insurance question.

[Lancer09]

so im in another debate with a friend.
She says that if you mod your car say for example you add on a rear spoiler/wing and get rims then you don't need to tell your insurance company UNLESS you want them covered in case of an incident but i say that you have to add whatever you do the car or they could potentially void your insurance.

so who's right?

[Zaphod]

Both / neither / depends on your insurance company...

Generally, if you're not making any modifications to the chassis, steering, suspension, brakes, engine, engine management etc. etc. you shouldn't have issues in the event of a claim.

But, if you want the wing or any add-ons covered by the insurance you'll need to let them know - in my case AAMI didn't give a hoot what I did as far as cosmetic changes as long as the total insured value was sufficient to be covered by the 'sum insured', but they did want me to list them so we had an agreed list of mods.


Unfortunately mitch is going through this right now with his Kia, so he may be able to tell you what happens as his claim progresses...


Cheers!

[Lancer09]

so if i don't want it covered then i don't need to tell them?

Perhaps i'll ask my insurance company directly just to be sure/safe. I ditched AAMI because they pumped my premium up by 400 dollars, I'm with GIO now for about the same as i payed last year.

[poe_sniper]

The way it worked with my dads rear end accident was since he wasn't at fault everything was repaired as to how the car was when it was involved in the accident mods and all. This is because the insurance company paying for it was evidently the other insurer and not dads (who was Shannons).
-New aftermarket IC
-New aftermarket cataback exhaust
-new aftermarket UPIC pipes
-etc

However if he was at fault there would have been a problem as the insurance company did not know about the mods. Dunno if it would have been repaired to stock or cash given for stock parts to put towards aftermarket gear.

[Lancer09]

hmmm thanks for the insight jarryd. thats also what i wanted to know with going to stock or whatever was on policy etc

[Speedie]

Most of the time it only comes into play in the event of a write off. They will pay only for what the vehicle is insured for plus any extras listed. Even when you have agreed value doesn't mean that is what you will get from the insurer. So it does pay to list extras

[black_ice]

As Martin mentioned above...it depends on your insurance company...

When I was with Shannon's they wanted everything listed for it to be covered..when I was with NRMA they didn't care as long as the 'agreed value' for which the car was insured for covered the cost of my mods..also for a lot of mods the aftermarket parts are cheap than OEM parts.

[Mitch]

i will try and let you guys know when the car goes to the assesor but a few things on the Kia that i didnt put on the insurance at the time was my Side Steps, UHF and Antenna and Spot lights but the Nudge bar was on the car when i made first payment on it so hopefully if the car gets repaired hopefully they can replace the UHF and Antenna Again and Sidesteps

[Lancer09]

hope things work out mitch!