Insurance help

[barr1340]

I contacted geico a few weeks ago asking to have my bolt on mods covered in case of a total loss. They got back to me with a big fat NO. They won't cover. I'm in michigan anyone have any ideas on what I can do or a company that may help?

[Adam]

Most companies will offer it. Geico, E-surance, The General... don't offer. Larger companies like Allstate, Progressive and such do offer it. Just depends on how bad you want your parts covered. I use Erie Insurance for my home and auto here. They have been good to me. They are a popular PA only (they may have expaneded some outside of PA) company. I got a hell of a deal through them with a $250 ded which was cheaper than my AllState $1000 ded insurance I had before (like half the cost). Just shop around. They don't care about customer loyalty.

[barr1340]

Do they insure your mods as well?

QUOTE=Adam;428220]Most companies will offer it. Geico, E-surance, The General... don't offer. Larger companies like Allstate, Progressive and such do offer it. Just depends on how bad you want your parts covered. I use Erie Insurance for my home and auto here. They have been good to me. They are a popular PA only (they may have expaneded some outside of PA) company. I got a hell of a deal through them with a $250 ded which was cheaper than my AllState $1000 ded insurance I had before (like half the cost). Just shop around. They don't care about customer loyalty.[/QUOTE]

[todds87ss]

Try Chrome. http://www.anpac.com/products/p_c/chrome/default.aspx

They have been a sponsor for the Hot Rod Power tour.

[ddcook08]

21st Century covers the value of the mods you indicate.

[Adam]

Do they insure your mods as well?

QUOTE=Adam;428220]Most companies will offer it. Geico, E-surance, The General... don't offer. Larger companies like Allstate, Progressive and such do offer it. Just depends on how bad you want your parts covered. I use Erie Insurance for my home and auto here. They have been good to me. They are a popular PA only (they may have expaneded some outside of PA) company. I got a hell of a deal through them with a $250 ded which was cheaper than my AllState $1000 ded insurance I had before (like half the cost). Just shop around. They don't care about customer loyalty.

They do cover my mods. It was pretty cheap too. Like $12 a year for every $1000 in parts.

[macvangelist]

A lot of the major carriers probably will not offer what any of us would consider adequate coverage for specialty modifications. They'll cover the car itself, but only as it would have been stock. I'd check with some specialty insurers like another posted recommended.

[wnt2gofst]

Usaa covers my stuff I asked. If wrecked they put the car back to way it was before wrecked. If totalled they said will cover up to 10k. Told me to keep reciepts of all I do

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[XplicitPerformance]

Insurance is a joke. Farmers just screwed me out of my vehicle and a lawsuit :(

[MongosG8]

Geico sucks!
I have Travelers under my Home owners and they insured everything thing aftermarket for me. No hesitation. Cost me 10 bucks a year

[travis gore]

I have State Farm and could not get a clear answer out of my agent. He said they do not write a policy for mods but if totaled and I had all the receipts that they could work something out. Sounds a little scary to me :)

I have heard good things about Hagerty but I have no personal experience with them.

[todds87ss]

Our biggest challenge on the coast is finding companies that will insure a home (so we can get that discount). Very limited. Pretty much have to settle with separate insurance for specialty cars.

[GT Drew]

Most mods don't add any value to the vehicle. Your Solo axle back exhaust, one stock muffler cost more to replace. Sonar LED tail lamps. Stock cost more. Aftermarket wheels, most cost less than the stock alloys. If you have a claim, you can work with the shop
and substitute your modded parts for the stock parts on the estimate. If your car is a total , then you de-mod same as if you are selling it. I have been with Motors Insurnace for years. GM only parts.

[Adam]

Grundy and Haggerty are FANTASTIC for special cars. It can't be your primary car, and Haggerty says you can't drive more then ~6000 miles a year. I have 4 cars through Grundy. Local insurance said my '99 30th Anniversary Track car TA 1 of 3 physical pace car was considered a '99 TA worth $7500. Grundy did a suggested value of that same car at $42,000 For only $144 a year ($12 a month to fully insure the car!!!).

So it really depends on what your needs are. If you have other cars you can drive as your primary, then you can get insurance like the 2 above mentioned companies. The G8 is my primary while my 7 others are for fun. I have a GMC Acadia SLT-2 Denali, but the wife drives it, and a G5 in the winter that are not on the same plan. So insurance works me a great deal when you have 10 cars going with any company. I have 7 cars with Grundy and 3 with Erie Insurance, which gives me the aftermarket coverage.

[Chewy]

Old thread alert!

I just signed up with Hagerty and am waiting for their approval. Yes, they have to approve you like no other insurance company I know. I had to take photo's of the car and everything.

I'm paying 670 a year which is ALL year, but there's a limit on the miles. Seeing that I went just over 10,000 a year with it as my DD I'm thinking if I put 3000 miles on it a year I'll be lucky. The price from Hagerty was about 200 bucks less than any other I could find and they had much better coverage and get rave reviews.

We'll see...

