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Insurance Company stuff - (seriously modded cars only)

3K views 46 replies 25 participants last post by  bensenvill 
#1 ·
what company insures you? - (seriously modded cars only)

I'm not talking about "oh i've got a wing and rims"...

i mean, those of you who have cars that are SERIOUSLY modified... front to back, inside and out. - bodykit, paint, hood, seats, audio, wheels, the whole deal...

what Insurance company insures your car, and do they KNOW you have all that stuff on your car?



The reason I ask is that my mom and I are having a wee bit of trouble.
See, the thing is, my mother is a very honest person, infact i believe more people should be as nice, honest and caring as she is, however, this time, it turned out work against her.... us....

Seeing as how much I had modified the cougar, she called up our insurance company to find out what the deal would be with insuring a modified car.
We were told "well, you should get the car appraised so we can create an insurance plan that will be better for you." (i posted about that a month or 2 ago...)
anyway, appraisal came back... cougar blue book value = $9000cdn, appraised value - $17,000cdn *yay....but..... sh!t*.

We renew our insurance thing every 6 months, and as of February, the company that we are with now (who told us to get appraised so they could give us a different plan) said that the car is TOO modified, and they will not insure it.
Thats what we get for being honest i guess... we tell them we have a modded car, and they screw us. They didn't say "no, we dont insure modified cars" they just said "oh, its modified, ok, well have it appraised, and we will work something out" :mad: ... and we can't "undo" the appraisal... cause its already recorded.
So, we've been looking around, and all we seem to be running into are brick walls... one place would only do it if the car was older than 15 years. Another said they don't insure 'lowered' cars - yes... even ONE inch like i am right now (max height on GC's)


So im just curious about you guys and girls, who have / had really extensive work done... i need some advice on what how i should proceed.
Thoughts from my mom have been to just sign a waiver and have them insure the car for ONLY the blue book value, which is what i'm thinking of doing - then with money saved, go out and buy a second car, and keep the cougar only for weekends / fun.


Thanks for reading and any help you can give! :)
 
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#3 ·
My insurance company was really cool about everything. I brought the car to em they took tons of pics of everything and had it appraised but that appraisale was more then i paid for the car. So i just insured it for what i wanted if i ever totaled it and that was that.
 
#4 ·
heh, and so i begin my list... even if Statefarm is American only, its good to at least have a name :) thanks Gerald!


and rich - thats a nice story, but what insurance company WAS it? :tongue: - i'm trying to get names here, not start a chatter thread. heh :)
 
#5 ·
This is interesting... i just thought that insurance companies cover whatever you've got on your car, regardless of modded or not, so long as you can prove you had it (in case of theft, etc.)

On a side note, State Farm is the best when the person that hits you has them... cut you a check the next day. :thumbsup:
 
#6 ·
Originally posted by: ignernt
This is interesting... i just thought that insurance companies cover whatever you've got on your car, regardless of modded or not, so long as you can prove you had it (in case of theft, etc.)

On a side note, State Farm is the best when the person that hits you has them... cut you a check the next day. :thumbsup:
If this was the case, I wouldn't be paying $500 a month for a car to sit in a trailer..
 
#7 ·
state farm is the insurance god:bowdown:

girlfriend was driving my pickup truck and wreck the SOB into a ditch, covert, and tree all at the same time and totally mangled the truck up. the appraiser looked at it and decided it had come to around 10,000 dollars worth of damage, this truck is a 95 ranger (cheap trucks usually). but he seen that i had modded everything on it and started asking questions about stuff. i told him straight out that i had a big suspension lift put on it and bigger wheels and tires and all that crap. he asked me what that stuff would cost brand new from the highest dealer and i told him and that's what they paid me. my insurance didn't go up at all and they even covered it under my name, so that was cool. they just knew that roads are slippery on ice and sometimes you just HAVE to be out in the stuff.

if you want more stories of state farm insurance, just ask me when i'm sober and i can name off at least 10 or so times we've had to deal with them at my house and they are all positive.
 
#8 ·
I have State Farm as well... when I signed up I took the car and asked many questions.. basically what would happen if I was in an accident and theft.. I specifically voiced my concerns on if stock parts had to go back.. what my agent told me was that the car will be returned to its same conditions no questions asked. His basic concerns were only if the car had some sorta extreme engine mods. after I signed the papers he went outside and took about 5 pictures of the car and the various mods he thought might become damaged as proof. Since then the car has changed 100% but I didn't feel it necessary make him update his records with new pics when the car is probably going to change again.

What I do though is document my mods myself with my own pictures just incase I ever do have to provide pics of what was on it if I need to file a claim. I think I pay about 75.00 a month for full coverage on the car -- if you can get them as a carrier Matt you should.. just make sure the agent can see your car before you sign shizzy sight unseen.

ALSO.. keep all your receipts for major cosmetic mods and all body work you get done.
 
#9 ·
I have USAA and couldn't be happier. They are quick to respond to incident reports and pay promptly. Best part is that they are like a Credit Union. You can't get them unless you are in or have been in the armed services or are married to or a dependent of a member. My father was in the Air Force for 27 years. I was insured through USAA under his plan until I moved out and I am now insured on my own by USAA. Best part is at the end of each year, you get a check for a percentage of your annual premium. Mine this year was $82. I have two cars with two people on the plan, me and my wife. My annual premiums are about $1200. My rebate equates to a near 7% discount. Can't beat them!!!
 
