So I have lots of nice mods to my dream car and I figure I better call insurance to get these things covered knowing there ell enough there will be a premium. My insurance even said call them if I get any mods when I originally got the car.

Well, Sh.......t fu..............ch, I told them about some of the mods and they give me 15 days to find a new inusrance company. Hell there is thousands of people who modify there cars WTF? I am not 20 and have no points against me I don't get it.

So I ask what if I didnt say anything and had these mods. There answer is if I got into an accident and didnt disclose these upgrades before hand they didnt have to cover anything on the car at all and if i got sued its my problem.

I did call a broker and will see what they come back with but Fu......Fu....

Any advise here? I would hate to have to sell my baby or strip all the cool stuff off it. What do people do here? I'm not happy

 

damn that sucks! What Insurance company were you with?

I remember reading a long while back about one particular insurance company that specifically deals with modified vehicles. But I've lost the info on it. I'm gonna try and dig some stuff up later to see if i can be of any help.

 

Curious what mods they freaked on?

 

Thanks man. I don't want to say what ins. company it is just yet.

I think they freeked on the $$ amount and the body kit the most. I didnt even have a chance to go over any details.

 

Try Bel-Air direct.

 

i'd be willing to bet smasher's with state farm. they're known to be very ****-retentive when it comes to after market mods or even the hint of "performance mods" which could be as simple as putting on an intake.

 

Your broker will find a reasonable alternative for you. Don't worry.

 

yes, what your particular company told you is most likely the case. Most likely being the operative set of words here because I have absolutely no specifics on your particular company, situation, vehicle, modifications or insurance history.

Two excellent points have been established here. Firstly, any modifications added to your vehicle that are not disclosed at the time of policy inception may in fact be denied upon loss, damage or theft. Without getting into the entire concept of insurance here, the vehicle rate groups based upon car codes developed by actuary and then applied/modified by an underwriter when accepting or rejecting a risk (and if accepting...on what terms), cannot account for the dollar value which is skewed by aftermarket additions. The fact that you mentioned your body kit was possibly thousands of dollars is a good example of this.

What is a modification? The word modification gets thrown around on this forum (and in life in general) rather blatantly. When we are discussing modifications we are really referring to performance modifications. In general, this is referring to engine or power modifications (Cold Air Intakes, Exhausts, Plenum Spacers, Turbos, Supercharges, Etc).

Other modifications such as springs, coilovers, brakes also contribute to performance and alter the method in which the vehicle will perform from the factory. It is these very alterations which skew the numbers created by actuary used by underwriters to properly analyze and generate a premium for the risk.

When referring to cosmetic additions (ie. Bodykits/Ground Effects, Carbon Fiber Overlays/Replacements, Audio/Visual equipment, Spoilers, ect.) we are really referring to customizations and while these do absolutely amend the vehicle factory specs, they tend to be accepted more favourably by most insurers in this country. In this type of situation the majority of companies can account for such by amendments through the increasing of vehicle rate groups, policy wording endorsements such as agreed upon values/exclusions, as well the possibility of purchasing additional coverage.

It is my guess that you are about to receive a registered letter advising you will have 15 days of coverage (by Canadian Law) to place coverage elsewhere wherein at that point, your policy will no longer be active and your coverage will cease.

There is no magic formula here. I could spend the night discussing the risk factors and information that goes into properly underwriting a risk to cover both the insured and the insurer however, it would still be inaccurate as all of this will depend on the individual insurer's filed rules, underwriting and claim philosophies, the individually risk itself and the state of the market.

My best advice to you in this situation is take one of two paths...

Firstly, you can take your own initiative and start the process of finding the right company which has the means, ability and inclination to cover your particular risk. This will clearly involve quite a bit of work on your part, especially now considering from your description your vehicle appears heavily modified. Considering this, it may be best to go through a large direct writer. Cessna mentioned Bel-Air Direct. This maybe a decent place to start. Other options may include Chubb, Dominion of Canada or Axa.

It is also critically important to understand that companies have their own target market. This is an area that the majority of the public does not either realize or understand. There is no blanket underwriting philosophy which applies to every organization and this is a major reason why one risk of a 350Z as noted on this forum maybe quite acceptable to one company, whereas a similar but slightly different risk will not be.

Secondly, you always have the option of using an insurance broker who knows of and more importantly understands the type of specialty niche market that you may find yourself in given the uniqueness your vehicle may now represent.

In this particular case, I can almost guarantee that any company which decides to take on this risk will require a vehicle inspection report and any and all documentation to verify what has been added. If you decide to discuss this with a company on your own, be forthright and honest about all that the vehicle now has attached to it. Offer to work with them on a agreed upon value. Be accurate and stress the use of vehicle (ie. commuting, pleasure use, etc.). Emphasize the fact that this (the modification aspect) is part of a hobby only and there is no illegitimate use of the vehicle (ie. race and/or speed testing...if this is in fact the case). Finally an appraisal may in fact be your best friend. They usually run for about $100 or so from a local firm and maybe the piece of the puzzle that puts your particular company at ease when determining to accept your risk.