Chris

[MongosG8]

OK.. Im needing to look into them now myself. Sick of paying crazy rates through Travelers for a car I only put 4k on a year.
Granted I have a much higher policy that cover much more so maybe they can meet what coverage I have now with Travelers for a much cheaper rate.

[TonyKarter]

Read your policies guys. I rep for 17 auto insurers. All of mine have specific limiting language in their auto policy that limits their liability in the event an insured car has high performance modifications. If your car is stolen, or is destroyed by an act of nature, yes, they will most probably pay you for your hi-per additional equipment if you buy the additional equipment endorsement. Total it in a contest for speed (or just be "at fault" in a wreck)and you may collect nothing. And rest assured any legitimate company that you would want as your insurer also has verbiage such as this in their policy. Go with a specialty insurer that specializes in high performance cars if you want to be absolutely sure...and READ the policy they send you to MAKE SURE.

[Chewy]

Well Hagerty said they won't insure the G8 yet so don't bother.

I called Grundy and they said NO PROBLEM! They told me not to use it to run errands or anything like that. WTH? OK... Well, I still need to read over the policy before signing ANYTHING. They quoted me 325 for the YEAR!!!!

Seems fishy to me...

Tony, can you give me an idea of what to look for, both good and bad?

Chris

[TonyKarter]

Chewy,
$325 a year is about right, but it is a VERY LIMITED profile of coverage, with great limitations put on you. The classic car policies that I have sold in the past (and I have only sold a few, I specialize in church insurance) are designed for the collector who seldom drives their collectible car. They are designed to provide coverage for the occasional special event use, like for parade use, or a coffee and cars event. Like your agent said, more than occasional use, say you had to make a claim because you wrecked it driving your family to church...well, that could be construed by the company to mean every Sunday, a pattern of use, and that is more than occasional. They would most probably pay your claim, but would set you up for non-renewal. Also, the company may want to have some sort of odometer certification before writing the policy so that they could monitor mileage on the renewal survey to assess if you are abiding by the use agreement.

The auto insurance contract is basically a unilateral agreement. It does not require much of you. You have few duties under the contract. Mostly it is a promise by the insurer to perform in the event of a claim. All you are required to do is report an event promptly; keep good records after an event, and exercise care to prevent further damage to the car. The specialty car insurance contract is the same, but it adds among other things the owner requirement of limited use.

You are correct about reading the policy before you sign. Agents can download copies of the policies that they sell from the forms library available on the insurer's website, at any time, and a purchase of the product is not required for them to obtain a copy. For legal reasons the companies want ready public access to these, so don't let an agent tell you that you have to pass it to see what is in it. Get a copy and read it. The parts that will come back to haunt you are the limitations and the exclusions. Read those at least three times, because that is where the policy usually provides you the surprise at claims time. Highlight anything you want clarification on. Scan that section in, attach it to an email to the agent and ask your question in writing. Require the agent to respond in writing. You may need that in writing at a later date.

Chewy, guys, I doubt there is a collector car policy out there that will do what we need it to do. We drive our cars. It is an inconvenient reality that our pattern of use does not fit the underwriting requirements to qualify for this type of policy.

My job is to get people to consider but for a sobering moment the reality they will face the day they are standing on the side of the road watching their totaled car being towed away...and the totaled out van they plowed into that the ten badly injured lawyers were riding in. My job is to recommend adequate coverage that would help you provide for that potential moment when you and your family's financial future could be taken away forever because of your actions, and your failure to provide for this situation because you wanted to save a couple of bucks a month on insurance. Your totaled out car will be the least of your worries at that moment. You won't be thinking one little bit about your totaled out car at that moment, I guarantee you. Ask me how I know.

It happened a couple of years ago: My daughter's boyfriend was driving her in her new car (that was titled in my name) back to college and he failed to yield right-of-way. The other driver was badly injured. Because I owned the car I was primarily liable, her boyfriend's dad having secondary liability. I wasn't even there, yet I suffered the stress of having to worry about losing everything I had worked for, and the forfeiture of my income stream in the future. I had $100,000 per person liability limits. I thought that was enough. It wasn't. They buzzed through that in about three weeks of accrued medical expenses, then used up most of his dad's $100,000 too. Anything awarded them over our combined $200,000 liability coverage would have come back to me and came out of my pocket through an abstracted judgment. I now have $500,000 per person liability, and I know that is still probably not enough. Apparently I enjoy the thrill of running with scissors. Guys, you don't want to mess around with trying to save a few bucks on insurance. I can tell you with great certainty that the stress and mental anguish you will experience worrying about your future for two years before they release you from further liability is not worth the savings you made cutting your insurance costs. When the legal wolves are at your front door wanting all of your blood you are going to want to have bought enough coverage to throw at them that you know for damn sure that amount of coverage will satisfy their demands, make them whole, happy...and make them go away.

If you are looking to save money, buying a non-standard auto policy is not the way to be cutting corners. I recommend you go with a standard auto policy from at least an A-rated company. Also, and most important, buy at least $300,000 per person liability, and more if possible. We are talking at most $20-25/month over state minimum limits. Show some compassion for your fellow man. How would you feel if your actions injured someone and you were not able to provide for their care and recovery? I would not be able to live with myself...

