Insuring a modified car

RedRyder · Jun 9, 2015

Ever thought about it? Has anyone looked into, or successfully acquired, insurance coverage for a modified vehicle? Generally it’s not something I thought was worth it, but sometimes you get thinking about how much you’ve put into a vehicle and the thought of losing it all if it got totaled is pretty unpleasant. On one hand, one might hesitate to report anything because they don’t want their premium to go up, but on the other I’ve read that if you get in an accident and had not previously reported that your car has been modified, your coverage in that instance can become null altogether.

So this got me reading, and I found some good info in these links:

http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/modified-car-insurance/

https://www.lelandwest.com/reporting-vehicle-modifications-to-car-insurance-company.cfm

https://www.lelandwest.com/are-modifications-covered-by-my-car-insurance.cfm

http://www.dmv.org/insurance/modified-car-insurance-coverage.php

https://www.esurance.com/info/car/myth-modified-car-insurance-is-hard-to-find

The problem is most insurance companies think people who modify their cars are higher risk, because their desire to modify “what should be good enough as is” signifies they are a more reckless, but specialty companies like Hagerty will say that people who put their time and money into their passion are going to be more cautious with their investment. It seems the big factors are how extensive your modifications are, what state you live in, your driving record, and the provider’s policy.

Hagerty and Adrian Flux are two well known speciality insurers for "out of the ordinary" cars. But according to Hagerty’s website they do not insure a daily-use car. So that’s out if your modified vehicle is your daily driver. Adrian Flux appears to provide insurance if you are abroad (they are UK based), but not sure what that could/would translate to. There are probably others, I just haven’t found them yet.

https://www.hagerty.com/Insurance/Classic-Car-Insurance/Does-My-Vehicle-Qualify

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/modified/

So, what are your thoughts and/or experience with modified car insurance?

DarkSideAccord · Jun 9, 2015

no issues for me. I just listed the big ticket items (excluding motor mods) and their values... insurance just took the added value and assessed a premium based on the new value of the car...

RedRyder · Jun 9, 2015

That sounds like the 'agreed-value policy' the 1st link mentions. Did they value the motor/trans/other major items at the value you listed, or did you have to haggle with them on that? And was the new premium much higher?

Btw was this with normal agency like Progressive, Allstate, State Farm, etc?

DarkSideAccord · Jun 9, 2015

no haggle on the value of the items... i kept them reasonable... it didn't bump up my premium much

also, you do not need to insure your audio stuff if it's less than $500... anything over will need to be declared for coverage

it was through wawanesa insurance... not sure if u have those....

Sketch o5 · Jun 9, 2015

i actually just switched to progressive because my original insurance went up $200. it went up because of some new rating system they started using, which was pretty ridiculous. my insurance with progressive would've been $100 cheaper than what i paid for this past year with my old company, but i changed a couple things when i switched and it'll be $400 cheaper now.

anyway, with progressive you can have up to $5k in modification coverage, if you want any more you have to talk with them about it. i put in what amount covered i wanted and it didn't bring the rate up too much, so i went with it. i just hope i won't have to find out how well they work haha.

Hobbit · Jun 10, 2015

never had an issue with either bike or car
Cars that were modified and daily drivers

Ford Orion - fitted with V6 and sierra compents to get it to run propery
MKII Gold Gti 250hp with 2ltr bottom end and G60 head and supercharger
Renault 5 more boost lasted long when it became the front of a fiesta

Bikes lets not go there no really not go there LOL

Despite the mods just insure them and told the insurance company no biggy , the only one i ever had issue with was a £35K motorcycle and it was that price off the shop floor !!!!!!! getting insurajce was like pulling teeth, most told me motorcycles dont cost that much - really they need to expand there database to include HD CVO models !!!!

agginline86 · Jun 10, 2015

When my old Buick was stolen back in Milwaukee my insurance told me that anything that was bolted/attached to the car was covered
This included my subwoofers and amp
A good practice is to take pictures of newly installed mods as proof they were on your car