Insurance denied claim because of aftermarket exhaust

[Lim]

https://driving.ca/subaru/auto-news/...his-sports-car

In Ontario Desjardins denied claim for totaled car because of aftermarket exhaust.
After it become public they agreed to pay.

They said that any modifications should be reported to them. I guess they just want to slap you with higher rates.

It seems like insurance vs mod car campaign has another wave coming. Desjardins probably loosing money somewhere else and trying to minimize claims payouts.

Just to clarify it is not me or my car.

[DarkPira7e]

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145187

Already posted

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lim

https://driving.ca/subaru/auto-news/...his-sports-car

In Ontario Desjardins denied claim for totaled car because of aftermarket exhaust.
After it become public they agreed to pay.

They said that any modifications should be reported to them. I guess they just want to slap you with higher rates.

It seems like insurance vs mod car campaign has another wave coming. Desjardins probably loosing money somewhere else and trying to minimize claims payouts.

Just to clarify it is not me or my car.

Of course they want to be paid for mods. Why the hell would they cover mods if you were just paying for a base rate car? You pay a premium based on the value of the car. If all of a sudden your car is damaged and you say "oh no it was modded so I want that money as well" you should be shit outta luck. You have money to mod you should have money to insure those mods as well.

As I said in the OTHER thread on this I bet there is far more to the story than we are hearing or it was a simple error not some big conspiracy to rip off the poor car mod crowd.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Lim

[.. I guess they just want to slap you with higher rates.
..

EDIT: what @Tcoat said...

Or, here's a thought, they want to make sure you are paying the correct amount to cover what you are insuring so they can pay you for it if there is an incident.

Adding several thousand dollars to a car, either by purchasing the next trim level up at purchase or adding it aftermarket, the insurance is going to increase.

[dodj]

There must be more to the story. Or maybe sketchy insurance...

If my house burned to the ground after I put in more expensive windows, or flooring, or,.... but didn't tell the insurance company, I would still be covered.
Might not get the expensive windows, but the insurance co. would still pay out after adjustments etc.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by dodj

There must be more to the story. Or maybe sketchy insurance...

If my house burned to the ground after I put in more expensive windows, or flooring, or,.... but didn't tell the insurance company, I would still be covered.
Might not get the expensive windows, but the insurance co. would still pay out after adjustments etc.

Bet there is more to the story but it didn't make good "news" so they ran with that angle.
I have used that company for decades with zero issues. They are not some shady operation. Pretty hard for shady companies to get away with much in Ontario anyway since it is so tightly controlled and regulated.
House is a different matter. You would get the set value no matter what you had changed. Now if you put a whole addition on your house, didn't tell them and the fire started there you may be shit outta luck.

[Berserker]

It's one thing if you WANT the insurance to cover all the aftermarket parts, you claim them & pay additional. If you don't care to pay more for insurance & still want to do your car up then that's on you at the end. If an incident happens the insurance company does it's usual thing except you won't get paid out for the aftermarket parts. As an example your crunched front end (fenders, hood, bumper, crash beam etc.. That has nothing to do with your exhaust or wheels. They have to come through for you no matter what that's why you are paying them, just don't expect the parts to paid for by them. (Excluding cages or roll bars)

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Berserker

It's one thing if you WANT the insurance to cover all the aftermarket parts, you claim them & pay additional. If you don't care to pay more for insurance & still want to do your car up then that's on you at the end. If an incident happens the insurance company does it's usual thing except you won't get paid out for the aftermarket parts. As an example your crunched front end (fenders, hood, bumper, crash beam etc.. That has nothing to do with your exhaust or wheels. They have to come through for you no matter what that's why you are paying them, just don't expect the parts to paid for by them. (Excluding cages or roll bars)

Yep! It is the normal you gotta pay to play or takes your chances.

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Yep! It is the normal you gotta pay to play or takes your chances.

