Your Truck Collision Insurance - Aftermarket Add On's Covered?

[HenryMac]

My Hot Rods are insured through Hagerty... But my 2019 is through State Farm.

We got rear ended and are awaiting a new hitch and rear bumper cover. So I've been dealing with insurance folks for the past 2 months.

I see folks doing extensive modifications to their brand new trucks. Front and Rear Bumpers, lift kits, different tire and wheels, you know... lots of expensive add on's.

So when you buy a $35,000 truck, and buy $15,000 worth of aftermarket parts...... if it get's wrecked, lets say totalled, are you going to get blue book value + $15,000 to replace the goodies?

Hagerty wanted photo's and data on our Hot Rod's before they insured them. Makes perfect sense. State Farm just wants the VIN... and assume the 2019 Ranger is always going to be stock?

I asked my State Farm Agent and he gave me the following:

We are not able to add specific insurance for specific parts that may have been added/altered etc on vehicles. Any damage to any such parts would be considered by claims at the time of any such damage or loss if damaged or destroyed. So as mentioned keeping documentation of any such changes is always helpful in the event such determination needs to be made. Some parts are added or altered for style or convenience but may not increase a vehicles overall value. So while parts if damaged may be considered by claims following a loss…in the event of a total loss it is the vehicles overall value that is taken into consideration and they may be able account for some but it is possible not all modifications if they don’t contribute to the vehicles overall market value.​

So that sounds like "We'll let you know once the accident happens".

This isn't a big deal for my 2019 Ranger, I only have about $1,200 of aftermarket goodies, (Shrockworks Rock Sliders & Weathertech floor liners and mudflaps).

But if I had $5 grand in aftermarket parts... I'd be wanting a better answer from my agent.

What say ye TRS folks. Are you covered?

 

[Ramcharger90]

I have state farm and my agent told me as long as I have receipts of anything done to my vehicle aka my 5.0 ranger and it gets totaled they will reimburse me. They could just be lying to me but thats why my 31 Model A and 92 notchback have Hagerty. The Ram, Exploder, Ranger, and Lancer have state farm. Ram and Lancer have full coverage and the Ranger and Exploder have comp. (Fire,theft,etc) Hagerty is a expensive deductible for anything 500 I think even for glass, but state farm is 100 for glass vandalism, fire.... I'm sure I'm over paying but they never questioned me about any claim they just fix it.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

I'm of the opinion insurance agents, are the same class of people, as lawyers, and used car salesmen. The only reason I even ended up getting paid after I got hit at the start of the year was due to a bookkeeper, wondering why an approved claim never got paid. Sure I could have let them total my truck over a bit of bent sheet metal on the bed, but there is no way they should even think of sending g a vehical to the crusher for that.

 

[sgtsandman]

With insurance, there is always going to be the official answer and how good of an advocate your agent is.

The insurance company is going to do their best to just collect money and not pay out anymore than they have to. The agent’s job is to help you get as much as you can to replace what was damaged or lost.

If the agent isn’t doing that, time for another agent.

They should also be recommending the best avenue and coverage to minimize loss. Even if it isn’t all through them. Again, if they aren’t doing that, it might be time for another agent.

Of course, they can’t answer questions not asked either. And they might not know all the answers outside of the Insurance they are an agent for.

Like suggested above, receipts and records for any upgrades and modifications should be kept. Otherwise, they are just going to assume everything is factory stock.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My plan is to survive the crash, drag it home and either fix it myself or part it out into something else if anything happens.

I will need to check into real insurance when I get the bodywork done, right now I am pretty sure they would just see it as an average 36yo old Ranger and could likely total it as it sits right now.

 

[Dirtman]

When my 93 S10 got totalled it had a ton of aftermarket crap on it that cost me around $5,000. They ended up giving me bluebook value for the truck plus a prorated price for the aftermarket parts that was around $900 extra. Think of it this way if you put a $500 widget on your truck and 10 years later wreck your truck, your insurance is not paying you $500 for a 10 year old widget. You might get $50 bucks for your widget, you are NEVER getting back what you paid no matter what kind of insurance you have. So don't think cause you have a pile of receipts that's what your stuff is actually worth. Why would anyone pay you a brand new price for a used part? Insurance companies are no different, you'll get Craigslist prices.

Now the only time that's different is if it's a totally custom/classic car then you get special insurance where they will appraise it and give you a value and that's what it's insured for, end of story. Wreck it and they cut you a check for the appraised amount. But it cost 10 times what basic coverage is.

