Insurance Question
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Drifting
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 31
Likes: 1
From: Winston-Salem NC
Insurance Question
Guys,
I had a very frank conversation with my Traveler's Insurance agent about my continued restoration of my 2000 Discovery 2, and I did not like what they told me. Basically, if the Disco were to be totaled they would only pay $2800 even though I have receipts totaling almost $7k in recent work. Do any of you all have agreed or stated value policies on your Land Rover's. I am using the Disco as my semi-daily driver, more on bad weather days. For those of you who have dumped considerable amounts of $$$ into your Rover's you might want to check with your insurance before something happens. I assured my agent you could not replace my Disco for $2800 with all the recent mechanical work, he agreed but said his hands are tied.
I had a very frank conversation with my Traveler's Insurance agent about my continued restoration of my 2000 Discovery 2, and I did not like what they told me. Basically, if the Disco were to be totaled they would only pay $2800 even though I have receipts totaling almost $7k in recent work. Do any of you all have agreed or stated value policies on your Land Rover's. I am using the Disco as my semi-daily driver, more on bad weather days. For those of you who have dumped considerable amounts of $$$ into your Rover's you might want to check with your insurance before something happens. I assured my agent you could not replace my Disco for $2800 with all the recent mechanical work, he agreed but said his hands are tied.
Any vehicle, if totalled, is only replaced at the blue-book value. If you have something like a classic car...or etc, you can probably purchase some sort of elevated insurance (not sure on that) much like a house that has expensive diamonds in it but then your insurance is more.
Just don't total your truck.
Just don't total your truck.
Pro Wrench
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,869
Likes: 44
From: Philly
Guys,
I had a very frank conversation with my Traveler's Insurance agent about my continued restoration of my 2000 Discovery 2, and I did not like what they told me. Basically, if the Disco were to be totaled they would only pay $2800 even though I have receipts totaling almost $7k in recent work. Do any of you all have agreed or stated value policies on your Land Rover's. I am using the Disco as my semi-daily driver, more on bad weather days. For those of you who have dumped considerable amounts of $$$ into your Rover's you might want to check with your insurance before something happens. I assured my agent you could not replace my Disco for $2800 with all the recent mechanical work, he agreed but said his hands are tied.
I had a very frank conversation with my Traveler's Insurance agent about my continued restoration of my 2000 Discovery 2, and I did not like what they told me. Basically, if the Disco were to be totaled they would only pay $2800 even though I have receipts totaling almost $7k in recent work. Do any of you all have agreed or stated value policies on your Land Rover's. I am using the Disco as my semi-daily driver, more on bad weather days. For those of you who have dumped considerable amounts of $$$ into your Rover's you might want to check with your insurance before something happens. I assured my agent you could not replace my Disco for $2800 with all the recent mechanical work, he agreed but said his hands are tied.
I can't be mad because I know I would never recoup what I put into it. Depreciation at it's finest, my man.
If it isn't a total loss, buy it back, and find a donor rig for a clean body, and build it back to what it was. Now if it's completely totaled with nothing to save yep you're at a loss.
Pro Wrench
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,869
Likes: 44
From: Philly
And am in the process of swapping everything over to my '04. Well
everything, but my TF castor correcting arms - they got all twisted up like a pretzel.
Pro Wrench
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,605
Likes: 321
From: BC, Canada
I had a 944 Turbo was rear ended a while ago. This is right after I had put in $5,000+ worth of bottom end work at a shop. The funny thing was that I was working on an assignment in Singapore back then. I took the car out of storage to drive it for a couple of hours when I was back in the States for a week. The accident happened a day before I would have to return to Singapore. Here are some lessons which I have learnt...
The insurance company only wanted to pay ACV (actual cash value) which I outrightly refused. I showed them the documentation of work done and parts bought. I also provided references to collector vehicles with similar values on sale at various places (forums, magazines, etc... but do not use Ebay or Craigslist as they reflect bottom end prices). Ask for an appraiser who is familiar with the type of car involved. I was lucky the other party's insurance driver used to own 944s. We chatted lots about Porsches before he did the actual appraisal. I ended up being able to negotiate from $6K to a $17K settlement.... no lawyers involved.
