My 92 civic was stolen earlier this year and Prudential (Liberty Mutual has since bought their property and casualty policies) paid me less than half of what the car was worth! I am getting another civic and have been shopping around, but all of the large reputable companies will not offer me an "as stated value" or "agreed value" policy. Does not matter if you get the car appraised or have receipts for everything. Unless you get very lucky and have a claims adjustor who is kind or is just plain inexperienced, you will only get the blue book value of a stock car (actual cash value). They may compensate you for a stereo and rims, maybe an exhaust, but forget about being paid for any engine/brake/suspension modifications. It is ridiculous that it should be so difficult for us to find adequate insurance, especially when there are so many of us. The only lead I have so far is lelandwest.com. The have a "agreed value" policy, but there is a 5000 mile/year limit that you can drive the car. The policy is geared towards collectibles, but they will insure any age of car. Basically if your modded honda is your daily driver, then you might have a problem. If anyone out there has found a company that has agreed in writing to pay for aftermarket parts in the event of a claim/total loss, PLEASE let us know. Better yet if you have had experience with a claim that covered your aftermarket parts, PLEASE post here. Most of us are driving around thinking we are covered when in fact we are not. I would hate for any of us to get screwed like I was. Maybe if there is enough interest, we can even get a group rate once we can find a good insurance company that will meet our needs....


Modified by panykus at 10:31 PM 9/14/2004

 

I know most insurance companies will not cover the extras since they bring the value of the vehical up in a sense, but you are only paying insurance based on the value of the car its self. I've heard you can have your insurance company cover other items in/on your car, but they will adjust your premium to reflect the higher value of what's being covered.

This makes perfect sense to me... if you're paying $200 a month to cover a car the insurance company values at X amount of dollars, and you then add Y amount of more items... why should you still only pay $200 and expect them to cover the value of both X and Y? If you want to cover both, then tell the insurance company you're adding Y amount to the car, so they can readjust the premium.. then they will be covering both X and Y under your payments

 

What you are saying makes perfect sense, and I don't think anyone is expects to pay less premuim for more coverage. What I am saying that I have asked insurance companies if they will cover the mods on my car and that flat out have told me NO. They will only cover "actual cash value", the blue book value of the stock car. I am more than happy to pay a premium appropriate for what I am asking to be covered, but I have provided some insurance companies with a list of mods on my new car and they flat out said the value of the mods exceeds the blue book value of the car and they won't even insure it. What I am looking for is an "Agreed Value" policy that will guarantee the amount I will be paid in the event of a claim. Be careful of "As Stated" policies - the fine print may read that the insurance company is only liable to pay for the LESSER amount of the "actual cash value" (Blue Book), the cost to repair, or the "As Stated" Value. I don't think we should take this lightly - don't wait till you have to make a claim and it's too late. It's not worth going through the hassle of litigation or arbitration with the insurance company.

 

http://www.chubb.com/

http://www.hagerty.com/

Don't know if these apply to a Civic but it is what NSX owners look for when looking for agreed value policies.

 

Thanks nsxxtreme - I will contact both Chubb and Hagerty - looks like they offer what I'm looking for... During the course of researching this today, I came across two other companies that may offer "Agreed Value" policies - Fireman's Fund and Atlantic Mutual. I'll ask a broker to check them out...

 

I wonder if most of us realize that we have "actual cash value" policies and understand that in the event of a claim we will not be covered for our aftermarket equipment. Maybe we don't want to pay for the extra protection, and are willing to take a major loss in the event of a total loss claim? I am in the process of obtaining a claim from a Chubb agent, so I don't know yet how much more I will be paying for a "agreed value" policy, but I doubt it will be more than 1.5 times and I think that is worth it when I want the agreed value to be $10k and the blue book value is only $3k... Btw, I went to the Hagerty website and it looks like they specialize more in classics and muscle cars... Thanks again nsxxtreme for the good leads!

 

Hagerty also covers exotics thats why I said I wasn't sure if they would cover a civic but its worth a shot.

You car might fall under the "Custom" category I guess it would depend on what you have done and how the agent felt.

 

That's true - I will try to contact hagerty directly and see if they can help me. Like you say it's worth a shot. Thanks again...

 

http://www.hagerty.com/ will not insure a car less than 25 year old

 

you might wanna try triple A. i dont wanna bullshit u and say they'll cover u, but from my own experiences and from my own opinion, triple A is the best out there. however, if they do cover all mods done to your vehicle, u'll probably be paying out the *** for it. but check w/them, and see what's up. let me know how it turns out.

 

I don't know of to many exoctic sports cars that are 25 years old. Nor do I know of any NSX's that are 25 years old and they will cover a NSX. Like I said it's worth a shot, I have also heard AAA does agreed value policies.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by panykus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My 92 civic was stolen earlier this year and Prudential (Liberty Mutual has since bought their property and casualty policies) paid me less than half of what the car was worth! I am getting another civic and have been shopping around, but all of the large reputable companies will not offer me an "as stated value" or "agreed value" policy. Does not matter if you get the car appraised or have receipts for everything. Unless you get very lucky and have a claims adjustor who is kind or is just plain inexperienced, you will only get the blue book value of a stock car (actual cash value). They may compensate you for a stereo and rims, maybe an exhaust, but forget about being paid for any engine/brake/suspension modifications. It is ridiculous that it should be so difficult for us to find adequate insurance, especially when there are so many of us. The only lead I have so far is lelandwest.com. The have a "agreed value" policy, but there is a 5000 mile/year limit that you can drive the car. The policy is geared towards collectibles, but they will insure any age of car. Basically if your modded honda is your daily driver, then you might have a problem. If anyone out there has found a company that has agreed in writing to pay for aftermarket parts in the event of a claim/total loss, PLEASE let us know. Better yet if you have had experience with a claim that covered your aftermarket parts, PLEASE post here. Most of us are driving around thinking we are covered when in fact we are not. I would hate for any of us to get screwed like I was. Maybe if there is enough interest, we can even get a group rate once we can find a good insurance company that will meet our needs....


