When looking for a modified car insurance it’s important for you to know that different modifications to your car can make your auto insurance premiums go up or down.
- Safety or security features like the wheel lock will generally make your car insurance premiums go down
- Nitrous Oxide kits or anything that increases horse powers on your modified car will make your premiums go up
Your can might be considered a modified vehicle by an insurance company if you change the form it came in from the factory by adding various features to it.
When you modify your car with add-ons that make it look better such as alloy wheels or tinted windows your insurance does not go up as a result of you being a more high-risk driver, rather it’s because the car goes up in value. When your car increases in value that means the auto insurance company will have to pay more money for it in case of an accident or a total-loss case (Total loss is where the cost to repair your vehicle is more than the cost of buying similar vehicle you had previously to the accident). When that happens an insurance company has to charge you more for your modified car insurance. Expect the collision and comprehensive coverages to increase in price when you modify your car, because collision coverage is responsible for when the damage is done to your vehicle via collision and comprehensive covers hail, vandalism, theft, hitting an animal, etc.
When you’re not increasing the power of your car by modifying it, the insurance companies put it into the “show room” modified car category which doesn’t really increase your premiums that much. However, when you modify your car with addons that make your car run faster, the insurance company puts you into a different risk group. You might be put into what is called a “street race car” group, which will result in higher premium payments and you definitely won’t be paying little for your car insurance.
How To Claim The Most Money For Your Modified Car After An Accident
If you have collision coverage on your modified car and you’re not sure if your current auto insurance company will pay for all the modifications that were lost or damaged in an auto accident then you can do two things to make sure you get the most money for all the addons you put on your car when the claim time comes:
- Take pictures of your car and all the modified features installed on it. An alternative for this would be filming your car and showing the modified parts. It’s extremely easy to do these days and saves lots of hassles later on.
- Keep all of the receipts you got from buying those car modifying parts and the body shops you used to put them on your car. You can also take pictures of those just to be safe.
Remember that the car insurance companies are supposed to make you whole financially just as you were before the accident, so make sure to record the state of your car after you’re done modifying it and tell your auto insurance company the modifications you’ve made. If you fail to notify your insurance company about modifying your car they can sue you and cancel your car insurance policy.
So if you want to find out how much your car insurance premiums will go up by – call your agent, tell her your situation and ask for an estimate raise in premiums if you were to modify your car. Keep in mind that if you’re going to mod your car too heavy your insurance company might refuse to service you as you’ll become too much risk for them. (Unlikely, but still happens sometimes) If that’s the case then you’ll have to look for a special car insurance company that insures highly modified “street race cars.” If that happens that your premiums will really go up.