Who Insures your Modified Rig?

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We had a thread like this for BMW sport models like M3's & such in local BMW CCA board.

One guy who is a lawyer / BMW CCA guy & reads the yearly contracts / user agreements said to find your local mutual of_______ agency.

The big guys have gone to a new trick of non-OE parts for wrecks, and non-OE glass as part of cost cutting. No exceptions.

My longstanding Farmers policy turns out was a joke, I'm now on a stated value policy with Mutual of Enumclaw who is cool with it as my daily. No wrecks on record, my commute is short but miles aren't capped-but low miles helped.
It's just over $400/ 6mo. -I do have 1 speed ticket & a no seatbelt ding, so not perfect record.

Better policy & slight less $$ than my Farmers w/ the speed points.
 
So an agreed value policy would be ideal, but you would mostly likely be shelling out quite a bit of dough for it, especially if it's a daily driver? And that's assuming an insurance company would even agree to one?


That's basically the case :meh:

For my '29 coupe and '69 Road Runner, it was only $400 a year for a $40,000 agreed policy through Hagerty :)

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No mileage limit on either car as long as I have a fully insured primary vehicle :cool:

To tell you the truth, I only WISH sumthin were to happen to either one cause there's no way I could get $40k for either of them if I tried to sell in the current market :redface:

If I could actually insure my rig for what I feel she's worth to me using an agreed value policy, I'd buy another daily beater just have that contract cause nothing scares me more than to have some insurance company give me peanuts in the case of a total loss :bang:
 
98 SNAKE EATER is spot on with the Stated v. Agreed value insurance. I was an insurance broker for 14 years until I recently left the industry and switched careers. I can assure you a standard "full coverage" insurance policy will screw you if your highly modified cruiser is damaged or stolen. Standard policies are written on an actual cash value basis so it is the value of a stock cruiser less depreciation.

You also need to be wary of what insurance brokers tell you. 98 SNAKE EATER has a far better understanding of insurance than 99% of brokers because most insurance brokers are sales people and have never actually sat down to read what the policy says. Remember an insurance policy is a contract and the insuring company will only do what they are required to do.
 
All you need to do is don't tell your insurance its modified if they ask question , I insured my modified 97 LC for over 10years at Farmers cost me just under 500 a year , they ask me one time but I just told them its stock and off they go .
 
^^I think the OP is asking how to insure it to get maximum value from the insurance company, given a wreck. If you tell them it's stock, that's what they are going to pay...not the $$ for the additional mods.

FWIW, I don't even have full coverage on mine...if it's too expensive for me to fix, I'll part it out and buy another.
 
Go with AAA, they gave me full coverage with 50/100k plus $25k coverage in special equipment, meaning anything permanently attached to your truck or inside your truck for $650 a year. I called Geico, State Farm, Mercury, Progressive, and Farmers, none of them offer more than $3000 in special equipment and their rates were around 1200 for the same coverage.

Progressive allowed me $5000 additional coverage using the website. I've considered calling to see if I can add additional coverage.
No mileage limit on either car as long as I have a fully insured primary vehicle :cool:

My dad has collector insurance on his 55 Chevy truck but it does have a really low mileage limit. IIRC 2000 miles per year.
 
My dad has collector insurance on his 55 Chevy truck but it does have a really low mileage limit. IIRC 2000 miles per year.


Hagerty gave me no mileage limit.

They said the majority of the old cars they insure don't even have functional/calibrated odometers.

Their only rules are that you have a primary vehicle that's fully insured and that the collector vehicle is not to be used for work, run errands or as a secondary vehicle in case of the primary breaking down.

It also needs to be garaged at night, but there are exceptions like when traveling for car shows like the HotRod Power tour.
 
I was worried about this too with my Cummings conversion and other mods. Had my agent look around for additional coverage. Safe-co had full coverage plus $5000 in customization for an extra $300 a year for a total of $916 a year. not the best but better than nothing.
 
@98 SNAKE EATER
My g-g'pa owned a Chrysler dealership. My uncle, for his 16th bday, got the most loaded '69 Road Runner ever to come off the assembly line, including the 426 hemi. Only option it didn't have was wooden gear shift knob. A guy in Lubbock bought it from him back in the early 90's. It's now worth about $175K.
Hijack off!
 
^^I think the OP is asking how to insure it to get maximum value from the insurance company, given a wreck. If you tell them it's stock, that's what they are going to pay...not the $$ for the additional mods.

FWIW, I don't even have full coverage on mine...if it's too expensive for me to fix, I'll part it out and buy another.

sometimes I think this really is the right strategy, I have considered just removing my comp from my vehicle but the cost for the comp is minimal, most likely if something major were to happen I would part the vehicle and get another or go with another type of cruiser. Especially with heavy front and rear bumpers any minor collision is going to damage the other guys car and not mine anyhow. Sometimes it may make sense to just keep the insurance as low as possible and save for a rainy day.

edit: an example of the above, my wife was driving the cruiser when I was building my 4x4 labs rear bumper. At a stoplight she thought it was in D, nope it was in R, literally drove up onto a brand new mercedes hood, opened it up like a can opener. LOL. Not a scratch to my vehicle.
 
