Racer's Lounge - Insurance question

My car was deemed totaled by the insurance company and they are giving me about $6400 back for the car. Now if you look at my sig you can tell that I have alot of time and money into this car. They told me if I have receipts of work done and of new parts I can send those in for an additional payment. I have lots of major receipts here and If I tried i could easily come up with over 10k. Im afraid If i send these receipts in that they will realize that my car was modded or be pissed that i have more money in the car than the it is worth all together. I had originally told them that I rebuilt the engine and they said that was fine. But on alot of these invoices and receipts they are from "whoever performance." Some of them you would have to know a decent amount about cars to tell what exactly it is. For example, I have an invoice here for around $4500 for just my shortblock. It lists all the technical specs of the motor such as clearances, bores and what parts were used. If they realize I have all this work done how much power this car really has, im afraid I might get nothing. Is it worth trying to send in some of these receipts? Would they really know enough to tell or would they just add it all up and send me a check?

They are already taking away $960 to buy it back and then another $500 for my deductible. So i really could use the extra cash to be able to buy another decent car.

be very careful about showing them how much power it has. i would forget about the shortblock, and get receipts for everything else like the built trans and any appearance mods. a lot of ins companies dont like modded cars

do you think they would care about other stuff? Such as minor performance mods or supporting mods? I also have some invoices from work done at a performance shop. Would that be alright to send in? It does mention "custom tuning" in the middle of a bunch regular repairs.

I would send in anything that you don't think will get you in trouble, buy the car back, and then pull the parts and either sell or rebuild.

Can you buy the car back and pull the parts off? Might be an option depending on whats salvageable.

Can you buy the car back and pull the parts off? Might be an option depending on whats salvageable.

yes thats exactly what im doing.

I'm surprised they totaled your car. You could buy a NICE roller for $3000 and have the rest left over to buy what ever else you need to swap all your stuff over. I wouldn't worry about getting any more money.

Sounds about right for a 98 Z28. If you are retaining the car I wouldn't complain about that offer, just pull the parts and either sell them or swap them over to a roller and you are still ahead of the game.

Heres how the insurance looks at cars. if you replaced the engine then send them the receipt for the engine, they will decide how much that engine is worth based off experience and the age of the engine since installation yada yada yada... Then they will cut you a check. Same with anything else, you will get a depreciated value. Insurance says nothing about you modifying a car, ive totalled two heavily modified cars and got handsomely compensated for the mods I could provide documentation for. So, just submit all your receipts, when they make you an offer take it. Then buy back the salvage, part it out, replace your car and move on. if you dont buy back the salvage tell me how much it is and ill buy it.

Heres how the insurance looks at cars. if you replaced the engine then send them the receipt for the engine, they will decide how much that engine is worth based off experience and the age of the engine since installation yada yada yada... Then they will cut you a check. Same with anything else, you will get a depreciated value. Insurance says nothing about you modifying a car, ive totalled two heavily modified cars and got handsomely compensated for the mods I could provide documentation for. So, just submit all your receipts, when they make you an offer take it. Then buy back the salvage, part it out, replace your car and move on. if you dont buy back the salvage tell me how much it is and ill buy it.

They will even cut me a check for all of these things when i told them nothing about it in the first place? Can't they deny me coverage for not telling them because then the car wasnt insured for all of power and money put into it.

If i were to send in all these receipts would my buy back price go up because the value of the car is higher now?

If i were to send in all these receipts would my buy back price go up because the value of the car is higher now?

If you aren't paying a premium for an endorsement to pay for these "modifications" you would be lucky to get anything for them. Just because you have a lot of mods to your car doesn't mean its worth much if anything more as far as the insurance industry is concerned. To a private buyer maybe yes maybe no.

Unless your insurance company requires a rider policy for modified items (generally stereo and wheels) then go ahead and submit the reciepts.

They will not care about the motor work or anything else. Do you think someone over there is going to go over your invoices and see what bore and stroke your motor has and estimate how much power it has. Nope, they are going to add the values up and give you a estimated value of worth and make you a offer.

believe me I know, I owned a 2006 GTO with almost $12,000 in mods that was totaled by a red light runner after only owning it for 5 months. With $24,000 in damage, a car that was worth $28,000 still and another $12,000 in reciepts it was worth ot for me to claim the parts and get paid back for those parts.

if you have substantial mods to your car, insure it with a collector car company like Grundy, Haggerty, etc....your average State Farm or Geico is not going to pay for mods, period. I've been in the insurance buisness for a while now and trust me, we don't care what extras you put on your car. Unless you are paying extra premium for added equipment, you're only going to get what the car has on it based on the VIN number.

It works the same with your house. If you add a huge deck or another garage, but fail to tell the company that you've added these things and pay the additional premium, then you have no leg to stand on if you bitch when it burns down.

90% of all insurance questions can be answered if you read your policy book.

if you have substantial mods to your car, insure it with a collector car company like Grundy, Haggerty, etc....your average State Farm or Geico is not going to pay for mods, period. I've been in the insurance buisness for a while now and trust me, we don't care what extras you put on your car. Unless you are paying extra premium for added equipment, you're only going to get what the car has on it based on the VIN number.

It works the same with your house. If you add a huge deck or another garage, but fail to tell the company that you've added these things and pay the additional premium, then you have no leg to stand on if you bitch when it burns down.

90% of all insurance questions can be answered if you read your policy book.

Great post, I handle auto claims and wish people would read their contract.

Great post, I handle auto claims and wish people would read their contract.

State Farm gave me money for the aftermarket wheels, stereo, body components, and engine mods on my totalled 2001 mazda mp3. My mom is a state farm insurance agent. Blanket statements ftw.

State Farm gave me money for the aftermarket wheels, stereo, body components, and engine mods on my totalled 2001 mazda mp3. My mom is a state farm insurance agent. Blanket statements ftw.

Yup if you are paying for extra "coverage" then yeah I see that. However 99% of other people don't pay for extra coverage and are mad when all the aftermarket stuff isn't covered because insurance is to fix your car the way it was from the factory or replace it with one the way it was from the factory.

I didnt have any extra coverage on my GTO and Farmers covered it all under my normal policy as well.

Also the only time that coverage pertains is when you are paying for it on your policy, if the accident is the other persons fault then thier insurance has to take into accord your extra stuff when the claim is processed.

I sent in about 8k in receipts on friday and havn't heard back yet so i guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

Yup if you are paying for extra "coverage" then yeah I see that. However 99% of other people don't pay for extra coverage and are mad when all the aftermarket stuff isn't covered because insurance is to fix your car the way it was from the factory or replace it with one the way it was from the factory.

I dont pay for extra coverage. Its kinda like if my house burns down and I can show receipts where I put upgraded appliances and carpet in it, then they compensate me for the upgrade. Now if I had aftermarket wheels on the car and didnt have a receipt for the new wheels and tires then the insurance would say, "it has to have wheels, so we are only going to pay you for the stock wheels." However since I had the receipts along with pictures to prove the items were on the car, they payed me for them. My only point was the worst they can say is no, so he ought to submit his receipts. And that not every case works the same, so blanket statements should not be made.

Well i ended up getting 1500 something back for my 8k in receipts. better than nothing i guess.

Any word on how much buying back the salvage is going to cost you?

heres all the numbers. Car was valued at about 6400 minus 500 deductable and 960 to buy it back. Plus 1500 for the receipts so total im getting back is about $64xx.

IMO that is plenty to buy a roller and swap everything over, and still have some left to buy some more goodies. :D

next time get a rider policy for mods