But, now in my case I took the money but then paid the fee to get the truck back (I think that was like $300?) and then parted it out since most of my aftermarket stuff was undamaged anyway. Then I scrapped the truck. So I recouped some more money that way.

 

[55trucker]

My Hot Rods are insured through Hagerty... But my 2019 is through State Farm.


What say ye TRS folks. Are you covered?

Modified car insurance : A guide to insuring your custom car

Modified car insurance provides coverage for additions or changes made to a car that changes its value. Insurance companies offer endorsements and standalone policies for modified cars.

www.insurance.com

 

[RonD]

Insurance companies will cover anything you can think of, it just costs more money for that coverage
They are like Bookies, they are betting you won't need repairs, you are betting you will, so its an "odds" thing, that they can lay off over time and other "betters"

So they look at the maximum payout, totaled, vs "bet" per year/month odds
If you want to do side "bets" i.e. full replacement value, they can do that, you just have to raise the "bet" to cover the odds/payout

Bookies don't lose money, unless a "longshot" comes in, for insurance companies thats usually an "act of God" which you may or may not be covered for, need to check
Hurricane
Tornado
Some types of flooding
Some types of fires

Yes, keep receipts and take pictures of vehicles yearly from all sides, same for your home, inside and out, pictures are free to do now-a-days, make sure DATE is recorded
So you can show accurate damage/loss to insurance company, DATED before and after pictures carry alot of weight, if push comes to shove

 

[Dirtman]

Yup, Insurance is government mandated gambling. And the best part is unlike real gambling where the house always wins, with insurance not only does the house always win, if they do loose (aka you get in an accident) they just charge you more to keep playing...

Off topic but I always wondered if rich people really need insurance. Minimum legal coverage may pay out if you kill someone to X amount but If you have a billion dollars why bother having insurance? You can pay more than insurance can/will anyway?

I don't bother with good insurance, I have crap liability that cost me like 300 bucks a year. I take that bet against the insurance company since I've never had an at fault accident in my life. If someone hits me they are paying not me. What I've saved in 20 some years of not having comprehensive coverage could probably buy me two new cars. My homeowners covers theft/damage on my property too so meh...

 

[RonD]

You used to be able to Post a Bond to self insure your vehicle, its basically the amount of money required for liability insurance coverage in that State, say $100,000
And that money can sit in a bank collecting interest, but it must remain liquid, can't be invested

Most accidents have less than $10,000 damages, if its your fault, so you weigh that against yearly cost if you were to insure it through local company

You can then register vehicle owner as a Limited Liability(Ltd.) company, so if there is an accident your personal assets are safe only "company assets" are vulnerable, in most cases, anybody can be sued, lol

Not sure what states allow self insurance any more, some require minimum liability coverage thru a listed insurance company
If that's the case you just buy the insurance company, they are money makers, lol

 

[Ramcharger90]

My plan is to survive the crash, drag it home and either fix it myself or part it out into something else if anything happens.

I will need to check into real insurance when I get the bodywork done, right now I am pretty sure they would just see it as an average 36yo old Ranger and could likely total it as it sits right now.

Might be time for Hagerty or Grundy then. Obviously they want to know how much you drive it etc... but they will cover almost anything to my understanding.

 

[Ramcharger90]

I agree with Dirtman to an extent on this if its just some shitbox or mass production vehicle easy to find and replace go get cheap as possible and do your own work to fix stuff, If its a vehicle that holds value full coverage is good for a while. I would argue pre 92 rangers might need collectors car insurance in the next 5 years. They are getting to be a pain to find in decent shape but if you plan on holding onto these trucks for the rest of you life which seems like most of us will. It might be advisable to pick up another and store it for replacement parts down the road.



Major parts anyway cab, bed, Frame... etc....

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm wondering what I will do when it comes to insuring the new to me Bronco II.

They sure are up in value and clean ones are harder to find. I won't drive it in the winter and even during the good weather months it most likely won't be daily driven.

I'm going to have to explore the options for this with our current provider and see where it lands.

 

[19Walt93]

Unless you've got a bad driving record NH doesn't require insurance but I wouldn't drive without it. I've had the same insurance agent for over 40 years, actually, he owns the agency and I deal with a younger person now but I've never had a problem with them.

 

[ZMan]

It states right in my policy with grange that anything welded or bolted on is covered when referring to aftermarket parts. With my '92 Ranger I have a agreed value however.