TSYJ had a nasty meeting with an elderly gentleman and he has come through it, thankfully and wonderfully. Alas...the Jeep did not.
So I have to ask: are all of the aftermarket do-dads we bolt on these things covered in such an event? Does your insurance offer riders for the cool stuff...lift kits, wheels, tires, bumpers, winches, racks, etc? Will they let you salvage stuff? ....like a winch in case you're hit in the rear.
There's a lot of bucks in the stuff y'all add on. I'd hate to buy it twice.
TSYJ had a nasty meeting with an elderly gentleman and he has come through it, thankfully and wonderfully. Alas...the Jeep did not.
So I have to ask: are all of the aftermarket do-dads we bolt on these things covered in such an event? Doors your insurance offer riders for the cool stuff...lift kits, wheels, tires, bumpers, winches, racks, etc? Will they let you salvage stuff? ....like a winch in case you're hit in the rear.
There's a lot of bucks in the stuff y'all add on. I'd hate to buy it twice.
Insurance is complicated, you learn more as sh!t happens.
IF YOU ARE AT FAULT:
If you don't declare the modifications to your vehicle, in the case of an accident I beileive insurance will cover up to the original value of the OEM part. So for instance if you installed a lift with all new control arms, track bars, shocks & springs, if any of these parts are damaged they would pay for what the cost of the original OEM part was. If you have add ons that are not a replacement part like a winch I don't think they are covered unless you declare them.
If the vehicle is a total loss your only going to get the value of the OEM vehicle at its state before the loss. If you declare the modifications it will be covered in case of accident or total loss, but of course your premium will also be higher.
IF YOUR NOT AT FAULT:
This is important. Make sure you have adequate uninsured & or underinsured motorist coverage that would cover the total value of your rig + add ons. Some insurers make a distinction between uninsured and underinsured and some don't, and it may also be state dependent, you need to check your provider and find out.
So if its not your fault the other 3rd party insurance will cover your rig and they have to cover everything regardless if it was declared on your policy or not. The sticky situation occurs when the other 3rd party insurance doesn't have enough coverage to pay for all the damage or loss. In that event the 3rd party coverage would just pay up to the limit to your insurance provider and your coverage would be the one to actually pay for your vehicle. The uninsured underinsured coverage now kicks in and it acts legally as if your provider is now the 3rd party, so anything you could claim against a 3rd party is claimable.
Does your insurance offer riders for the cool stuff...lift kits, wheels, tires, bumpers, winches, racks, etc? Will they let you salvage stuff? ....like a winch in case you're hit in the rear.
Are you looking for the insurance to cover the full, new, price for all your mods (ie, "replacement value")? Or are you looking for insurance that will cover their used value; the value at the time of loss if you tried to sell them?
If you find insurance, make sure you understand which it is.
For a total loss. The insurance salvage would be anything they are covering, and your salvage would be the rest that's not covered, if any. So in the case of a winch, if insurance is covering it and paying you for it your not able to salvage it. If it's not covered and there not paying for it, they have no salvage right to it.
Just searched for insurance issues finding this discussion. I've had Ameriprise Insurance thru Costco for many years, and have been very pleased. Our 2015 JK Rubicon was bought about six months ago. I wondered about their policy on aftermarket bumpers, so I called them a few days ago. They said they were a preferred risk company and don't insure aftermarket bumpers. Reasoning was they did too much damage to other vehicles in a crash? If I was in an accident prior to telling them they would have covered the accident but would have then cancelled my policy. Since I notified them my vehicle is stock I'm okay, but I've now "been flagged". They offered other affiliate companies (toll free #) to insure my Jeep into a separate policy. So my advice to everyone, if you're calling you're insurance company to inquire do so anonymously?
They said they were a preferred risk company and don't insure aftermarket bumpers. Reasoning was they did too much damage to other vehicles in a crash? If I was in an accident prior to telling them they would have covered the accident but would have then cancelled my policy.
Good question. From another thread, there was a case of a guy with an off-road stinger mounted with the aftermarket bumper on the front of their Jeep. The modified Jeep rear ended someone (a bad legal thing to do, just from the start), the stinger pierced thru the other vehicle's truck, into the back seat, and killed the two kids sitting there.
The owner of the Jeep was arrested and charged (for whatever the fancy legal terms are for intentionally modifying a vehicle in a deadly way).
Was it covered by the Jeep's owner insurance? Never heard.
I have had 3 different insurance companies in the last 6 years right now I have VT Mutual. I have a great insurance Agent that looks out for me. Every year about 3 weeks before it is time to renew my policy She looks around to see if there is some one out there that comes in with the same policy but at a lower price. She got me Dairy land for my bike this year because my other company raised my rates by $50.00 and instead of taking the $50 off and keeping me as a customer and happy they lost me to another. A good agent will tell you to shop around.
Here is something I can not figure out but I am happy. When I bought my Wrangler I took my 99 Ranger off my insurance I carried just liability on it and full coverage on my 03 F150 super crew. I took the full coverage off the F150 and just went with Liability and put full coverage on the Jeep and my company sent me back a refund check for $58.00. I figured if anything my insurance would have gone up, go figure.
Well I got to use my insurance today, We came out of the store and I notice a chip in my windshield, No clue as to how it happened bur by the time I got home it started to run so now my Jeep is in the barn and the windshield guy will be out Friday morning to fix it.
To cover $10,000 in mods, it would be over $1,200 per year to add coverage. That is an 8 year breakeven. So as long as my jeep is not stolen more than every 8 years, I am money ahead by not taking it.
Of course, that is ignoring accidents, etc.
Basically, my insurer offers the coverage but does not want to cover anyone so they price themselves out of the market.
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