Mods and insurance

[W661335PF]

I recently witnessed an accident and the first thing the police did was look at the the mods on one of the cars (a souped up Coupe), especially the tires, rims and mods affecting braking/stopping and handling. My question is, does anyone here "FACTUALLY" know what impact these mods have following an accident from the perspective of legal fault and then the insurance company? When deciding fault, to some extent, what role does or would over-sized tires, a modified suspension, etc., have?

[zozoka1212]

That's a good question. We have some insurance guys who can answer that question for sure.

In my opinion in some case yes. Like when you put overlay on your tail light and the weather is crapy and somebody rear ended you. Can blame it on you. Could not see the tail light on the car. In most cases you can see those tail lights but there is going to be some weather condition when you need the brighter lights to be staying visible.Just an example.

If you drove in heavy snowstorm and rainstorm you know what I am talking about.

Also law about this likely vary Country to country, State to state, province to province.

zozo

[zozoka1212]

I've found this one.

http://www.getinlane.com/page35.php

zozo

[Slow Old Man]

I do not know the specifics of the law in Brasil, or much here in the US, but my guess is maybe the officer was noting obvious changes to the car for a later case. There is some aftermarket items that specifically say "off road use only", or something similar. It kind of smells like poop, but perhaps the officers are instructed to take note due to some legal issues, or some one above them wants to run 'tuner' type cars out of their city.Just a guess, I know you were looking for more of an professional opinion.

[W661335PF]

Many insurance companies will tell you (it's in the very small fine print most of us don't read) that you have to notify them if you plan to add modifications that alter the driving, handling and safety of the car. If you don't and you're involved in a car accident, it will not cover damages to you, your vehicle, the other vehicle(s) and passengers. The police, once they've beaten you with their sticks for your "stupidity," (and yes this has been taped, but no one cares down here), will exact justice on you on the spot.

[smockers83]

In deciding who's at fault of an accident, none. If someone pulls out in front of you, they pulled out in front of you. If you rear ended someone, you rear ended them. Mods will only cause your premiums to go up would be my guess, as it makes the car "more risky" since it isn't factory designed.

The thing about brake lights, at least in MI, is that even if the car's brake lights in front of you are not functioning and you rear end them due to their brake lights not coming on, its still your fault.

[C-Kwik]

In deciding who's at fault of an accident, none. If someone pulls out in front of you, they pulled out in front of you. If you rear ended someone, you rear ended them. Mods will only cause your premiums to go up would be my guess, as it makes the car "more risky" since it isn't factory designed.

Very true for the fault determination. But the change in premium if any depends on the mods themselves and the underwriting criteria for the particular insurance company. As an example, generally, wheels aren't considered a higher liability risk. Perhaps a larger comprehemsive one, but depending on the company's stance, they may have written into the policy a limit for the amount that can be paid out on such a mod, or excluded it altogether. In such a case, they may offer to insure the mods for an additional premium.

On the other hand, if the policy is liberal with the mods, they may just choose not to insure most of these types of vehicles. If it is discovered that the vehicle has such mods, they may choose not to renew your policy when the policy period is up.

The thing about brake lights, at least in MI, is that even if the car's brake lights in front of you are not functioning and you rear end them due to their brake lights not coming on, its still your fault.

I'd say generally, even if a car has no brake lights, the person behind is still priomarily at fault. However, there is a reasonable expectation that all cars have functioning lights and/or that drivers use the proper hand signals if the lights are not functioning as they should. In a pure comparative liability decision, I don't think any state would be able to ignore this. However, as there are different types of liability laws even if the person with no taillights technically had some fault, it may not apply to the case if there was not enough fault (as a percentage).

[C-Kwik]

Many insurance companies will tell you (it's in the very small fine print most of us don't read) that you have to notify them if you plan to add modifications that alter the driving, handling and safety of the car. If you don't and you're involved in a car accident, it will not cover damages to you, your vehicle, the other vehicle(s) and passengers. The police, once they've beaten you with their sticks for your "stupidity," (and yes this has been taped, but no one cares down here), will exact justice on you on the spot.

Can't speak for Brasil, but in 9 years of working as a claims adjuster, I've never seen or heard of any auto policy that has any such requirements written into the policy language. In fact, the only language that I've seen that requirees an insured to notify their insurer of a change is for newly acquired vehicles.

That said, there are many cases that I've handled where people lied about certain facts on their application. Typically unlisted drivers that live in the household. We get a claim where this person was driving which of course alerts us to their presence. The investigation reveals they were living there at the time of the application and the rate would have been higher with this driver on the policy. At this point, the policy gets rescinded and no coverage is afforded for the loss as it is considered as if the policy never existed. It's a very good reason never to lie on the application. How this can relate though is that I know many insurance companies specifically ask about specific mods, such as turbocharging, supercharging and NOS. I saw it on the application of one company that I worked for and one that I applied for insurance with.

Now, this of course is limited to my experience, but, what is important to consider is the questions on the application and the policy language itself. I recommend that everyone reads their insurance policy and understand what is covered and what is not covered. Also understand your duties as an insured. Most people don't do this and then get upset at their claims adjusters when they are told their loss, or a portion of their loss isn't covered. You can avoid this by knowing what your exposures are prior to a loss. Then you can decide if it's worth the extra premium to insure the uncovered risks somehow. And don't expect your agents to actually know either. Most are better salesmen than they are advisors. I've known some big agencies to blatently lie about coverage, which ended up making the inurers look like the bad guys when we had to deny the claims. Ultimately, when it comes down to it, the policy language is your contract. Any other statements or agreements outside of it won't matter unless it's in writing and specifically designed to overrule the policy or portions of it.

[W661335PF]

Thanx C-Kwik, excellent response. You've covered it all except for how to avoid the police beatings (that's not in the insurance coverage section). Ciao