Modifications and insurance policy?

[Lava road]

All modifications your better call your vehicle insurance provider know what was added to your Tacoma.
If you do not , your insurance provider can void and/ or consider this fraud. Meaning all damages will be void.

I call Geico today, told them, 2.5 lift, aftermarket tires and rims Rock sliders, leer camper top. They added $92.00 every six months. A small price to pay, vs Fraud charges and denied all claims.

Even interior modifications any hardwire ,like stereos, dash cams, lighting ,etc. you should let your insurance provide know.

Some insurance policies will vary, some may not provide insurance for aftermarket parts, some do. Also some companies may not need be notified. Best to call your agent.

Even a aftermarket tuning, you better call your insurance company because you modify the HP, performance, etc. you do not want to be denied of any claims or charge for fraud.

Some insurance providers do not cover aftermarket parts, varies. Always call your insurance provider agency of any modifications.
The worst part ,they can void the insurance policy and claims because they were not inform. ( fraud ) Protect yourself and your Tacoma.
Make a phone call to your agent. Let them know of your mods!

 

[bonifacio]

It's just another way of raising your premium. You don't have to inform them of anything. It's different if the aftermarket part makes it not "road-worthy" and prevents it from passing inspection. Insurance coverage will only cover the cost of up to factory replacement parts.
There are times when people get damage repaired but instead of replacing it with the same factory part they get an aftermarket part and pay the difference.
Fraud would be adding something not there and the insurance company paying for it. Inflating values of things to get more money. Insurance paying a Sport owner for the air valance that was removed before the accident. Let's say they didn't know you removed it and assume it was ripped off from the accident. Are you going to pay that back? Depending on how the billing is done, you might not even catch that they paid you for it on the itemized estimate. If you overlook it and it's an error what now?
After the claim is approved, they will pay the estimated cost - deductible the repair shop or you can have them cut you the check.
It's only beneficial to get additional coverage to a vehicle if the aftermarket parts are significantly more expensive or are added on. Otherwise it would be more financially sound to not pay the increase premium then salvage it or buy replacement out of pocket.

Let's say you received an estimate from a shop. Insurance paid it and it was approved. Then you decide you want to repair it yourself. So you receive the check. If you buy a new take off part for significantly less than it is from the dealer because someone upgraded theirs, are you going to return the difference to the insurance company? Then all the labor... do you return that too? Since that person probably isn't a licensed business to repair vehicels. Can't really charge for your time and garage space. Let's say you decide you were going to remove your step bars. Only one got damaged. You just take the other off and never get them. Would you consider that fraud since they paid for the replacement/repair? If all 4 wheels were scratched up but you were already planning to upgrade the wheels then the other insurance gives you $1400 (cost of 4 factory O/R wheels) for a claim, would you buy the same factory wheels again? If you can get them repaired at a fraction of the cost without sacrificing safety, would you? Makes more sense to use the money towards new wheels. Let's say the original wheels were dinged up from off-roading anyway.

It sounds like whoever your agent is doesn't understand. They don't understand the hobby or vehicels in general. Your parts make a minimal change. Maybe the agent never modified a vehicel. So changing anything from out of factory spec is just realms out of their understanding. So to them, it seems policy altering.

 

[Lava road]

To expect every agent to be a expert, is not realistic. But hopefully they can be helpful.

Best to read the Google web site. “ Do we need to let our car insured company of any modification done to our vehicles. “
Many will vary , not all car insurance have the same written clauses.

For me it was a “peace of mind” since I called my insurance company.
———-
Sometime you need to negotiate with the insurance company. Not related to the above.
My best friend got his new Nissan 4x4 stolen, a few weeks later the police found only the shell.
The insurance company low-ball the pay out. He call them and said why don’t you find me another Nissan for the same insurance pay out. They couldn’t and give him more money.

Later he found out what the insurance did, they call every Nissan dealer for the cheapest Nissan 4x4, and that’s what they offer. ( replacement cost); But no Nissan dealer would offer any Nissan 4x4 at that price to him.

He was watching my apartment while I was on vacation. Two hours later he went to get something out of his truck, “Gone”. This was the first year Nissan offer a 4x4. It became the most stolen 4x4 in Hawaii at that time.

 

[Lava road]

Geico is covering some of the cost on my mods, not sure what I will actually received? I lost some receipts.

 

[bonifacio]

To expect every agent to be a expert, is not realistic. But hopefully they can be helpful.

