Insurance for Mods?

mcpuck

Caught the Bug
Does anyone have additional insurance for their mods? :idontknow: If a rig gets stolen or crashed and the insurance only pays for stock, do you carry additional coverage for your mods?
Should we? Where do you find this type of insurance? :thinking:
 

rtguy1

New member
I've looked into this and have been told the vehicle is only covered for stock value regardless of any add ons. I have called several companies, including those listed here. I have progressive and have an additional 5k of coverage which costs a bit more every 6 months It's called CPE coverage, or custom parts and equipment coverage. 5k additional is the maximum they offer. Beyond this you would need a custom policy, or possibly a declared value type of policy.

It doesn't make any sense to me that an insurance company would charge a premium to cover a certain expected value of a vehicle, but include thousands of dollars of additional coverage at no extra cost because you added parts. Premiums are based on average market value of that particular vehicle. That would be like charging the same premium to insure a Toyota corolla and a fully loaded 7 series BMW. I hope no one finds out the hard way when it comes down to collecting for a claim. I could see them helping out with some extra parts, but not covering an extra 30k in prorock 60's and evo dtd.

With that said I have had custom vehicles that were damaged and had no problem with collision repairs, but the costs to repair were about the same as it would have been stock. I think the issue would come up if the vehicle was a total loss or stolen. I cannot believe an insurance company is gonna hand over 70k for a new rubi with 60's and EVO DTD that gets totaled when you pay for a standard policy to cover a stock rubi. Toss a new hemi in that equation for another 10k and it gets even more nuts.
 

GBOBVA

New member
I have added an additional equipment rider to my coverage with GEICO. I have sent them an itemized list of all mods and what I paid for them. The additional $10k of coverage costs me about $10 a month, and features replacement value (not just what I paid for it). Apparently this is VERY common for vehicles like jeeps. An added benefit of this is the protection of covered items in 'normal' use. When asked about what that means, the agent replied 'for example, a covered winch is designed to pull you out of bad places. If you are using your winch to pull you out (not another vehicle mind you) and the winch burns out, the policy will cover it.'. I did ask what GEICO's policy was if I did not declare the additional equipment up-front, the response was 'The standard policy would cover repair to stock, nothing more'.

Overall, I'm glad I did it.
 

Bessie

New member
Does anyone have additional insurance for their mods? :idontknow: If a rig gets stolen or crashed and the insurance only pays for stock, do you carry additional coverage for your mods?
Should we? Where do you find this type of insurance? :thinking:

As a former insurance agent and current claims supervisor I can tell you that the correct answer is . . . it depends.

On a first party claim, this is a claim between you and your insurance company, the policy language will dictate how the damage is paid. Most policies will pay to return the vehicle to OEM specs, the way it rolled off the assembly line. Dealer add-ons are not automatically included. With my insurance company, I am able to add additional coverage to pay for after-market upgrades or changes. Some carriers limit the amount of additional coverage. My carrier limits that coverage to $10,000.00. In my case, the additional coverage is for the difference between stock and the upgrade. As an example, I replaced my rear bumper and hitch. I would receive an allowance for OEM bumper and hitch if they were damaged. The additional insurance covers the gap between the OEM bumper and hitch versus my LoD bumper/hitch.

On a third party claim, this is when you are dealing with someone else's insurance, they are suppose to return the vehicle to it's pre-loss condition. Assuming there is no issue as to the amount of repairs versus the property damage limit, you should be able to have the repairs completed regardless of after-market parts or OEM. The insurance company may apply depreciation as part of their formal for the repairs. Items that are normally depreciated are tires and paint. If the paint on your vehicle is already damaged from rocks, brush and whatever else you encounter on the trail, the insurance company is not responsible to pay 100% for the pre-existing damage.

Receipts and pictures are always your best friends. Send a written request to your insurance agent (for those of you who have insurance agents) to get clarification as to how your insurance company will handle a first party claim. Be certain to include the pictures and receipts in your inquiry so that there is no question later. Request that they respond in writing and save the response. If the agent tells you it is covered then . . . it is covered. Either the insurance company will step in and honor the claim or you can file a claim with the agent's errors and omission coverage (similar to mal-practice for a doctor).

