I have been talking to my step dad (hes one of the know it all guys) and he's been telling me that if I were to modify the performance of my car at all, reguardless of whether it comes installed from the dealership or voids my warranty, I would have to tell my insurance company what I have done and how much hp the car has gained, because "once you start adding hp, insurance companies think that there is more of a risk, ultimately leading to higher insurance rates." He also states that if I were to get into an accident and failed to report the mods that theres a good chance the insurance company will invalidate my insurance and not pay for the damage done to either vehicle.
He backs up his theory by telling my a story of my cousin, who got into an accident and the insurance company invalidated his insurance, because he had minor to mid ranged mods and something as small as higher octane fuel. He had to pay for the damage done to the other drivers car and was sol on the damage done to his.
I argued his theory by telling him about the accident I was in which totaled both vehicles, and I was at fault. I had several bolt on mods and ran 93 fuel. The insurance company seemed to have had no problem paying out.

So the question arouses do any of you report mods to your insurance company?

 

nope. that is total bs man you dont need to let them know.

 

I heard somewhere that if you don't tell them your mods and were to get into an accident, they would pay the damages, but they would not reimburse you for your mods. Meaning, if you had an Intake and it got damaged, they would not give you the money to buy a new intake.

I honestly have no idea if this is true or not, but I heard it somewhere.

And it sounds awfully retarded if the insurance company refused to pay damages due to a higher octane fuel.

 

some insurance actually has modification add-on insurance plans because other than the younger modding community there are tons of older folks doing custom work that they would like to have insured. As i understand it there is a certain limit to the amount of mods you can claim with some insurance but at least it is there.

 

BS. I just smashed my car and didn't tell them one bit about my mods. I'm lowered and everything and my entire front suspension on one side got replaced, and it stays lowered!

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure what racer said is right. They might not cover the extra stuff you've put into the car, but they should still have to cover the car itself. Like if you had an aftermarket rear bump if you backed into someone in a parking lot or something and smashed up the rear end, they would probably only pay to have it fixed back to what it was from the factory. But it really probably just depends on the company. Some are nice and some are evil.

And no, I don't report anything to my insurance. They take enough of my money as it is

 

Umm... typically it's a no-no to tell your insurance company your modifications. They may use it to jack your rates up.

However... I am giving some serious thought to reporting my GMPP stuff (manifold, exhaust, stage 2) b/c they are "factory" parts... not really aftermarket.

 

I asked him that even if i did report my gmpp parts it still wouldn't cover it because even though its installed and developed by gm its still an aftermarket part because it didnt come with the car from the assembly line.

I also heard of this. I know when I totaled my previous car they didnt have any problems with my mods, they just didnt pay for them. My concern is if this is true, I'd rather pay an extra $60 a month rather than wreck into and total my car and an escalade and have to pay for both out of my pocket.

 

If you tell your insurance company, most likely they will raise the premium, but it would probably pay off if you were to get in a wreck. On the other hand, most insurance compaines offer gap insurance for free now, so even if you were to wreck your car and it was worth less than what you owe, it would be paid off completly anyways. So in the case of our cars(which I doubt many of us paid cash for our cars) you don't need to tell them, because you will probably have to pay more every month. This is only in the case that you total your car of course. Depends on weather or not you want to pay more now or take the risk. I have nothing to do today at work so I'm typing way too much..

But to answer your question, Legally, I believe you do have to. Only reason I say that is that your insurance company can(at any time) come and look at your car and do an assessment on it, and I think they can bust your ass if you have aftermarket mods you didn't tell them about. One of my best friends is the manager at Nationwide, that's how I know this. I'm not just BSing you. heh.

Also, the chances of them doing a random assessment on your car are like 1 in 10 million.

 

LMFAO

yeah my insurance asked me when i was getting my car "any mods to the car" i was like, uh, it has like 1 km on it... none YET, the guy was like well if u do, let us know and we will cover it for a little extra, i didnt tell them, and i dont plan on it..... my rates are already 3600 a year

 

keep your reciepts

 

your dads an idiot.. tell him to take it in the butt..

here is my story..

