Although I have seen some posts wedged into other threads regarding the subject, I haven't seen anything conclusive. So, What is the insurance experience with modified MINIs? Personally, I am more interested in non-performance mods. If your MINI was stolen or totalled, did your insurance pay for mods like stripes, covers, gauages, electronics?

 

No experience with the Mini, but when my brother totalled his Jetta years ago he had to negotiate with the ins company, ended up getting thousands more than their original offer. Remember to negotiate everything in the claim, read the fine print, and while negotiating remember the words "That is simply unacceptable". Repeat as needed.

 

I asked one of my customers who sells insurance. She told me that they would pay to return the vehicle to stock. If I had aftermarket parts, they wouldn't pay to replace them. Never had the experience yet *knocks on wood*.

 

I sat down with my Ins guy and my stack of reciepts. Every item was detailed including the labor, for items purchased on NAM we used retail pricing. From there we came up with an agreed value to replace the Mini as it is now in the event of a loss. Adding this rider to my policy raised my rates a litte over $20 year.

 

I'm with USAA. With the (literally) tens of thousands of dollars my husband and I have dumped into our MINIs, the insurance issue relative to aftermarket parts and accessories was a big deal to us.

USAA won't allow riders on vehicles for parts/accessories. What they do offer is full re-imbursement for everything we have receipts for. I'm a documentation/receipt hound. I've got everything documented and accounted for right down to our air-fresheners.

 

Looks like I need to change Ins companys I was told they would return it to Stock and nothing else.

 

Any mods that increase the value of your MINI would be something to submit to your insurance agent just as you would if you can done an addition to your home.

Since value is increased then insurance premium would increase but it's small.

I discussed this with my agent for mods- performance and appearance oriented and he said he would insure it but not for damage as a direct result of performance driving.

On the track or at a driving event you assume full responsibility for your car and it's occupants.

On the street if something happened that was not your fault then it's covered if you have discussed this ahead of time with your insurance agent.

Otherwise the value of the car is assumed to be stock.

 

Maybe not- the policy reads that way but a rider may also be added for an additional premium.

Generally a policy will not cover modified or upgraded-aftermarket items unless it is listed on the policy. Some carriers are different (like USAA) but those companies only insure a specific group of people and are not availible to the general public. If you have some bucks invested in mods I would discuss it with your carrier to make sure your covered. A word of caution on performance mods, many of these will raise a red flag with a carrier and may actually get you dropped as they feel the incresed performance means you'll be racing and generally raising havoc.

 

Good to know, another reason to love USAA, and the fact we keep all receipts

 

LynnEl, ancedotal experience means nothing unless it is the exact same insurance company as yours. You need to read the fine print in your auto policy or talk to a rep.

My "ancedotal" experience is that ... it is in the fine print. Over a certain dollar amount (and it does not make any difference if its performance or not performance) you pay for a rider (with the price of the rider, of course, related to the price of the mods).

Check with your insurance agent.

 

As chows said it depends on your company, so you could be correct.
I had this on a company car, where we had graphics for the company on the side. Costs plenty, can't remember exactly, but insurance would only cover the repair and repaint. I worked it every way I could, but they would not cover the graphic (and it was insured through my company).