In advising my insurance broker (TD Meloche Monnex) this morning that we’re trading in a car I prompted myself to receive a questionnaire on the incoming car. One question was does the new car have any modifications that result in HP gain. In this case, no. However what about the S5 I want to buy and have modified. I asked by how much it affects rates if the car is modified, and they said they simply won’t insure the car.
So all of you guys who DO have HP gain inducing modifications…what’s your deal? Did you get a runaround from your ins broker? Are your mods on the down low? Did you have to shop around to find someone willing to accept the car? Are you just banking on your ins never finding out?
This doesn’t sound right. Simply throwing a Borla cat back on my Corvette can’t mean my insurance company dumps my car.
Geico told me that they would insure my S4 with all the mods that I am doing but I would need receipts and a fully detailed list of what I have done to it. They also would charge me more but that is to be expected.
Never heard of that. Might be a state-by-state thing. They never asked me
I would just say it’s stock. They’re screwing themselves by not insuring modded cars. Every evo/sti/camaro/mustang/gti, etc on the road is modified in some way
Huh. With a bit of thought I can see it actually, given that insurance companies are in the business of denying claims. That’s probably the first item on the insurance checklist once there’s been a big accident. Check for modifications to the at fault car. Quick and easy deny if they find anything.
I guess this thread has a Canadian taste to it. Our insurance companies evidently don’t allow modifications to cars.
I wouldn’t make a sweeping statement like that. Your insurance company doesn’t…but my insurance company has never asked me that, either in writing or verbally.
I think if you add some modifications to your car and it gets smacked up (i.e. supercharger kit for $15,000 etc.) it certainly isn’t grounds for dismissing a claim or client. They will not cover the supercharger or modifications on the car, and I think that’s understandable.
p.s. I wonder if your HOUSE insurance policy would cover mods that aren’t under the auto policy
Interesting topic. I never had an issue with mods and my insurance company. As long as they knew the mod and associated cost all was good. I had one modded car totaled and another that needed a new front end and my company took care of me in both instances.
I have read countless threads from countless auto forums (like over 60 threads) looking for an insurance company in Ontario that would be willing to cover modified cars (for a premium) and have read horror stories of people being dropped and not being able to find subsequent coverage.
I myself have called over 15 different insurance brokers, including high risk ones, and they ALL said no, we don’t know anyone that’s willing to cover a modified car.
I contacted a specialty insurance company that covers rare vehicles but unfortunately, they only take on antiques/vintage.
IF ANYONE in ONTARIO can point me to an insurance company that would gladly give me a quote on my modified vehicle, PLEASE let me know. I would switch in a heartbeat if I could find one.
Saki, your insurance company may have never asked if you’re modded but I’m pretty sure that if you called them up and asked them if they would continue to cover you if you modified your car down the road, they would tell you no (relatively safe for you since you’re currently stock so if they wanted to show up and do a surprise spot check, you’d be fine). I however, cannot.
I’ve been looking for YEARS. I don’t mind paying extra for the extra coverage and having my insurance company legitimately know about my mods but I still haven’t found one.
To think of it another way, adding 100hp to your car makes you a higher RISK for them. I don’t think it comes down to them not wanting to pay for your 8k JHM s/c kit if you get in an accident.
Your 13.6 sedan just turned into a 11.8 sedan, much higher risk.
From the countless threads I’ve read, it’s not that specific. They don’t care about what the mods are, just that they are mods. Doesn’t matter if it’s adding 200 hp or adding a legit coilover kit or just a short shifter.
Modded = no thanks, we don’t want you as a customer anymore.
I think it’s more of a general “If you’re modding your car, you must drive like a maniac/moron and race every chance you get so you must be a higher risk. So say our statistics.”
Progressive is the only insurance company I’ve found to offer custom equipment coverage. They automatically cover you for 1000$ and you can add an additional 5000$. I know mods can easily go way over this but its better than getting a declared value on the car and I’ve never found a company that offers more and doesn’t raise rates too much. They specify the mods they cover and I’m not sure what exactly it at is as far as engine work goes cuz I’ve never asked but its definitely worth looking into.
In light of this, what I don’t understand now is how anyone can drive around in a loud car in Ontario. Presumably the cops know that mods aren’t picked up by insurance. So if you drive by a cop in a Civic that sounds like an amplified vaccuum cleaner…even at the speed limit…the cop can pull you over and inform you that they’re putting you in for adjustment with your insurance.
Fuck man, think of all the Ferrari owners with Tubi exhausts. There are some pretty ugly real world practical implications of this revelation. This FUCKING SUCKS!
I asked my friend who works at Co-Operators and she affirmed this stance - no modified cars on the book - but she told me “Facility Association” does write policies on modified cars. She told me premiums start at $8,000/year over there.
So if you want to lob a call over to them and share your findings… I think I will too proposing the car I WANT to build…
I can’t believe how stupid this is. They’re saying I can’t take a 354bhp car and turn it into a 420bhp car. However I can buy a 1001bhp car, leave it stock, and get insurance. Fucking retarded.
why would the police do that? You act like they work for the insurers.
and again…I have never been told mods are not allowed. Nobody here has in fact. We’ve heard that your insurer won’t. Axel has called around for coverage on those mods, but wasn’t able to secure but they never told him he couldn’t modify his car in any way…just that they won’t pay for his $10,000 supercharger if something should go wrong with the car (i.e. theft etc.)