#10 ·
New Jersey Manufacturers here ... pay $750/yr (im only 22 yrs old). They will cover ANYTHING on the car as long as I have receipts. Plus I have really low deductables -- like $200 or less. They also base their rates differently. If you buy a car and there are 4 people in your house that can legally drive. The car isnt just insured for whoever bought it -- but insured for all 4 drivers no matter what.

Pe@ce
 
#12 ·
yea state is the best. i have it on my cougar, full coverage and its not even expensive. every piece of my car is covered also. including system and hood for just a tiny bit more.
 
G
#14 ·
ND4SPD: State Farm IS in Canada, as they have agent locations in Toronto ;) Try checking them out. Don't know, they may just not be in Ottawa yet, but they are in Canada. They are expensive though, I have a friend who is with them and worked for them. Maybe though you will get what you pay for :shrug:

Good luck with that.
 
#15 ·
I love you all!

from my mother and myself, i thank each of you for helping me out. :)

As soon as i mentioned that alot of you used Statefarm, she imediately said "oh! i know that company, i'll call them up monday!" heh, my mom knew it was Canadian, but i wasn't sure Anthea. :)
Either way, it might be expencive, but it sounds like my mom wants me to have that 'piece of mind' thing, so if we each end up paying 50/50 and have everything covered, i might as well.


and ya Don - i THOUGHT that was the way it was too... that they just insure everything, so long as you pay for the extra insurance. but apparently not, and their problem wasn't with my audio or interior work, it was the fact that i changed the body pieces! :confused: all ive got is a very old DZ bumper, Z3's and side skirts, which would all cost less than their OEM counterparts :shrug: oh well... this is the reason why i posted! heheh



Thanks again everyone!
 
#17 ·
StateFarm took care of me when I was hit by a fellow Neco Member who had StateFarm. I was rear ended at Bash.

StateFarm replaced all my aftermarket parts... I had enough money left over to buy some additional parts as well. As like ND4SPD said aftermarket parts are sometimes cheaper than OEM parts, but not always!
 
#18 ·
As far as my insurance company knows (Nationwide) I own a 02 V6 cougar, that's it. I didn't bother to insure it for anymore; because I really don't think it is necessary. If I were ever to get in an accident and for instance bust up my bumpers or something - the OEM ones from Ford cost about the same, so it wouldn't make much of a difference. Plus, my agent is a close friend of the family so should something go wrong, I'm sure it would be all taken care of.
 
#19 ·
yeah Kel, that is basically my other option... only get insurance for the CAR -> a 1999 black v6 cougar... and sign a waiver saying that any damage to my aftermarket stuff is concidered "oh well, thats a shame"
Sucks, but that what i thought it would come to - and it still may, depending on what SF says on Monday when i call them up :)
 
#20 ·
I was told the same two things when I called my insurance company (AllState)....I either have to have a "Stated Value Policy" which is the appraisal.......OR it has to be an older car (mainly like a classic for shows and stuff like that)........

One thing that may work out, is if you have a decent relationship with a body shop in your area, when they go to order your "OEM" parts, just see if they'd order the aftermarket pieces instead. Most of the time, as most of us know, the OEM parts are way more expensive........I know people that have had body shops do that, and told them to keep the difference of the insurance money.......
 
G
#21 ·
i have 21st century for my cougar and now my EVO, and EVERY PIECE OF AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT IS COVERED, it is called "extended coverage, and it is a dollar amount of aftermarket goods. so i have 50,000 of aftermarket coverage.
 
#22 ·
I have statefarm as well.. they are AWESOME. there rates are HALF as much as everyone else i checked out.. which was pretty much everyone i could find in the phone book.
So far the only claims i made were locksmith twice cause i locked my keys in twice and 2 windsheilds.. rates stayed the same and they cut you a check for comp when you walk in. Plus the longer you are with them the better rates they give you as long as you keep a good record.
 
#23 ·
i called gieco and statefarm , progressive and bunch of others this time last year. statefarm i had one to many speeding tickets. ( 2 and one of them was about to hit its 3 year removal time) so i got rejected there .. i called gieco and told them i wanted to insure my 96 ranger and my cougar. they asked me straight out if i modded each one or spent over a 100 dollars on upgrades. i said no to the truck and i said yes to the car.. she asked me to break it down some more on how much i spent on the car. i started with the body kit and the hood and the fenders . she then interrupted me and said ,," how much have you spent on your car in total?" i told her. she said "oh my,m ummm mr knibbs can you hold one sec?" i said sure and about 4 minutes later a supervisor came on the phone and told me there is no way that gieco could insure me . and hung up .. hahahahah so i called a local broker and they searched around for me me and saved me almost 200 a month .. but i neglected to tell them about the mods , cuz my mom has the same company and they have a policy that if you can either come up with the stock parts or the reciept then your set.. in fact it did happen when my brother totalled his cougar.. he had to come up with the reciept for his intake, system and exhaust and they gave him a check for all that stuff. but next time i renew i might ask for extended coverage anyway to avoid all questions and hassels in the future since my car is finished ..
 
#24 ·
haha "oh my mr.knibbs" :tongue: thats classic. hahaha, yeah, a little more than 100 bucks.
i guess Geico is off my list.

and yeah Chris - one place told me that if it was an older car, (15+ years) they could insure it :(

Rob - damn... 50,000 heh, you must sleep very comfortably at night know your stuff is 100% safe! heh.
 
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