Let's talk insurance.

[59sled]

What are you guys doing to insure your rigs?

Now that my kid has a massive amount of money into his PreRunner 2004 Ranger. And currently going to be adding a lot more. Unfortunately, it’s only insured as a 2004 Ford Ranger. So, if its stolen, insurance would only give him blue book of about $4000-$5000. Everything else would be a loss.

This will even apply to an accident if you have full coverage on your rig. Let’s say you got into an accident and your long travel arms got bent. Insurance will only cover stock replacements.

Are you using specialty car insurance? If so, how do you determine what its worth? Can you just ballpark it?
Or is your insurance company willing to cover everything that you put into the truck.

I know when I looked for antique car insurance from Haggerty for my 59 Ford. They wouldn’t insure it unless it was kept in a garage. Seeing it sat in the driveway or street, they said nope. Can’t do it. Wonder if this applies to our rigs too, when most wont fit in the garage.

Sure, I can just call my insurance company to get info. But thought it might help others here with this question.
Plus lets get some more chit chat going here.

 

[dwphoto]

What are you guys doing to insure your rigs?

Now that my kid has a massive amount of money into his PreRunner 2004 Ranger. And currently going to be adding a lot more. Unfortunately, it’s only insured as a 2004 Ford Ranger. So, if its stolen, insurance would only give him blue book of about $4000-$5000. Everything else would be a loss.

This will even apply to an accident if you have full coverage on your rig. Let’s say you got into an accident and your long travel arms got bent. Insurance will only cover stock replacements.

Are you using specialty car insurance? If so, how do you determine what its worth? Can you just ballpark it?
Or is your insurance company willing to cover everything that you put into the truck.

I know when I looked for antique car insurance from Haggerty for my 59 Ford. They wouldn’t insure it unless it was kept in a garage. Seeing it sat in the driveway or street, they said nope. Can’t do it. Wonder if this applies to our rigs too, when most wont fit in the garage.

Sure, I can just call my insurance company to get info. But thought it might help others here with this question.
Plus lets get some more chit chat going here.
View attachment 26505

Oh boy... as it turns out... that's what I do...last 20 years.
I've actually been meaning to do a podcast on this very topic.

 

[dwphoto]

The answer you don't want to hear is that they're not going to cover your aftermarket parts on your vehicle. In the classic car world, you can get policies that are stated value, as you mentioned, but there are stipulations, such as the vehicle needing to be garaged and not used as a daily driver or backup vehicle.

In the off-road arena, I've done a fairly deep dive on this, as it's an interest of mine. What I found is that some companies will offer aftermarket accessory coverage. For example, Progressive will cover up to $6,000, and other companies might go higher, but it's going to be fairly limited. This might cover a bumper or some lights—basically, bolt-on accessories. However, when it comes to cage work, suspension components, and all the other fun items that make these trucks do what they do, no insurance company wants anything to do with it.

I've seen people post that their vehicle has full coverage and is insured for a certain amount. Unfortunately, I've also seen those trucks get crashed, and the insurance company doesn't pay out. We've all heard stories where someone gets into an accident in their pre-runner and claims that the insurance company paid them full value for what the truck was worth. That was likely because it was the other party's insurance that paid out, not their own policy.

Another issue is that some agents might tell you they can do this or that, assuring you that everything is covered just to make the sale. But when it comes time for a claim, they're either nowhere to be found, or the claim never arises, so it’s never an issue.

For me personally, being involved in the off-road space, it’s an extremely small community. I’d rather lose potential business and just tell you the truth than tell you that everything is covered, only for you to total your truck or have it stolen and end up upset with me.

The way any auto policy works with standard carriers is that they're insuring the vehicle as it comes from the factory. Sure, there could be some minor aftermarket parts that you wouldn’t have any problem getting covered—say, a bolt-on bumper or some Baja Designs lights— as long as your policy has that aftermarket coverage option. But if you’ve got a full-blown caged pre-runner race truck, sorry, brotato, it’s not happening.

Now, if you’ve got one of those damn golf carts or UTVs (some people like to call them that), we can insure that for the value of the vehicle plus whatever aftermarket parts you have on it. I've seen coverage go up to $30,000 or $40,000 additional.

 

[DP_Tundra]

Regular insurance and don’t get in an accident

I rear ended a guy years ago after he decided to slam on his brakes in the rain for a yellow light. Did nothing to my bumper other than scuff some paint. The rear corner of his sedan was toast. The insurance lady laughed and said “her husband has the same kind of truck” after talking to her on the phone and sending photos. Pretty sure the guy didn’t have insurance cause my premium didn’t go up and I never heard a word about it again after that first phone call.