I'm more concerned with theft than a collision
 
Me too. I'm afraid my truck will take a vacation south of the border without me.
 
I have full coverage thru ESurance on my 2011 camry and my 93 cruiser. Cost me under $700 every 6 months for full coverage on both plus the maximum additional equipment insurance on the cruiser which I want to say is $4500-$5500 which cover stuff like the winch and stereo and oversized tires etc...
 
Hagerty gave me no mileage limit.

They said the majority of the old cars they insure don't even have functional/calibrated odometers.

Their only rules are that you have a primary vehicle that's fully insured and that the collector vehicle is not to be used for work, run errands or as a secondary vehicle in case of the primary breaking down.

It also needs to be garaged at night, but there are exceptions

As a Hagerty customer too ('68 Camaro, not too special) - I have the same policy --agreed $20k value for it, $200 annual premium because it's stored in a locked building.

The little research you do up front really pays - I've yet to replace a windshield in the 80, but Farmers only buys you a cheap China one for BMW's & nobody has had good luck with bumper covers, doors, hoods, etc.

Both my Mutual/Enumclaw & my Hagerty policies are transparent about what happens in event of wreck - Hagerty is especially cool with buying parts & you picking repair place (or you can do it). The Mutual policy with my pics / receipts got me the same setup where I only show current state to make a claim & it'll get me back to whatever was shown when setting up policy or better if I have pics of newer items - easy since we all have a camera in phones now.
 
am I correct in thinking that any insurance company has to insure you for what the actual resale value of the vehicle would of been? meaning if it is modified and they insured it they have to pay out what the truck was actually worth? ie: if you can show that other similar rigs sold for well over blue book they have to cover a similar amount? I thought the burden of knowing what they are insuring is on the insurance company and not the consumer? I thought I read this somewhere but might be totally off. It would be interesting to hear from someone within the industry. Sorry if I hijacked, did not mean to.

With Mercury here in CA. Haven't told them about the mods. My understanding and from a body shop estimator who deals with accidents for a living - some insurance companies will cover automatically if you show them receipts for the mods. Others, Mercury included is a separate schedule for which you'll bend over for coverage. I think it's even as bad as an aftermarket radio, much less lift, bumpers, roof rack, etc.

Me - accepting the risk and have just basic coverage on the truck.
 
I recently changed my home and auto from State Farm to Geico (Liberty Mutual fro the house) after State Farm nailed me to a cross over the theft of a life-time's worth of tools stolen from my locked garage. Geico asked me if the cruiser had any add-ons, and the value for each, no questions at all on the 91 Miata with 29k original miles or the hammered-on '08 E550. I asked if the accessories on the cruiser were figured into the replacement value of the cruiser in the event of any "mishaps" and the agent said "yes". And the total policy is a little less then 2/3 of my State Farm cost. What a deal.
Another little tidbit: About four years ago, we had the mother of all hail storms here, and my cruiser got caught out in it at DFW airport. We came back from Cali to get into a truck that looked like it had been through WW3. Of course State Farm wanted to total it, for a repair bill of $4500. The guy on the phone was being flippant, and told me they would give me the $4500 or replace it with a "like vehicle". I said, okay, find me another one. He called back the next week and said they "would fix mine, and oh, by the way, the estimator goofed, we need to add another $400 for the cracked sunroof. Where should we send the check?"
Insurance is like a box o' chocolates....
 
I recently changed my home and auto from State Farm to Geico (Liberty Mutual fro the house) after State Farm nailed me to a cross over the theft of a life-time's worth of tools stolen from my locked garage. Geico asked me if the cruiser had any add-ons, and the value for each, no questions at all on the 91 Miata with 29k original miles or the hammered-on '08 E550. I asked if the accessories on the cruiser were figured into the replacement value of the cruiser in the event of any "mishaps" and the agent said "yes". And the total policy is a little less then 2/3 of my State Farm cost. What a deal.
Another little tidbit: About four years ago, we had the mother of all hail storms here, and my cruiser got caught out in it at DFW airport. We came back from Cali to get into a truck that looked like it had been through WW3. Of course State Farm wanted to total it, for a repair bill of $4500. The guy on the phone was being flippant, and told me they would give me the $4500 or replace it with a "like vehicle". I said, okay, find me another one. He called back the next week and said they "would fix mine, and oh, by the way, the estimator goofed, we need to add another $400 for the cracked sunroof. Where should we send the check?"
Insurance is like a box o' chocolates....
I was in that same hail storm across the street from DFW airport and my 2004 4x4 sonoma got obliterated. AAA gave me $5000 for the damage.

I think my best options are to call a Mutual company and Hagertys and see what they say. I have 5 vehicles so maybe I can get a group discount where ever I end up.
 
I think it differs by state. I have USAA, and my '96 would cost $800/year for full coverage with a $300 deductible in MN. They tell me that aftermarket parts are covered up to $5000 beyond the normal value of a stock vehicle.

Oh - and I am waaaay more paranoid about theft than getting into an accident. Not that I live in a bad neighborhood, but tires, bumpers, roof racks, winches.... They are all highly visible exterior mods. They attract good and bad attention.
 

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