Hope this helps somewhat.
 

NFRs2000NYC

Caught the Bug
Does anyone have additional insurance for their mods? :idontknow: If a rig gets stolen or crashed and the insurance only pays for stock, do you carry additional coverage for your mods?
Should we? Where do you find this type of insurance? :thinking:

You need to call them and add the coverage. I have geico, and have all my stuff insured, just keep your mouth shut in regards to a winch.
 

NFRs2000NYC

Caught the Bug
I think as long as you have receipts, your insurance will cover.

No. If you have a $1200 AEV bumper, you are going to get paid for the stock bumper. If you want additional coverage, you must pay for it. I have about 6K of stuff insured (including my bumper, my rock rails, my sound system, my lighting, my spod, etc) and pay about $14 a month extra. Wheels/tires are a lot more money to insure, so I skipped that (about $100 a month) since wheels/tires are so often stolen. The OEM wheels/tires are worth money money retail, so just read between the lines on that one. ;)
 

NFRs2000NYC

Caught the Bug
I've looked into this and have been told the vehicle is only covered for stock value regardless of any add ons. I have called several companies, including those listed here. I have progressive and have an additional 5k of coverage which costs a bit more every 6 months It's called CPE coverage, or custom parts and equipment coverage. 5k additional is the maximum they offer. Beyond this you would need a custom policy, or possibly a declared value type of policy.

It doesn't make any sense to me that an insurance company would charge a premium to cover a certain expected value of a vehicle, but include thousands of dollars of additional coverage at no extra cost because you added parts. Premiums are based on average market value of that particular vehicle. That would be like charging the same premium to insure a Toyota corolla and a fully loaded 7 series BMW. I hope no one finds out the hard way when it comes down to collecting for a claim. I could see them helping out with some extra parts, but not covering an extra 30k in prorock 60's and evo dtd.

With that said I have had custom vehicles that were damaged and had no problem with collision repairs, but the costs to repair were about the same as it would have been stock. I think the issue would come up if the vehicle was a total loss or stolen. I cannot believe an insurance company is gonna hand over 70k for a new rubi with 60's and EVO DTD that gets totaled when you pay for a standard policy to cover a stock rubi. Toss a new hemi in that equation for another 10k and it gets even more nuts.

This. This post says it all. All the other stuff sounds like hearsay to me, or uninformed clerks. Insurance companies would be out of business REAL QUICK if they were charging for a stock vehicle, but had to shell out tens of thousands of dollars on top. Imagine Eddie's moby. The insurance company think they are insuring a stock JKU, and then come to find out it's a 100K vehicle. No dice, and I don't buy it for a second. Anyone to told you that "oh we cover it as long as you have receipts" sounds like an uninformed clerk to me. I urge all of you that *think* your mods are covered to get this in writing ( I suspect you will not be able to) otherwise you will be in for some financial hurt. BTW, this isn't directed at anyone here, including those making the claims. It seems to me that you are just repeating what you are told by the insurance company, but I just simply don't believe it since it makes zero business sense. I would be interested to know if someone here actually got something covered by insurance that was aftermarket and got full value for it.
 
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rtguy1

New member
I have added an additional equipment rider to my coverage with GEICO. I have sent them an itemized list of all mods and what I paid for them. The additional $10k of coverage costs me about $10 a month, and features replacement value (not just what I paid for it). Apparently this is VERY common for vehicles like jeeps. An added benefit of this is the protection of covered items in 'normal' use. When asked about what that means, the agent replied 'for example, a covered winch is designed to pull you out of bad places. If you are using your winch to pull you out (not another vehicle mind you) and the winch burns out, the policy will cover it.'. I did ask what GEICO's policy was if I did not declare the additional equipment up-front, the response was 'The standard policy would cover repair to stock, nothing more'.

Overall, I'm glad I did it.

i'm glad you posted. I failed to mention that I emailed back and forth with geico and they had said they would setup a custom policy to include parts. I was asked to send in an itemized list of parts with values and they would offer me a quote to cover it all. I havent followed through yet so this is just talk between me and an agent as of now.

