General insurance question

[JerryG]

I know that the accurate answer will come from our individual states and policy provisions but I have a general question that hopefully someone can answer.

If someone has a policy for an example for a vehicle with a purchase of $50k. They subsequently add $25k of 3'rd party modifications. In the event of an accident where the vehicle is not totaled and below the depreciated $50k policy limit do insurance policies include damage to the modifications or only for the parts that were stock?

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[DaddyO]

EAsy, if you added the option to cover mods, yes. if not, no. Look at your policy and ask your agent. In TEXAS. Hook 'em.

 

[JerryG]

Personally I need to replace my insurance as Geico won't insure above the original purchase price and I'm taking much more of a self insurance risk than I feel comfortable taking.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

For my state, unless you SPECIFICALLY call out costs of modifications on your policy, no, they won't pay out for those. I have never done any modifications that I felt were worth calling out, so I have not personally done it, but I do know it is an option to call it out on my policy.

That said, they're insurance companies, and the vast majority (I presume) are going to try to get out of paying for them, or pay as little as possible for them, to save a buck for their investors. That's just their MO - they try to pay as little as possible whenever there is a claim. I once had an insurance company (years ago) try to offer me $1500 for a fifth wheel that was damaged in a storm, and subsequently had massive water damage inside because of it (rubber roof was torn). RV dealer inspected and said no, it's worth far more than that, and this is the ONLY external damage on the rig. They wanted it pressurized to determine if that leak actually caused the damage, the closest place to do so was 8 hours away...insurance company finally relented and offered us fair market value. Anecdotal evidence but I'm sure most people who have dealt with them have a similar story.

 

[projectbadlands]

CA here with Progressive Insurance. They told me, if its BOLTED to the car, its covered under my policy. I had a KC Hilites Pro 6 light bar stolen off my Bronco and they covered my replacement minus my deductible.

 

[CarGuy]

I still can’t get past putting $25k into a $50k vehicle. Albeit, it depends on your insurance and policy. Best to ask your agent.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

CA here with Progressive Insurance. They told me, if its BOLTED to the car, its covered under my policy. I had a KC Hilites Pro 6 light bar stolen off my Bronco and they covered my replacement minus my deductible.

I'm fairly certain it varies from state to state and company to company. Some do, some don't, some will if you pay extra. But I don't know of anyone who modified a vehicle with a significant amount of cash who got that extra back out of it when something happened. Buddy of mine got his '87 GTA stolen, it was found completely stripped 2 weeks later, he had a good $6-7k in performance parts installed, even with receipts, insurance company only gave him market value for the car.

 

[Brian_B]

I still can’t get past putting $25k into a $50k vehicle. Albeit, it depends on your insurance and policy. Best to ask your agent.

Doesn’t even get you portals installed.

 

[bassist]

Read your policy.

This is the only right answer.

 

[GoHawks63]

I worked in the industry for years (in IT). There is usually a limit on aftermarket accessories (usually a pretty small amount) unless you purchase extra coverage for it.

If you spent $25K in upgrades, there is no way you’ll get compensated for that unless you purchase additional coverage, and even with that you’ll get Actual Cash Value (ACV) which is a deprecated amount. It won’t be Replacement Cost.

Now… you can look into a Stated Value Policy where you set a value of what you want covered and then you’ll pay a premium commensurate with that.

I have both my CTS-V and Roush Mustang convertible insured through Hagerty for a stated value of what I think they are worth.

Now I didn’t pick that value out of the air. I have gone to auction sites to get comps for what the cars are selling for on the open market and then Adjust for the condition my cars are in and the upgrades I made to them. If the cars are stolen or totaled, I get the stated value of the amount that I insured the vehicles.

Now some insurers like Hagerty won’t insure just anything. They will only cover exotics or “special” vehicles and won’t just insure some guy’s new Mustang GT. Also Hagerty requires that it not be your daily driver (the Bronco is mine and it’s insured through a different carrier). Mileage is usually capped at something like less than 5K a year, but not all specialty vehicle carriers have the same requirements.

I chose Hagerty because they have a pretty good reputation for their claim service and from a mileage perspective, I only put about 2K miles each per year on the Roush and Cadillac.

Good luck!

 

[GoHawks63]

CA here with Progressive Insurance. They told me, if its BOLTED to the car, its covered under my policy. I had a KC Hilites Pro 6 light bar stolen off my Bronco and they covered my replacement minus my deductible.

Your lights are relatively inexpensive and are usually covered under a “special equipment” endorsement which has a relatively low limit.

I would bet that if you had put $10K in mods and the car was stolen and not recovered or it was totaled, you would get a fraction of what you put in. Bolted on to the car or not.

 

[DBX2]

I still can’t get past putting $25k into a $50k vehicle. Albeit, it depends on your insurance and policy. Best to ask your agent.

I worked in the industry for years (in IT). There is usually a limit on aftermarket accessories (usually a pretty small amount) unless you purchase extra coverage for it.

If you spent $25K in upgrades, there is no way you’ll get compensated for that unless you purchase additional coverage, and even with that you’ll get Actual Cash Value (ACV) which is a deprecated amount. It won’t be Replacement Cost.

Now… you can look into a Stated Value Policy where you set a value of what you want covered and then you’ll pay a premium commensurate with that.

I have both my CTS-V and Roush Mustang convertible insured through Hagerty for a stated value of what I think they are worth.

Now I didn’t pick that value out of the air. I have gone to auction sites to get comps for what the cars are selling for on the open market and then Adjust for the condition my cars are in and the upgrades I made to them. If the cars are stolen or totaled, I get the stated value of the amount that I insured the vehicles.

Now some insurers like Hagerty won’t insure just anything. They will only cover exotics or “special” vehicles and won’t just insure some guy’s new Mustang GT. Also Hagerty requires that it not be your daily driver (the Bronco is mine and it’s insured through a different carrier). Mileage is usually capped at something like less than 5K a year, but not all specialty vehicle carriers have the same requirements.

I chose Hagerty because they have a pretty good reputation for their claim service and from a mileage perspective, I only put about 2K miles each per year on the Roush and Cadillac.

Good luck!

We use Auto Owners because in our area they are the only ins company that will do “replacement cost” and OEM parts (at an add-on cost of course).

 

[adam1991]

I still can’t get past putting $25k into a $50k vehicle. Albeit, it depends on your insurance and policy. Best to ask your agent.

yeah. Pay to play, IMHO. It's like a third party engine tune where if the mfr can detect it, damages that result from it aren't covered under mfr warranty. Same thing here--insurance wants your VIN to understand what they're protecting. Add-ons aren't covered.

Pay to play.

 

[adam1991]

Read your policy.

This is the only right answer.

Read your policy, refuse to believe it because you don't like it, and go to Reddit to shop for an answer you do like.

That's our world today.

 

[wgw]

I know that the accurate answer will come from our individual states and policy provisions but I have a general question that hopefully someone can answer.

If someone has a policy for an example for a vehicle with a purchase of $50k. They subsequently add $25k of 3'rd party modifications. In the event of an accident where the vehicle is not totaled and below the depreciated $50k policy limit do insurance policies include damage to the modifications or only for the parts that were stock?

My insurance co agent told me if you have the receipts for extras it will be covered, and that asnt a state thing but a company thing

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