Best of luck to you.

Ps. Just for some general info…you’re age will not impact whether or not your vehicle violates filed underwriting rules. Age is used to determined class, discount and star rating eligibilities.

Further, in reference to “points,” I assume this is regarding demerit points. Again, demerit points are not a rating factor however, demerit points obviously impact license eligibility (ie. whether or not you are cancelled, suspended or unlicensed). While this will not impact the rating and premium per se, it will determine your legal eligibility to operate the vehicle. The majority of companies will not write new business or release renewals if you or another individual in the home have the type of license statuses as mentioned above.

> Mike needs a drink...work after work...

 

^go Mike!!

 

Wow Mike excellent information much appreciated. I will buy you that drink next time we meet.

Sounds like I have some investigating work to do to find the right Insurance company and I will start with your list.

I already did email Bel Air per Cessna's suggestion and listed some items in general like turbo, brakes etc... just to see if they are interested or not.
They emailed me back and said they do not insure cars with performace modifications. This might be harder than I was begining to think.

Question though, I got a quote on line from one of the banks and there was no questions about modifications or cosmetic additions. They just asked for the estimated value of the car personal details etc.. How does that work in these situations, if i enter the total value including all the upgrades am I covered for the upgrades or not?

If you know of some good car appraisals could you pm me?

 

good efforts in getting this off the ground. Just a suggestion...you may want to shy away from e-mailing companies (getting quotes online) and using blanket statements about modifications. In a perfect world, no company would want to take on a risk with any type of mod due to the fact that the degree of both uncertainty and consequently, overall risk exposure, is enhanced.

That's ok...rookie mistake. Look at it this way....this is going to take some finesse. I know Bel-Air's track record in the industry and they definitely have risks (like many companies) with modified vehicles and such on their books. Your best bet is to give them a call.

In reference to your coverage from a bank, no, this does not necessarily mean you are covered. Please remember not to assume anything. Any application is going to inquire about mods/customizations (if on an online application or not).

For general ideas, online quotes work but at some point, you're going to need speak with underwriting.

In reference to appraisals, I have a few places in mind. I will check with my father (Manager of Claims for a large national insurer and get a few recommendations if possible).

Hope this helps...usually raises more questions then answers.

For anyone reading and benefiting from this....I like my Heineken like I like my intake and exhaust, cold...and free flowing...

 

^ +1 cold Heineken

very informative and makes me think about my insurance with rbc - they'd prob. could care less about my small mods i have planned in the future - guess i'll give them a call but my mods will never come close to smashers haha

 

My friend has a built Greddy TT, with almost 100k invested on top of the car's value. But every single part of his car is covered. He had to go through a special broker for this. I can get you the name of the company, but I doubt you'll want to go through them as he's paying $12k/year for premiums. That's also with around 9 demerit points and several tickets....

Here's also another company to look at, I've heard they're very good...
http://www.lant-ins.ca/

 

don't bother with lant, they only insure modified cars >15 years old.

 

^Oh, I didn't know that. I was recommended that company when I had my '88 MR2, lol

 

Holy that's $1,000/month just for car insurance premiums.

Anyways, it sounds like the easiest way around this is not to insure any of your modifications. I am with TD Melcohe Monnex and never bothered telling my car insurance company about any modifications.

 

Scary stuff, makes me miss BC: One insurance company (ICBC, a crown corp), policy is based on driving record and vehicle only. Age, gender, modifications and all that don't even factor. People ***** about it out there, but it's pretty sweet comparatively. Just about to switch my plates and insure for out here, not looking forward to it (even though my Z is stock).

 

i would have to guess it was state farm.

They did the same with me when i had an integra

 

Riggz,
Can you pm me on what you did?

No one has guessed what insurance cancelled but thats not really the issue they are following their policy I guess. It was more of the surprize after driving so many years without issues im now a risk because im put some aftermarket parts on that enhance performance.

What if I go to canadian tire and buy munro shocks and put on a new k&n intake, new exhaust, tires rims and other stuff? Just becuase I spent more on my parts I'm the bad guy?

I still need to find someone no luck so far.

 

When I moved here from B.C. I had to get insurance once they saw the car DENIED basiclly from everyone I called exepct ING and Pilot both requested for 2-3 independent apprasials done on the car. They give a bunch of names to call Pilot has 2 programs for this one is the silver wheels program (muscle cars and classics) the second one cant remember the name but geared towards guys with modified cars. I went with ING $350.00/month fully covered for car and the mods, they even know about the built motor thats getting done in the winter all they said was update your apprasail and submit when it's done.