Help with Insurance Company

Wondering if anyone has had to deal with their insurance company after an accident about all of the mods done to our trucks?

My truck was totaled (in a rollover single car accident, no one was injured thankfully) but now the insurance company isn’t factoring in any of the modifications. The “comps” they used are all stock Tacomas and worse, they say anything over two years old isn’t covered.

I’m starting the fight with them today, previously I included similar trucks that were for sale here in Tacomaworld.

Any insight in to arguments made that were successful or facts that helped your case would be appreciated.

The insurance company is USAA if that matters.

Gratuitous Tacoma death photos

 

Sorry to see your truck like that. Happy you are not seriously injured.

Mods aside, you need to fight for the "market value" of that truck. I'd print or bookmark 5+ for sale ads of similar model, year, and mileage Tacomas. Provide these to USAA when the total loss department tries to low ball you. Recent maintenance should also be considered.

Mods being considered is a toss up. Some companies consider them, some won't pay you a penny for them. If they don't, then remove as much of the aftermarket parts as possible.

 

Double check your policy, but generally aftermarket parts aren’t covered unless you’ve purchased a special policy with added coverage. I don’t think USAA offers that sort of insurance.

Your best bet would probably be to pull as many usable aftermarket parts off as you can (you need to have the OEM part to put on in its place) and then sell them. That’ll get you more than what insurance is likely to offer for them.

 

Do you still have the receipts for the aftermarket parts?

 

Keep in mind the mods will be depreciated from the date on the receipts if they are even considered.

 

Story time?

 

A few month ago i used the service from an insurance appraiser to evaluate the market value of my truck. I got a detailed report with picture and all the detail and the condition of the truck. A sheet with all the modification is included. I talked with my insurance and when i showed this document something crazy happened. My insurance cost got down from 870$ per year to 625$ and all my deductible got cut by half. The crazy thing it's my truck value is now 6000$ more than before that. Full insurance.

The bad thing is even if you put a 5000$ suspension, the value on the truck is not 5000$ more. Everthing "custom" or "modified" is never covered for the price you pay new if totaled. They will replace the parts if stolen or if the truck is damaged but if it's totaled they give you $$$ so you loose money.

Well if you remove the original leaf from Toyota and they worth 600$ new to put some Icon RXT worth 1200$ well you added only 600$ on the truck. But it's more complicated than that because it's not realy what you put on the truck, but what the other in the area want to pay for it,
the market drive the cost so it's different for every city and states.

 

If they cover the mods or not will depend on what your insurance policy states. If you are going to argue with them about what is and what isn't covered, you need to be doing it by citing what it says in your policy.

However, I was recently involved in a situation where my kid totaled his WRX and was successful in raising the amount they would pay by about 30% by successfully showing that the market value of his car (due to the crazy car market at the time....which still exists) meant that the value they were using was not realistic. I had to spend a few hours scouring the internet and getting comps together and then sent them links to them. They came up thousands of dollars based on that....but they wouldn't come up one dime until I did all that research and handed it to them.

I guess bottom line what I'm saying is...you can argue with them and get the settlement up maybe...but you're going to need to research your policy language and the market first.

Good luck!

 

Unless you have some kind of specific policy clause; Kelley Blue Book value or value assigned by the insurance company.
Trust me, I know.

 

USAA used to cover 5k in aftermarket mods, they no longer do, since 2017 or so..you should have gotten a letter from them if you had coverage then explaining they were doing away with that policy. I know they wont cover shit on my Camaro, just the fair market value of the vehicle(see no mods considered) Good luck buddy..this is one fight you cant win. Take off ALL your aftermarket stuff you can , and they will total the vehicle with whatevers left.

 

Ooof that is an expensive mod right there.

 

@cromag27

 

they might compensate you for your added parts, if you have receipts

HOWEVER, they will charge you for the missing stock parts, if you don't have them laying around to give to them.


I've seen this happen a few times, and, the factory parts you took off might be "valued" more expensive than the aftermarket parts


fkers will always find a way to fk you...

 

each insurance company will have different policies regarding custom parts (not factory). this is important for everyone to understand before choosing to be insured by that company. unfortunately trying to fight it after a claim usually doesn’t end well for the insured.

when there is a total loss the valuation is usually called “actual cash value” which takes into consideration condition and depreciation. what it won’t factor is custom parts, if you don’t have that as part of your policy. some companies do allow you to purchase extended coverage for custom parts on your policy, but that has to be effective before a claim.