Auto Insurance Question: Vandalism

[Mears]

I bought a new truck in 2009. A few months later (November 2009) my truck was egg'd and somehow developed a deep scratch in the vicinity of where it was it was struck with eggs. I filed a police report and talked to the insurance company before ultimately deciding not to follow through with the claim. A repair estimate came in at $800, and I have a $250 deductible. I deduced that if I was going to get it fixed, I'd just pay out of pocket rather than risk having my insurance go up. I've since learned that this reasoning is faulty and just the act of opening a claim is enough to screw you.

Fast forward to this weekend. My truck is parked in my driveway apparently unlocked. Someone slashes a tire on a friend's vehicle parked on the road and then gets into my truck and smashes a touch screen in my dash. Nothing is stolen. Now this isn't any old touch screen. I have a computer in my truck and this is a top of the line optically bonded transflective (daylight readable) display. The display was mounted in my dash in essentially the same opening where the factory nav display would be if I had one (I have a metra double din dash kit and the screen is was permanently mounted behind the opening).

So I file another police report and make another call to Geico. After explaining everything to them, they ask if it was aftermarket. I tell them yes, and the guy asks me if I added it to my policy. No. Then he tells me that it more than likely won't be covered. I inform him that it was installed in a factory location, but apparently with Geico that doesn't matter. Nonetheless, he said an adjuster would look at it to see if there is anything they could do. At this point, I'm pretty pissed. Since I haven't yet come to a point where I could find nothing better to do with $800 then to get a scratch fixed, I have him reopen my old claim.

I'm meeting with the adjuster on Wednesday morning to go over both issues. Does anyone have any advice on how I could possibly get the screen covered? Did I screw myself by opening my old claim? Why in the hell do I even have comprehensive insurance?

 

[Bignate603]

If you do anything that changes the value of the vehicle you need to tell your insurance company. Your insurance rate is set by the amount of financial risk they take by agreeing to protect your vehicle from damage. Anything that changes the amount of financial risk they're liable for (because it will cost more to replace) needs to be reported to them so they can correctly set the rate.

If I remember right, when I had Geico they had a place to put in any modifications when you signed up for your insurance. Stuff like this is exactly why they have that part of the application.

 

[rcpratt]

You're screwed.

 

[Mears]

Computer was added after I started the policy. What about homeowners?

 

[Bignate603]

Computer was added after I started the policy. What about homeowners?

Then you should have called your insurance company at the time of the install because the replacement/repair value of the vehicle changed.

You can call your home owners and ask. However, because it was something permanently installed in the vehicle I think they may say it's the responsibility of your auto policy.

 

[summit]

Computer was added after I started the policy. What about homeowners?

yeah they will tell you to take a hike over to homeowner's for aftermarket stuff.

 

[Mears]

Then you should have called your insurance company at the time of the install because the replacement/repair value of the vehicle changed.

You can call your home owners and ask. However, because it was something permanently installed in the vehicle I think they may say it's the responsibility of your auto policy.

I don't know. The material cost for the screen is $700. I'm guessing if I called Ford's parts department, the replacement cost for the Sync-enabled OEM in dash cd-player is probably at least that much. Maybe I should get a quote from Ford for the original unit.

 

[Bignate603]

I don't know. The material cost for the screen is $700. I'm guessing if I called Ford's parts department, the replacement cost for the Sync-enabled OEM in dash cd-player is probably at least that much. Maybe I should get a quote from Ford for the original unit.

I'm not sure they adjuster will buy that. Most likely he's going to look at it and say it's not stock, it's not added to your policy, so its not covered. You can try but don't be surprised when it doesn't work.

 

[sactoking]

I bought a new truck in 2009. A few months later (November 2009) my truck was egg'd and somehow developed a deep scratch in the vicinity of where it was it was struck with eggs. I filed a police report and talked to the insurance company before ultimately deciding not to follow through with the claim. A repair estimate came in at $800, and I have a $250 deductible. I deduced that if I was going to get it fixed, I'd just pay out of pocket rather than risk having my insurance go up. I've since learned that this reasoning is faulty and just the act of opening a claim is enough to screw you.