88 5.0 stang.. i ended up ramming into a railguard while making somebodies dream come true... state farm wanted to "total" the car but i said bullshit b/c of the amount of money i have put into the car on mods/maitanence and what not. They wanted documentation (proof) of me spending the money i said i did.. i showed them $18,000 i had put in the car...... they wrote me a check right then and there for the cost to fix what the problem was.. and my insurance rate did not go up one bit from any of the mods.. but just went up for the accident.. a whole $50 every 6 months.. so no biggy... the parts on the car were mainly not even street legal but that doesnt matter.. you gotta remember.. they DONT know a thing about cars.. most adjusters and insurance agency people are idiots... if you dont tell them they sure as hell wont know.. and telling them is only going to raise your premium for what? if you get in an accident your still going to fight tooth and nail for practically no money

 

DAMN... how many wrecks and speeding tickets... i'm 19 and mine is only 1750

and with the mods and insurance... if you don report them they wont cover the mods. they'll cover everything factory but no mods.

 

No, he's just a z06 owner. He doesn't need mods to be fast, so he doesn't understand.

 

That's complete BS! I totalled my 98 mustang and not only did they not care about my mods, they actually PAID me reimbursment for them eventhough I never told them that I had them!

 

I definitely don't plan on telling my insurance about my mods.

 

You don't have to report anything to your insurance company if you don't want to (legally or otherwise). What my insurance company said (and I'm going through this right now because somebody broke into my Wrangler and stole my stereo and trashed my interior) was that as long as what you put on goes in the same spot as a factory piece (say new tires and wheels, new pulleys, even new suspension components) the insurance will cover their replacement. Don't get me into the stupid stipulations they gave me about my break in...

Back on subject, it actually saves them money because a lot of times the OEM replacement stuff is REALLY expensive compared to after-market products.

 

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Well for my cavalier, i told them about all my appearance mods which totaled about $3,000. My rate went up like $50 per 6 months so i didn't mind that. And if i totaled the car, i would have gotten the majority of the $3k back. But i didn't tell them about any performance mods because then i would have either been dropped or had my rate go up, this from my insurance agent.

But now with the Cobalt since i'm only paying $1100 per year, i will probably tell them about the appearance mods and at least ask if the GMPP will jack my rate. If not then i definitly will have it covered.

 

i am an insurance agent.

most companies have a set limit (usually $1K) on 'aftermarket parts' (including subs and electronics)

somewhat true... they will pay for any mod that you can produce a receipt for, ONLY up to the limit of what they pay for aftermarket parts.

BUT, this does not meank that your $3K of parts wont be reimbursed...some co's may be lienient (especially if its not your fault) and replace all your mods, SO LONG AS you can produce receipts.

We replaced a STi's TB (turboback) exh. that was $1300 here in CA, because he was rearended. but we did not reimburse the damage to the aftermarket bumper (replaced w/ oem), or subs in the trunk...he had a choice of bumper or exhaust...what would have you chosen.

All of this can be found in your Policy Information. thats why everyone needs to READ THEIR POLICY INFORMATION

Also, some states are different, and may offer 'extended coverage' for aftermarket parts...

p.s. please do not PM me with any insurance questions. Everytime i do this i get 50,000 PM's. If you have a question, ask here...or start a thread...

 

So would you provide the receipts before or after the accident? Have you ever heard of someone's insurance being invalidated due to not telling the insurance company of their mods(performance)?

 

i had TONS of mods on my old car and i got into a pretty big accident 10,000 worth of damage , one of my headers in the front was dented BARELY and my intake was fucked up they had to buy BOTH , paid for by the lady that hit me , both parts were aftermarket

you dont even need a reciept say you get into an accident and the car doesnt move and the cops are there in 5 mins , then the insurance adjuster comes also , why would you need a receipt or if the parts are damaged and you can clearly tell that they were involved in an accident example i get reversed into and my radiatior somehow puts a huge dent in my front header (not on a cobalt some v6 fwd car) and you can clearly tell that its from the accident , you DONT need a receipt

 

i had the insurance company covering my 240sx tell me that as long as its bolted to the car its covered. stuff like your subwoofer and amp is covered as long as it was bolted down. they also told me its a don't ask don't tell policy with performance items.

 

true... i was going to buy a ss/sc downpipe untill i found out it was over $400! i forget the exact price, but the oem stuff is almost always more expensive than aftermarket... i know if i was an insurance agent and a car was wrecked, if it had lots of mods i'd be happy because it would save a lot of money... but i don't know if it actually works like that or not. but damn, a new front bumper painted and installed at the factory would cost more than having a full body kit put on somewhere else.

 

that dude with the 3600 is in Canada.
Im sure that Canadian.