would be covering your mods if you dont have the listed under the policy.

As I recently found out, my insurance company covered my mods that got broken during my accident even though I dont have them listed on my policy. I went through my insurance instead of the at fault party because we didnt know whos fault it was going to be (5 cars involved) until the police report came out, which took weeks. There was about $6000 in mods that got broken and my insurance company didnt even question it. So again, I think this all boils down to the exact situation that you are in.

Yeah I agree, I can see this being a battle regardless. At least initially!

 

[razorlab]

Those with Geico, you will need to call CS and give them a list of all the aftermarket parts you've purchased along with the price. Make sure to save all the receipts. However, the aftermarket parts will only be covered up to 3 years. And you are not going to get all the money back from your parts.

I was dropped by Geico for stating my modifications. F them.

 

[VinDiesell]

I was dropped by Geico for stating my modifications. F them.

Lol really? I've been with them for 10+ years. Only totaled one sportscar.

 

[Kujiwara]

Are you old enough to get Hagerty insurance? The do declared value policies, I have it on my overly expensive 20 year old Jetta with 340k km on it and the price is less than 2x of a normal policy without comprehensive.
On a side topic, if you are going with a normal company instead it might actually be better to just not disclose the mods. Assuming you are not in an at fault accident, the other company will not care if you have it insured as modified. I ran into this first hand when my Jetta got rear ended into nearly a golf. It was 12 years old and had 250k km on it at the time, a normal Jetta GLI that time maybe worth $4k at the time, but after showing them TONS of receipts, they fixed it and the repair was $12k. Partly luck too but what I'm saying is, even if you are insured to cover everything, if you're not at fault then it's gonna be upto the other person's insurance. And I wouldn't sweat about it too hard unless you have a history of being at-fault, or if the area you live in have good amount of car theft. And as other have said, in the case of writing it off your self, they will never give you the full mod value, it's almost always better to take the negotiated write-off value, then buy it back and remove the mods to sell separately.

 

[Jmanlevan]

Are you old enough to get Hagerty insurance? The do declared value policies, I have it on my overly expensive 20 year old Jetta with 340k km on it and the price is less than 2x of a normal policy without comprehensive.
On a side topic, if you are going with a normal company instead it might actually be better to just not disclose the mods. Assuming you are not in an at fault accident, the other company will not care if you have it insured as modified. I ran into this first hand when my Jetta got rear ended into nearly a golf. It was 12 years old and had 250k km on it at the time, a normal Jetta GLI that time maybe worth $4k at the time, but after showing them TONS of receipts, they fixed it and the repair was $12k. Partly luck too but what I'm saying is, even if you are insured to cover everything, if you're not at fault then it's gonna be upto the other person's insurance. And I wouldn't sweat about it too hard unless you have a history of being at-fault, or if the area you live in have good amount of car theft. And as other have said, in the case of writing it off your self, they will never give you the full mod value, it's almost always better to take the negotiated write-off value, then buy it back and remove the mods to sell separately.

I'm 32 years old.

 

[AHP]

I think this whole insurance thing comes down to who was at fault.

Depends on the state; at fault vs. no fault. And then there's subrogation. With a good policy it doesn't really matter.


So... Unless you have an agreed value or some other boutique policy, chances are you are 99.9% fuct when it comes to a payout on a total loss. Most big box providers will use CCC to deliver you a colorful 30 page doc full of infographics describing exactly why you should be grateful they are paying you bottom wholesale value for the car. And any mods with pics and stacks of receipts... LOL

 

[VinDiesell]

In other words, if you put $10k+ worth into mods and god forbid you get into an accident, say goodbye to that money.

 

[Jmanlevan]

In other words, if you put $10k+ worth into mods and god forbid you get into an accident, say goodbye to that money.

Unless you’re @Mimosa with his 6 figure payout on his car. But if I recall the accident correctly, he was sitting at a light when someone hit him. So he wasn’t at fault.

 

[VinDiesell]

Unless you’re @Mimosa with his 6 figure payout on his car. But if I recall the accident correctly, he was sitting at a light when someone hit him. So he wasn’t at fault.

Yeah, don't believe everything you read on the internet lol. I know for a fact that USAA covers certain dollar amount of aftermarket mods/accessories and their limit is $5k.

They do have collector and classic car insurance which they are covered for 30 days up to $100k.

 

[Jmanlevan]

Yeah, don't believe everything you read on the internet lol. I know for a fact that USAA covers certain dollar amount of aftermarket mods/accessories and their limit is $5k.

They do have collector and classic car insurance which they are covered for 30 days up to $100k.

I'm inclined to believe him and don't think or see a reason why he'd lie about that. Did you ever see his build? That man is detail oriented to a T and he had a lot of money dumped into that car. Would be super shitty if all he got was the market value of a stock version of a Supra.

Sponsored