Fast forward to this weekend. My truck is parked in my driveway apparently unlocked. Someone slashes a tire on a friend's vehicle parked on the road and then gets into my truck and smashes a touch screen in my dash. Nothing is stolen. Now this isn't any old touch screen. I have a computer in my truck and this is a top of the line optically bonded transflective (daylight readable) display. The display was mounted in my dash in essentially the same opening where the factory nav display would be if I had one (I have a metra double din dash kit and the screen is was permanently mounted behind the opening).

So I file another police report and make another call to Geico. After explaining everything to them, they ask if it was aftermarket. I tell them yes, and the guy asks me if I added it to my policy. No. Then he tells me that it more than likely won't be covered. I inform him that it was installed in a factory location, but apparently with Geico that doesn't matter. Nonetheless, he said an adjuster would look at it to see if there is anything they could do. At this point, I'm pretty pissed. Since I haven't yet come to a point where I could find nothing better to do with $800 then to get a scratch fixed, I have him reopen my old claim.

I'm meeting with the adjuster on Wednesday morning to go over both issues. Does anyone have any advice on how I could possibly get the screen covered? Did I screw myself by opening my old claim? Why in the hell do I even have comprehensive insurance?

It's likely that the only way to get the screen covered will be through your homeowner's policy. Most HO policy forms provide that your possessions are covered up to a specific amount like $5000 or $10000 anywhere in the world. It's likely that your HO company will try to deny coverage, saying it should be your auto policy that covers it. Unless your HO policy has a specific clause that excludes equipment permanently affixed in the vehicle it's likely that you can force them to cover it by providing proof of denied claim with the auto policy. The HO claim would be subject to the HO deductible which can often be $1000 or more and could raise your HO rates.

You did not screw yourself by opening your old claim. Most insurers surcharge based on number of claims and amount of claim only is a factor if extremely large. When you called them the first time they were made aware that something was wrong and assessed you for a claim occurrence; it did not matter that the value of the claim was $0. By reopening the claim you change the value from $0 to $700 but that's pretty immaterial in their rating calculation.

Comprehensive insurance is good because it protects a stock vehicle from things like theft and vandalism. Your mistake wasn't in having comp coverage, it was in not having a stock vehicle and not informing the insurer. You have to inform the insurer every time you make a major modification (stereo, rims, exhaust, etc). Absent notification the insurer has to assume that you have a factory-stock vehicle. They need the notification in order to assess whether you have to pay a higher rate since your car would be more valuable and comp and collision coverages have no maximum payout except the full value of the vehicle.

 

[DaWhim]

people need to look at their insurance bills.

comprehensive insurance is very cheap like 15-20 bucks a month depends on the deductible. the killer is collision insurance coverage.

 

[BoomerD]

Aftermarket equipment is almost never covered unless you have it specifically listed on your policy.
I think you're screwed.

 

[Mears]

It's covered :thumbsup:

 

[Alone]

Awesome news.

Personally I would have called the insurance company and added the device to my policy then claim it weeks later.

I'm a bad person.

 

[Pardus]

Fast forward to this weekend. My truck is parked in my driveway apparently unlocked.

install alarm, always lock your doors.

 

[Mears]

Ok, so there is one wrinkle. Since the vehicle is financed, both claims are being paid as a 2-party check. I was given the option of having them issue it to me and the body shop or me and the lender. I chose the latter thinking it would be easier.

For the scratch, coordinating with the body shop should be fairly straightforward. Where I'm struggling is how I go about having the touchscreen replaced and installed. I can't just go to Best Buy, grab one off the shelf, and have their techs install it. There is literally one online store where I can buy this thing and installing computer components in a vehicle isn't something handled routinely at audio shops.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can convince my lender (chase auto) to endorse the check?

 

[jemcam]

Better yet, have them void that check and make it co-payable to the bodyshop. No idea why you thought that was more difficult. When the job is done, you sign the check over to them and walk out. How much easier can it get?

 

[amdhunter]

I've since learned that this reasoning is faulty and just the act of opening a claim is enough to screw you.

No it's not. I've made several vandalism claims and not once did my deductible go up. It actually has dropped a few tens.

As for the radio, talk to the adjuster when he comes by. They will probably replace it, even though it's aftermarket. They might not pay for the labor though, but you can probably swing that yourself.

 

[Uppsala9496]

You should have picked the body shop option since they are doing the work. The process would be much faster.
Since you picked the lender, call your local Chase branch and explain what you want done. It's as simple as going in and having them endorse it then.