Amazing insurance advice I did not know myself! (Thanks MSO)

if it is part of the settlement cost, and figured into the value of the auto, then... No you cannot take off items. if they dont cover it, or your request to remove items, before settlement, you can do that but, you have to have authorization from the provider before removing items that could ad or subtract value, or deem the auto as not complete.

think of it in layman's terms. the insurance company is buying your auto, like the accident never happened. similar to you selling it to a private individual. you cant remove the engine, stereo, battery, or wheels, and tires, they are buying the vehicle.

if you are swapping things back to stock, that is a different story. then they are just valuing the auto as it came equipped at time of purchase. again, your results may vary, and you will want to have this discussion with your adjuster before settlement offers are tendered. Ski

 

So in my usaa coverage there is nothing stating they do or do not cover off road use. The rep I spoke with said because it doesn't say they don't cover it, it would be covered. Here is the only mention in the whole 60+ page contract that mentions "off public roads".

 

I'm sure I was before hand too! I bet I'm on all sorts of lists.

 

And the video is 7 minutes and to the point instead of 30 with most of it being nothing useful

 

Question for the more experienced.

I've bought most of my mods second hand to save a few dollars. So I don't have hardly any invoices to represent value.
Could I use retail + depreciation to assign a value? Or do I have to have an actual receipt?

Also on a side note: I've always chuckled at people who buy modded vehicles from dealerships instead of doing it themselves. But when dealing with insurance, having one lump price for the vehicle would probably save your butt in the event of an accident.

edit: I'm aware I can ask my insurance rep. Just throwing it out there for discussion.

 

Only if the agent thought something was suspicious about the conversation and flagged the account (my wife works there). If the agent deemed it a normal conversation, while the conversation is recorded, there isn't any indicator on the account to tell anyone else to go look at the conversation.

 

just type up your own reciept, sign and scan it a few times so it looks legit.

 

Any chance of getting clarification one way or another on the off road coverage? This person was new, but helpful.

 

I might be wrong here, but I think pictures would work, of the actual mods.

 

the moral of the story is you will never be made whole if you total out your vehicle with aftermarket parts. The best part of it is you were never going to be made whole even if you were driving around in a Stock tacoma. Its a lose lose.

you might be close (ish) if you get your vehicle fixed and they included depreciated value check with the fix.

 

In October my truck was totaled out with USAA. When asking about removing parts before they took it, they said I could as long as I replaced them with the original factory equipment.

 

Also FWIW, damage you cause to your truck, like hitting a tree, running a boulder down the side, what ever... is no different than running off the road in a real accident and hitting a tree. Both will count as at fault accidents/claims. Of which you will be penalized for the next 3-5 yrs.

There's generally no difference in driving around in the woods and causing damage, vs driving around on your own property and causing damage. Only real distinction for most insurance companies is for competition/racing, intentional acts, or illegal acts. None of which would be covered.

 

Accident forgiveness is awesome

 

She told me the same thing that the conversation posted did. They don't specifically exclude it, so we would be covered (subject to maximums and our deductible). She says if you have a lot of modifications you probably want to specify for your policy they exist because depending on the part it might not be covered. Her example was I have an aftermarket bumper and that is covered because the vehicle needs a bumper, but ditch lighting for example *might* not be (she said it is in the adjusters hands at that point and not where she works). She did say however that something that is not-covered/not necessary for the vehicle could be removed as a personal item. If I wanted to keep my bumper after I was in an accident, I would need to replace it with the stock bumper (which actually costs more than the one I have, so for me I would just let the bumper go and buy a new one for the new vehicle). If I wanted to take the ditch lights off, they wouldn't really care (unless they were covering them).

She said where it gets a little more tricky is stuff like campers. They are not necessary for the vehicle but are often damaged themselves when accidents happen. If you don't have it specified you are at the mercy of the adjuster, but if you do, it should be covered (but at a slight increase in the monthly policy price).

 

USAA told me that since I buy most of my mountain bikes second hand, to type out a super basic bill of sale: who is selling, who is buying, price, description of goods.

 

Awesome, thanks for that

 

I Hydro locked engine offroading
Must not really offroad? Litte mud holes and gravel is not offroading.

 

No what he's saying is that since a lot of insurance companies do not honor off pavement related accidents, you were "totally on the road, minding your own business"

It's similar to "just riding along" MTB warranty claims when you were hucking 50 foot doubles.

 

MY mistake

 

Yeah when mine happened, I was trying to figure out how I be able to get away with something like that. kind of impossible when you tear the engine down and it's for mud, even though we had flash flooding that week still would have been probably impossible I just ate the $4,500 it took care of it