Best to read the Google web site. “ Do we need to let our car insured company of any modification done to our vehicles. “
Many will vary , not all car insurance have the same written clauses.

For me it was a “peace of mind” since I called my insurance company.
———-
Sometime you need to negotiate with the insurance company. Not related to the above.
My best friend got his new Nissan 4x4 stolen, a few weeks later the police found only the shell.
The insurance company low-ball the pay out. He call them and said why don’t you find me another Nissan for the same insurance pay out. They couldn’t and give him more money.

Later he found out what the insurance did, they call every Nissan dealer for the cheapest Nissan 4x4, and that’s what they offer. ( replacement cost); But no Nissan dealer would offer any Nissan 4x4 at that price to him.

He was watching my apartment while I was on vacation. Two hours later he went to get something out of his truck, “Gone”. This was the first year Nissan offer a 4x4. It became the most stolen 4x4 in Hawaii at that time.

Because they're not "experts" means they will just give a general generic answer that covers them from any backlash and what's quick and easy to give you an answer and move on.

Google searches results in a lot of clickbait BS articles. You're reading too much of those from inexperienced people just trying to generate ad-revenue.

Your "peace of mind" is your opinion. Don't hop on here telling people what "they need to do" because that's how it is in your mind.

The incident with your friends vehicle... trust me, they don't have people who sit around calling dealerships. How did you "find out"? Did you read that online or did you call and ask them? Is that what they told him when he called? Probably told him that just to speed up the call and get him off the phone. They're not perfect. When something doesn't add up, they'll re-adjust numbers. They set thresholds for payouts. Pretty sure they pay a commercial license for NADA access or something like that. Which publish as a generalized pricing point for a vehicle. They get this by collecting data from wholesale and retail transactions for what the vehicles are bought and sold for. If you "found out" how they get their pricing, should have talked to the dealerships. It only make sense for the dealership to give a higher number to the insurance companies because they aren't partners. The higher the number the dealership gives the more money the buyer gets to ease the purchase of a new vehicle. Dealerships would have found that out and that would be standard practice.

Insurance companies are there to make money. Standard practice is probably just to low ball someone or offer a % of what NADA lists. They've probably found a majority of people just accepting that.

So what about market adjustments?

All those Toyota trucks and SUVs being sold right now? Those $40k Toyotas with $25,000 market adjustment. Something like this:

Let's say you bought this $50,000 RAV4 right before the market went to shit and the prices were marked up. Now the market is dried up and the production lines are delayed. Dealerships add their mark up.
Your friend watches your apartment again...
Do you really think the insurance company is going to call all the dealerships and ask what it costs? Just because the market doesn't stabilize, think they're going to pay out $96,442 + tax and fees? You really think you can negotiate with the insurance company? You get lowballed, then you basically appeal that if it's unreasonable and hope they approve it.

 

[Lava road]

Awareness of insurance policies covering mods, I never knew this before it was mention here. Thank you to guys for the info’s

As for my friend’s 4x4 Nissan 4x4 , he try to buy another 4x4, couldn’t find any dealer on the island of Oahu. Selling for the same price of the insurance coverage. He call the insurance company and they told him , the insurance company call all the Nissan dealers on Oahu. That is how they came up with insurance payment in the 70’s . May bit a bit strange now , but that how it was done at that time.
Replacement cost. Less then a year old.

All above is past history. As for information from Google? I trust most of them. But one must always be aware of false information.
Even from people here! Who ,what can be trusted?

 

[bonifacio]

All above is past history. As for information from Google? I trust most of them. But one must always be aware of false information.
Even from people here! Who ,what can be trusted?

There is so much bad information out there. Also people sharing their interpretation of a companies policies, when in practice it's in stone or it's a specific scenario.

 

[Lava road]

There also many good information too! Even on this site! Some can be bad , as well as some are great.
We can say that about every school education. That is why America has a low ratings on the international scale. Yes this story can be false too…haha.

What to believe …? if we accepted everything is false.

 

[bonifacio]

There also many good information too! Even on this site! Some can be bad , as well as some are great.
We can say that about every school education. That is why America has a low ratings on the international scale. Yes this story can be false too…haha.

What to believe …? if we accepted everything is false.

Base it off the quality of the content. Not just general statements.
Sometimes it's obvious when it's a site full of fluff. Those are the content generated sites that optimize driving traffic in to get ad money.

If you ever need an opinion on the validity of a site, hit me up. I can try and narrow down the red flags of a site if it's a fake ad one. Some of them look decent and legitimate. But they will give info in circles and nothing of value.