Insurance will not cover.........................

[Nique]

I have worked for the number one insurance company in the world for 14 years now.

Did you know that your auto insurance policy will not cover or reimburse you for many of the high dollar modifications in the event of an accident that totals your vehicle or your vehicle is stolen?


You may also face an uphill battle with general repairs for most external and internal sheet metal modifications (Body Kits).


I would advise you to talk to your insurance agent about a "Stated Value" policy. This would put an appraised value on your vehicle in the event it is totaled or stolen.

[bookeem]

when my integra gsr was stolen a few years back, my ins. co. gave me back 50% of what i had put into the car, which was close to 10 grand, so other tan what the car was worth, i got almost 5 grand on top of that, due to be holding onto all my receipts...

[TMag]

My insurance has customized parts and equipment coverage, but I will still hang on to receipts. I hope I have no use for it.

[jbp-ohio]

My insurance has a standard coverage of $1500 for mods.

[COLORADOMAGNUM]

Main thing is save your receipts. Need proof of all the $$$ you spent.

[lowriderman3]

Yea most insurance companies allow you to pay extra for mods...Just hope that someone else hits you, and then they pay for it.

[STAGE 3 R/T]

man i am screwed if somethin happends to mine! lol

[Ronin]

Should this really be a surprise? I was a claims adjuster back years ago and had to explain to people on more than one occasion that anytime you increase the value of the car, you in turn increase the exposure of the insurance company in the event in loss, which, of course in turn, allows the insurance company to collect more premium if you want those items covered if you file a claim. Each company has their own policy, and in addition to laws that vary from state to state, but all the receipts in the world won't mean anything if you weren't paying an additional premium to protect them (body kits, wheels, etc.) to begin with. Why don't people do it? They don't want their premium to increase, period. Kind of like finishing the basement of your $400K house and increasing it's value to $500K with that fancy home theater, etc. If you don't notify the insurance about their increased exposure (by way of the increased value), don't expect them to cover it if it burns to the ground.

If you're super mod crazy be careful of just going with an endorsement as opposed to a (stated) valued policy. The valued policy will assign a specific dollar value for which you'll pay a premium in the event of a loss. Typically, and it varies from company to company, the process can border on being painful. Having just gone though the process myself for a custom chopper, it was a lot more than just receipts. Pictures of the bike, garage, shop and anywhere it was going to spend any amount of time, details on the alarm system, type, number and type of sensors, etc., etc., etc. Each company has their own threshold, (which I more than crossed in this case) but if your looking for an $80K payout on a total loss of a maxed out '05 Mag R/T (which might only have a book value of $20K), they're most likely gonna want a lot of details. The problem with an endorsement is while it may cover $10K of aftermarket accessories, the way it's applied in a claim may vary very widely and subject to interpretation that's not exactly in your favor. Ask a lot of questions from your agent/company about how that works in the event of a loss. Don't expect to have a $10K endorsement and have that added to the book value of your vehicle in a total loss, it's not gonna work that way. Find out if/how they're gonna use depreciation. That $2K headunit might loose 20% a year, and you'll come up real short 3 short years later if the policy doesn't state or cover replacement value (as opposed to ACV/Actual Cash Value).

Also, total losses aren't exactly subject to the same type of negotiations that I found some of my claimants expecting. It's not like buying a car, it's a formula based on values established by the market (NADA, KBB, etc.) taken into consideration with the appraisal. There's really little room to negotiate, and expect a limited range like when you plug your vehicle into KBB to figure out it's trade in value.

Bottom line is it comes down to the old, "if you wanna play you gotta play" adage. Cover and protect yourself ahead of time; it's too late to do something once a loss happens. Hopefully they'll discount the policy if you were featured in any of the Moddin' Art videos!

Matty

[gremlinsteve]

shoot, its enough trouble getting insurance companies to pay for anything you insure through them these days. just think if you had a hurricane come through...

steve