In any other case, I crashed my 928 through my own fault. Took a corner too fast. Car was completely wrecked. Fortunately for me, I had my insurance broker take pics of the car when I first bought her and got her insured. I insured her with an Agreed Value policy. We agreed on a slightly higher premium to cover the low mileage, excellent condition and mods on the vehicle. The insurance broker had the pics stored in his office. So, I had the backup documentation plus provided additional documentation to reflect work done after the insurance policy came into place. I was able to negotiate for a higher settlement even after the initial adjusted offer was made by the insurance company based on the Agreed Value policy.
Lessons learnt: documentation, documentation, documentation; provide credible sources of vehicles of similar condition and specs; be confident, polite and professional when communicating with the insurance adjusters.
I see irony in the postings in the Classified whenever someone is attempting to sell a vehicle. There are occasions when fellow posters criticize the sellers for seeking too high a price. I appreciate the dynamics of demand and supply at play. Appraisers sometimes refer to these sites for determining the value of vehicles, especially low volume collector vehicles or those with lots of mods such as some of our Discoveries.
This is the best article which I know that explains the difference between Actual Cash Values, Agreed Value and Stated Value:
https://www.lelandwest.com/stated-va...-insurance.cfm
The insurance company only wanted to pay ACV (actual cash value) which I outrightly refused. I showed them the documentation of work done and parts bought. I also provided references to collector vehicles with similar values on sale at various places (forums, magazines, etc... but do not use Ebay or Craigslist as they reflect bottom end prices). Ask for an appraiser who is familiar with the type of car involved. I was lucky the other party's insurance driver used to own 944s. We chatted lots about Porsches before he did the actual appraisal. I ended up being able to negotiate from $6K to a $17K settlement.... no lawyers involved.
In any other case, I crashed my 928 through my own fault. Took a corner too fast. Car was completely wrecked. Fortunately for me, I had my insurance broker take pics of the car when I first bought her and got her insured. I insured her with an Agreed Value policy. We agreed on a slightly higher premium to cover the low mileage, excellent condition and mods on the vehicle. The insurance broker had the pics stored in his office. So, I had the backup documentation plus provided additional documentation to reflect work done after the insurance policy came into place. I was able to negotiate for a higher settlement even after the initial adjusted offer was made by the insurance company based on the Agreed Value policy.
Lessons learnt: documentation, documentation, documentation; provide credible sources of vehicles of similar condition and specs; be confident, polite and professional when communicating with the insurance adjusters.
I see irony in the postings in the Classified whenever someone is attempting to sell a vehicle. There are occasions when fellow posters criticize the sellers for seeking too high a price. I appreciate the dynamics of demand and supply at play. Appraisers sometimes refer to these sites for determining the value of vehicles, especially low volume collector vehicles or those with lots of mods such as some of our Discoveries.
This is the best article which I know that explains the difference between Actual Cash Values, Agreed Value and Stated Value:
https://www.lelandwest.com/stated-va...-insurance.cfm
Last edited by acg; Nov 24, 2015 at 06:43 PM.
Camel Trophy
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 4,743
Likes: 985
From: Southwestern Virginia
Yep, insurance is the same for my '03. That's why I moved it down to liability only even though it's my DD and if I were to get into an accident I'd just get to keep it And I'd cross my fingers on finding another black 03-04 with a frame as clean as mine is. Or perhaps white, I do love the look of these trucks in white.
OP, clearly you have never done a major build on a project vehicle.
You may want to switch insurance companies, but you can get a different policy where they will pay for upgrades. As said before, you will pay a premium for that, but you get what you paid for.
I had a friend with a 800hp Evolution 9 with about 20k in mods. Suspension, ton of engine work, upgraded trasn, you name it. Got stolen, and because he had the right policy, they paid out for most of the mods, plus vehicle value.
Didnt get everything back he had put in, but it was damn close.
You may want to switch insurance companies, but you can get a different policy where they will pay for upgrades. As said before, you will pay a premium for that, but you get what you paid for.
I had a friend with a 800hp Evolution 9 with about 20k in mods. Suspension, ton of engine work, upgraded trasn, you name it. Got stolen, and because he had the right policy, they paid out for most of the mods, plus vehicle value.
Didnt get everything back he had put in, but it was damn close.