As a former insurance agent and current claims supervisor I can tell you that the correct answer is . . . it depends.

On a first party claim, this is a claim between you and your insurance company, the policy language will dictate how the damage is paid. Most policies will pay to return the vehicle to OEM specs, the way it rolled off the assembly line. Dealer add-ons are not automatically included. With my insurance company, I am able to add additional coverage to pay for after-market upgrades or changes. Some carriers limit the amount of additional coverage. My carrier limits that coverage to $10,000.00. In my case, the additional coverage is for the difference between stock and the upgrade. As an example, I replaced my rear bumper and hitch. I would receive an allowance for OEM bumper and hitch if they were damaged. The additional insurance covers the gap between the OEM bumper and hitch versus my LoD bumper/hitch.

On a third party claim, this is when you are dealing with someone else's insurance, they are suppose to return the vehicle to it's pre-loss condition. Assuming there is no issue as to the amount of repairs versus the property damage limit, you should be able to have the repairs completed regardless of after-market parts or OEM. The insurance company may apply depreciation as part of their formal for the repairs. Items that are normally depreciated are tires and paint. If the paint on your vehicle is already damaged from rocks, brush and whatever else you encounter on the trail, the insurance company is not responsible to pay 100% for the pre-existing damage.

Receipts and pictures are always your best friends. Send a written request to your insurance agent (for those of you who have insurance agents) to get clarification as to how your insurance company will handle a first party claim. Be certain to include the pictures and receipts in your inquiry so that there is no question later. Request that they respond in writing and save the response. If the agent tells you it is covered then . . . it is covered. Either the insurance company will step in and honor the claim or you can file a claim with the agent's errors and omission coverage (similar to mal-practice for a doctor).

Hope this helps somewhat.

Excellent post. can you disclose your carrier please. I dont like my current limit of 5k:cheesy:
 

Bessie

New member
This. This post says it all. All the other stuff sounds like hearsay to me, or uninformed clerks. Insurance companies would be out of business REAL QUICK if they were charging for a stock vehicle, but had to shell out tens of thousands of dollars on top. Imagine Eddie's moby. The insurance company think they are insuring a stock JKU, and then come to find out it's a 100K vehicle. No dice, and I don't buy it for a second. Anyone to told you that "oh we cover it as long as you have receipts" sounds like an uninformed clerk to me. I urge all of you that *think* your mods are covered to get this in writing ( I suspect you will not be able to) otherwise you will be in for some financial hurt. BTW, this isn't directed at anyone here, including those making the claims. It seems to me that you are just repeating what you are told by the insurance company, but I just simply don't believe it since it makes zero business sense. I would be interested to know if someone here actually got something covered by insurance that was aftermarket and got full value for it.

One insurance company that I worked with had a policy wherein the policy language was vague with respect to first party claims (comprehensive and collision). They would charge the premium for a stock vehicle and then have to pay all of the after market upgrades. The biggest abusers were modified Hondas and Toyotas. People would put ground effects, exhaust systems, etc., and the carrier would have to pay the value of the aftermarket parts. Then, about 10 years ago, they re-wrote the policy to tighten the policy language so that they were only responsible for stock vehicles unless additional coverage was purchased. At renewal, all of the exiting policies had an endorsement added to the policy to amend the vague policy language.

Most of the other major carriers have followed suit.
 
i guess it all depends on the state you live in, your carrier and your agent. not all of our insurance policies are the same it seems. i am happy with my coverage(s). good luck


andrew -
 

Bessie

New member
i'm glad you posted. I failed to mention that I emailed back and forth with geico and they had said they would setup a custom policy to include parts. I was asked to send in an itemized list of parts with values and they would offer me a quote to cover it all. I havent followed through yet so this is just talk between me and an agent as of now.



Excellent post. can you disclose your carrier please. I dont like my current limit of 5k:cheesy:

You can purchase up to $10,000.00 of additional coverage, in $1000.00 blocks from Farmers.
 
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