Creating a custom car has it’s rewards. It’s like a form of art taking a car from it’s “stock” state and transforming it into a customized show car. While some enjoy doing this to newer cars, many enjoy restoring their classic cars.
When you get your classic car insured, you must make note of the vehicle’s value. If your insuring a restored 1967 ford galaxy, the insurance company will assume a value of about $2,000 for this specific car. However, I’ve seen this car, “restored”, go for much more than the assumed value. So while getting auto insurance for a customized car you must elect a “stated value”. In most cases what will happen is an appraisal will be ordered to confirm the value of the vehicle. Let’s face it, if you are driving a restored classic and happen to get into an accident suffering a total loss, the last thing you want is your insurance company cutting you a check for $2,000. This also goes for highly modified vehicles with many expensive aftermarket parts. If you have a $10,000 car with $40,000 worth of modifications, you will want to make sure you insure these cars on a “stated amount” basis also.
Auto Insurance and Modifications
Understand the risk of not telling your insurance company about the aftermarket parts.
You will want to make sure the insurance company is aware of any performance modifications made to your car. If you have a 4 door honda civic customized to produce over 400HP, this is something you would not want to withhold from the Insurance company. If you wreck it you want to be certain the insurance company will pay for your claim. If the Insurer covered the vehicle as a standard sedan and come to find out the car is running 10 second quarters, they will probably give you a hard time when it comes to collecting on the claim. The reason for this is the vehicle was rated wrong from the beginning. If they had known this car had this type of performance, they would have rated it more like a sports car. Many who own these types of cars don’t tell their Insurance companies about the hidden extras on the engine for this reason alone, higher rates.
Always keep in mind, “what could happen” and make sure your covered in the event it did.
~ low-insurance.org.