Modified by panykus at 10:31 PM 9/14/2004</TD></TR></TABLE>Here in B.C. Canada we have ICBC gov. auto insurance and all it takes is a rider on your basic to get insurance for any and all aftermarket or upgrades you do, although they do hit you hard with the rider, around $135 on every $1000 94

 

um.... i thought this was a given when you decide to modify and dump money into a cheap *** honda (not saying there is anything wrong with that, though). It comes with the territory.

Ive ran into this twice. Car was broken into and they wouldnt cover my stereo. Then the car was totaled months later. Its something you gotta accept. Besides, when you total a car and get a check from the insurance company, nothing is stopping you from stripping it and removing your mods before it gets towed. Much can be salvaged.

 

Oh, and if you want to protect your investment... get an alarm. Often you can get a insurance break too, so it helps all around.

 

Thanks to eveyone for your input! I will check out AAA as well. Do you mean AAA like American Automobile Association, or is that an actual insurance company? I was able to get a quote from Chubb on an "agreed value" policy and it was actually not too bad - $824/yr for an "agreed amount" of $10k. I will be faxing them receipts of all the aftermarket parts on the car, so that in the event of a partial loss, I will still be covered. I guess it is true that if someone wanted to cheat the insurance company, there are ways to do it, but insurance fraud is a serious offence and I for one would not want to take that risk...

 

PS: I will have 3 levels of security on this car - anti towing (alpha lock), anti starting (auto lock and alarm with starter kill or Ravelco), and possibly tracking (compustar or after the fact lojack). What are your opinions on these?

 

when I wrecked my civic (not really my fault but whatever), USAA asked if I had anything in or on the car I wasn't able to remove before it was towed. I told them the strut bar and mentioned about the aftermarket sunroof that was installed and I was compensated for both. Only thing is you, your 'rents or grand 'rents have to be in the military for you to be able to get USAA.

 

http://sportcompactvalue.com

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Macleod95Civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you might wanna try triple A. i dont wanna bullshit u and say they'll cover u, but from my own experiences and from my own opinion, triple A is the best out there. however, if they do cover all mods done to your vehicle, u'll probably be paying out the *** for it. but check w/them, and see what's up. let me know how it turns out.</TD></TR></TABLE>


yup they take pics and set you up nice . Cuse if you have all reciepts and everything is legit w reciepts...... otherwise all you w hot items, fresh looted whos scared of there own parts of course your not going to get coverd only the honest straight up people ! my homie had his gsr stolen he was given 25,000 is that the price of the car normally for a green w beige interior integra? nah AND HE DID NOT EVEN HAve aaa

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tealmen &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


yup they take pics and set you up nice . Cuse if you have all reciepts and everything is legit w reciepts...... otherwise all you w hot items, fresh looted whos scared of there own parts of course your not going to get coverd only the honest straight up people ! my homie had his gsr stolen he was given 25,000 is that the price of the car normally for a green w beige interior integra? nah AND HE DID NOT EVEN HAve aaa</TD></TR></TABLE>

what about people that don't have receipts due to the fact that they bought used parts.

 

Oh, and I know AllState has agreed value policies. My dad did a lot of work on his old jeep and an adjuster came out and appraised it. That was all aftermarket rebuild parts, so I dont see how its different from aftermarket sports compact parts.

 

I don't see how your alpha lock wil do any good against towing. I wouldn't even doubt if someone would still try to drive down the street with it. Most car owners fail to realize the theif doesn't care about how much damage he causes to your car.

 

you do have a point, but I guess a theif will think twice about driving a car down the street with sparks flying... Anyway, I was able to get a quote from Chubb - $861 / year for high liablity coverages and an Agreed Value policy of $10k (includes Multicar discount). Not the cheapest but not too expensive either, and I've heard that Chubb has awesome customer service, so I think I will go with them. The broker that is setting up the policy wants me to insure my home policies through Safeco, but from reserching JD Powers consumer ratings, Safeco is not impressive. I will try to quotes from Amica (very good consumer ratings). Thanks again for the lead on Chubb and for everyone's inputs

 

You usually get an additional auto discount when you insure your home through the same agent. The discount in auto insurance we got was more than the home insurance. I couldn't pass that up.

I've seen a show where they had parking patrol putting on the boot. A lady got pissed and drove off with it. It tore up her fender but eventually came off. I wouldn't doubt if that device did the same. Most of these devices are to keep the ametuer from stealing your car. Most people steal if the risk is less then the potential of getting caught. So anything that will increase there chances of getting caught is a good thing. It just wont stop all of them.

 

I would prefer to be insured by one company and benefit from the companion policy discounts, but unfortunately Chubb only insures homes worth more than $500k, so I don't qualify But thanks for suggesting that. I did consider just insuring the Civic with Chubb, then insuring the homes and the other car with someone else, but the agent is presurring me by saying that Chubb may not want to insure just one vehicle. She wanted my home policies too but she couldn't beat other quotes I got. I think she might be BSing me just to earn more commission....