Buy a personal excess liability umbrella policy too. Finally, if you remember none of the above, remember this: If you are at fault in any situation that could even remotely be viewed as a "contest for speed" there is not a policy out there that is going to pay for the damage you cause or that will provide a legal defense for you. It's in your exclusions. Read it.

[Chewy]

Awesome read Tony! Thanks! I'm thinking I'll increase the bodily injury and property damage liability to 500,000 from the 300,000 they have it at now, if they'll do it.
Here are PDF's of the important stuff on my Grundy Collector Car Insurance. If you'd be so kind to look it over and tell me what you think, I'd be indebted to you. :first:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42414670/INSURANCE%20G8%202013

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42414670/INSURANCE%20G8%20%232%202013

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42414670/INSURANCE%20G8%20%233%202013

What I liked about Grundy is they don't charge you for months they KNOW you won't be driving it. If it leaves the garage this winter, it'll be because the house is on fire. lol I live in the snow belt and the car will be in hibernation for over 6 months.

[TonyKarter]

Chewy,
Is 5000 miles enough? Also, can you strictly and without deviation abide by the conditions set forth on the signature page? Other than the G8, do owned cars equal or exceed the number of licensed drivers in you household?

This is a quote/application. It is not the policy. I recommend obtaining the policy and all endorsement forms that modify it, which should be many on a policy like this. Read them before signing. The declarations page will list an endorsement section, but you won't get a dec page until you actually buy the policy. It will contain a litany of endorsement numbers (like TX-0272 07 06). Each of these modify the policy, and usually not to your advantage. These are as important or more important than the copy of the policy the agent can give you, so ask him to review a recent policy he has sold so that he can make sure that he gives you copies of all of the endorsements your policy is also likely to contain. If he hedges doing this, ask him to obtain the full policy jacket of an existing recent policy he wrote for someone else, REDACT THE PERSONAL INFORMATION from it and give you a copy of it. For the commission he will make on a $325 policy he may just tell you that it is too much trouble, and, quite frankly, it is.

Also, the policy may state that their liability is considered excess liability to your primary policy, and only pays after your primary policy's limits are exhausted. If so, it is incumbent on you to verify with your primary policy agent that your primary policy will provide primary coverage to this policy. Get everything in writing. You should explore that at length with the agent. Your state may allow "stacking" of liability coverage, and if so is this policy primary or secondary?

Explore with your primary agent if your pirmary company requires that all vehicles owned in the household MUST be on THEIR policy. Had this situation occur just this week. Most companies do! If they insure that type of vehicle they want it on there. Your primary company may non-renew your primary auto policy if the G8 is not on there. Obviously they have a list of vehicles that they will not insure and don't mind if you insure elsewhere...in fact they want you to...ultra high-value and/or ultra high performance vehicles. Our G8 is not one of them.

Finally, just how much money will you save a year by buying this policy and not listing the G8 on your primary auto policy? Is the possible risk of this policy not performing due to their post-claim characterization of your vehicle use as inappropriate worth the savings and potential collection headaches?


I know how negative this all sounds, but I get paid to do other people's worrying for them!

[TonyKarter]

Oh yeah, almost forgot...for the months you don't drive it you can do almost the same thing on your primary policy. Just keep comprehensive coverage on it and exclude the liability portion of the coverage, so if the house does burn you will have coverage.

[Chewy]

AWESOME info Tony! THIS is what I was looking for. I just called Grundy and didn't go through anyone in particular.

5,000 miles is MORE than enough. With two very young kids and two other DD's, the G8 would only be driven on special occasions. Hell, it's 5 years old and has almost 53,000 on it now and it was a DD.

Can/will you write me a policy?

Chris

[TonyKarter]

I sure wish I could, but I am not licensed in Iowa. I used to be a captive agent for GuideOne based in Des Moine. Great company. You should try your auto and home with them. Their rates are very hard to beat.

[fengstang]

Tony, you sell insurances?

Sent from my S4 next to your sister's mother.

[Chewy]

Yeah, now I'm TOTALLY lost and don't know where to go... UGH! Information overload me thinks!

[STL_G8GT]

Yeah, now I'm TOTALLY lost and don't know where to go... UGH! Information overload me thinks!

That was quick ;) on a lighter note, love that you're keeping the G, Chris.

[TonyKarter]

Yes. Get to help people every day, does my soul good. Chewy, i don' rep for
Grundy, but i'll call them Monday and see if they will email me a copy of their policy. If so I can email it to you.

[Chewy]

That was quick ;) on a lighter note, love that you're keeping the G, Chris.

Yeah, I don't want to make the wrong decision. I sent an email to Grundy to get the policy and asked them if I can increase the coverage from 300,000 to 500,000. Tony, your offer is amazing and above and beyond what's necessary. I appreciate it all!

It made no sense to get rid of the G8. I got it for a STEAL! Even the woman at the DMV commented on the deal. lol


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