My personal rule is.. no matter what car I do up I want to be able to replace it out of my own pocket worse case before I am relying on anyone / any company. I would be crushed if I couldn't replace one of my gems. The insurance is a must but I almost look at it as.. it's more for them rather than me

Not to mention here in Toronto we paaaaaaaaaaaaaay pay pay these insurance companies.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Berserker

My personal rule is.. no matter what car I do up I want to be able to replace it out of my own pocket worse case before I am relying on anyone / any company. I would be crushed if I couldn't replace one of my gems. The insurance is a must but I almost look at it as.. it's more for them rather than me

Not to mention here in Toronto we paaaaaaaaaaaaaay pay pay these insurance companies.

For me, at my age, driving record and location insurance is dirt cheap and a far better deal than trying to squirrel away replacement value for a car.
For my 2020 Hakone and the wife's top trim 2018 Outback with full replacement coverage accident forgiveness and a $500 deductible we only pay around $900 a YEAR.
This is why I always find the "What do you pay for insurance?" threads that come up hilarious since there is not any possible way people can compare.
You guys pay, pay, pay for everything though! Buddy of mine just bought a $3.2 million two bedroom bungalow that would have cost about $150,000 here.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Berserker

It's one thing if you WANT the insurance to cover all the aftermarket parts, you claim them & pay additional.

This made me wonder what would happen if the aftermarket part, caused the loss? For example, you add an expensive exhaust system to the car, but a fault in the installation causes the car to catch fire six months later, and the insurance company knows that from the remains.

I suppose they would cover the car anyway, not the exhaust system but....

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

This made me wonder what would happen if the aftermarket part, caused the loss? For example, you add an expensive exhaust system to the car, but a fault in the installation causes the car to catch fire six months later, and the insurance company knows that from the remains.

I suppose they would cover the car anyway, not the exhaust system but....

Going to depend upon the company, your policy and how far they want to push things.
They do sort of have an out if you did not declare the modified exhuast.

From the other thread on this subjects

If they can prove that a mod was the direct and only cause of the accident they may deny coverage. It would be almost impossible to prove though.
The bigger thing is undeclared mods where people expect to get paid. They really frown on that!

It also depends on exactly what coverage and policy you have. There is not really a one rule policy and you can get more or less coverage (to the basic requirements) depending on what you pay for. For example I pay for replacement value coverage. Costs me about $50 a year but if my car is totaled they don't just pay out book value they buy me an equal car one year or more NEWER than mine.

Here are some excerpts from a "typical" Ontario policy that show how they could not pay out. People really should actually sit down and read their damned policies!

"You agree to notify us promptly in writing of any significant change of which you are
aware in your status as a driver, owner or lessee of a described automobile. You also
agree to let us know of any change that might increase the risk of an incident or affect our
willingness to insure you at current rates.
You must promptly tell us of any change in information supplied in your original
application for insurance, such as additional drivers, or a change in the way a described
automobile is used."

You agree not to use or allow anyone to use the automobile in a race or speed test or for
any illegal trade or transportation. (THIS may be why he was originally denied since we have no idea what the accident involved)

Property Not Covered
Under this Section, we won't cover claims for damage to property carried in or upon the
automobile,

"Limitations on Your Coverage
intentionally failed to notify us of any significant changes as required
or were convicted of a criminal offence involving the operation of an automobile".

https://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/auto/f...ms/1215E.2.pdf

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

This made me wonder what would happen if the aftermarket part, caused the loss? For example, you add an expensive exhaust system to the car, but a fault in the installation causes the car to catch fire six months later, and the insurance company knows that from the remains.

I suppose they would cover the car anyway, not the exhaust system but....

I mean that's kind of a far reach, oil on exhaust may catch fire, fuel yea.. but if we are using those scenarios it can come down to anything. If a tire blowout happens on the hwy and causes a wreck does the insurance blame the tire company in theory? We can make up a bunch of those in our mind but reality is just be aware and keep maintaining your vehicle. Pay your insurance company the least as possible & keep enjoying your car

We would have no enjoyment in life if we always thought the worst of the worst every time with anything.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Berserker

I mean that's kind of a far reach, oil on exhaust may catch fire, fuel yea.. .

I mention this specifically because I almost had it happen many years ago, but it was the factory exhaust on a '77 Honda Civic wagon. The exhaust was either missing a heat shield or was installed improperly, came in contact with the underside of the rear cabin floor, caused a hotspot and scorched the carpet, burning a 6 inch hole in it before I put it out.