Not exactly. Here’s what I did. I went online to Facility Association. Followed a link to the Insurance Brokers Association Ontario, followed a link to find brokers which was http://www.myinsuranceshopper.ca/LocateBroker.aspx?in=find
After entering data, you get a long list of brokers. I called every single one in the list back to back. I asked: I’d like to insure a modified vehicle and I was hoping you could provide me a quote. (Being independent brokers, they have access to multiple insurance companies although each broker has access to different ones with some obvious overlap).
EVERY single one said no, we don’t insure modified vehicles of any kind (i.e. none of our insurers on record do AND/OR we don’t want to have to deal with you, you’re bothering us).
I have also read countless threads where people added a modification to their car, called their company and mentioned the new modification (thinking they were being honest and wanted the insurance company to know) only to be told modifications were not allowed and that they were being dropped for misrepresentation. Most of these people ended up having to quickly cancel their policy BEFORE the insurance company flagged them because once you’re flagged for misrepresentation, you’re not going to find an insurer that’s willing to cover you with a 10 foot pole and you’ll end up being stuck with Facility Association, the insurer of last resort for extremely high risk drivers (i.e. 8k and above/year rates).
You can avoid the misrepresentation issue if your car is still stock, call your insurance company and ask them if they would still cover you should you add modifications. They might think you’ve already modded the car though and want to drop you, which will require you requesting them to send someone over to confirm your car is still stock.
All those modified cars on the road are running the risk of losing their mods should they get in a bad accident. It’s unfortunately how it works in Ontario. Can’t speak for other Provinces and States.
Yeah, when I said I’d be willing to pay a premium, I didn’t mean paying FA rates where they’re that high because all of their clients have been in so many accidents or have broken the HTA (or even the actual law with DUIs, etc.) so many times that they probably shouldn’t be driving in the first place and are simply a ticking time bomb.
[quote=axel]EVERY single one said no, we don’t insure modified vehicles of any kind (i.e. none of our insurers on record do AND/OR we don’t want to have to deal with you, you’re bothering us).
I have also read countless threads where people added a modification to their car, called their company and mentioned the new modification (thinking they were being honest and wanted the insurance company to know) only to be told modifications were not allowed and that they were being dropped for misrepresentation. Most of these people ended up having to quickly cancel their policy BEFORE the insurance company flagged them because once you’re flagged for misrepresentation, you’re not going to find an insurer that’s willing to cover you with a 10 foot pole and you’ll end up being stuck with Facility Association, the insurer of last resort for extremely high risk drivers (i.e. 8k and above/year rates).
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Let’s clarify…did they say 'we don’t insure a customer with any type of modification…i.e. if you have a car with an exhaust on it, we don’t want you as a customer? Or did they say they don’t insure modified vehicles which really meant something to the tune of ‘if you’re our customer and get rear ended, we won’t buy you a new exhaust because we don’t insure modifications’.
I think they are protecting themselves from you adding a $10,000 gold spoiler to the car, then asking them to pay for it. Further, they’re not happy with the potential for you taking an S4 wagon and turning it into a stretch limosine (think Top Gear style modifications on their funny challenge episodes). If your modification makes the car more prone to problems on the road, they don’t want that liability…nor do they want to have to send someone to evaluate your car before they insure you to see if you’re a retard like Jeremy Clarkson who hacksawed two cars in half and welded them together.
We’ve heard of countless threads where a guy gets rear ended, then the insurance has to fix it, and they end up buying him a new OEM exhaust (or crediting him for one) that costs $2600 ironically double what his modified catback cost.
[i]I recently came into information that in Ontario cars with modifications that result in horsepower gain aren’t covered by insurance companies. Do you have a stance on this? Was it covered in any course you’ve taken? I’m curious to find out if it is truly a blanket policy that all companies in Ontario adhere to. One guy I’ve spoken to says he has searched for years for an insurance carrier that will cover a modified car but hasn’t found one.
What say you???[/i]
And she said this:
Every company has slightly different risk selection rules when issuing a new policy, I work for Co-operators when we issue a new policy one of our standard risk selection questions is ‘has the vehicle been customized or modified in any way’ - we don’t write modified cars on our book, the only company that I know of that writes modified vehicles is Facility Association which is the most expensive in Ontario by a long shot, and expensive being like 8k to start for a year and only goes up.
And when I called Meloche Monnex (my broker) this morning to talk about this subject, they told me they will not cover a car that has been modified in appearance or performance. He said “custom exahust systems are a BIG no. The car has to be factory stock for us to insure it.” The real telling item was the reference to Appearance.
So it seems that insurance companies in Ontario don’t want to insure geno rice rockets understandably and to be not discriminate they have to go with blanket “no modifications” policies.
What a sad revelation. It’s the CAR they won’t insure, not just the modification.