 

[84projectFORD]

The answer you don't want to hear is that they're not going to cover your aftermarket parts on your vehicle. In the classic car world, you can get policies that are stated value, as you mentioned, but there are stipulations, such as the vehicle needing to be garaged and not used as a daily driver or backup vehicle.

In the off-road arena, I've done a fairly deep dive on this, as it's an interest of mine. What I found is that some companies will offer aftermarket accessory coverage. For example, Progressive will cover up to $6,000, and other companies might go higher, but it's going to be fairly limited. This might cover a bumper or some lights—basically, bolt-on accessories. However, when it comes to cage work, suspension components, and all the other fun items that make these trucks do what they do, no insurance company wants anything to do with it.

I've seen people post that their vehicle has full coverage and is insured for a certain amount. Unfortunately, I've also seen those trucks get crashed, and the insurance company doesn't pay out. We've all heard stories where someone gets into an accident in their pre-runner and claims that the insurance company paid them full value for what the truck was worth. That was likely because it was the other party's insurance that paid out, not their own policy.

Another issue is that some agents might tell you they can do this or that, assuring you that everything is covered just to make the sale. But when it comes time for a claim, they're either nowhere to be found, or the claim never arises, so it’s never an issue.

For me personally, being involved in the off-road space, it’s an extremely small community. I’d rather lose potential business and just tell you the truth than tell you that everything is covered, only for you to total your truck or have it stolen and end up upset with me.

The way any auto policy works with standard carriers is that they're insuring the vehicle as it comes from the factory. Sure, there could be some minor aftermarket parts that you wouldn’t have any problem getting covered—say, a bolt-on bumper or some Baja Designs lights— as long as your policy has that aftermarket coverage option. But if you’ve got a full-blown caged pre-runner race truck, sorry, brotato, it’s not happening.

Now, if you’ve got one of those damn golf carts or UTVs (some people like to call them that), we can insure that for the value of the vehicle plus whatever aftermarket parts you have on it. I've seen coverage go up to $30,000 or $40,000 additional.

This is the shit I’ve been lookin for! I’ve been going back and forth on coverage for my shit box and was wondering if the aftermarket coverage was worth it.

Guess I won’t waste my money on something additional.

 

[AiiRaciing]

Years ago there was a Raptor that rolled on one of Outlaws Raptor runs, the truck went back to Outlaw and the insurance adjuster went to shop and based off what other trucks in the shop where worth(shop rate and parts), they paid the guy out $140K. I had heard rumors of this happening and talked to both Melvin and Connor at different times and they both confirmed what I had heard. I’m not sure if it was because there was 3-4 other full build luxury Prerunners in the shop for the adjuster to look at or what, but he was paid out

 

[WW_RANGER_X]

Years ago there was a Raptor that rolled on one of Outlaws Raptor runs, the truck went back to Outlaw and the insurance adjuster went to shop and based off what other trucks in the shop where worth(shop rate and parts), they paid the guy out $140K. I had heard rumors of this happening and talked to both Melvin and Connor at different times and they both confirmed what I had heard. I’m not sure if it was because there was 3-4 other full build luxury Prerunners in the shop for the adjuster to look at or what, but he was paid out

Are you talking about Gordon Brown's old gen1? He basically turned it into a race truck after he got paid out if its the same guy I'm thinking of.

 

[Pt Mugu RAM 4x4]

I know with my 2000 Explorer, my insurance guy pushed the value as far as could, with "accessories" but the valuation is no where near what the rebuild cost would be, so bottom line, I am "self-insuring" the amount over the insured amount.

 

[dwphoto]

Years ago there was a Raptor that rolled on one of Outlaws Raptor runs, the truck went back to Outlaw and the insurance adjuster went to shop and based off what other trucks in the shop where worth(shop rate and parts), they paid the guy out $140K. I had heard rumors of this happening and talked to both Melvin and Connor at different times and they both confirmed what I had heard. I’m not sure if it was because there was 3-4 other full build luxury Prerunners in the shop for the adjuster to look at or what, but he was paid out

Without knowing all the pieces to the puzzle of a claim it's tough to weight in.

Who was at fault? what policy was the claim made on?( was it the dudes personal auto policy or was it the outlaw business policy? etc

I've seen a truck totaled to the tune of $80,000 paid out from insurance company. cliff notes: shop that was test driving and smashed into a wall bent one of everything.

The customers Auto insurance would only cover Value of stock truck when the claim was turned in.
The Garage Keepers Policy Paid full value of the truck that their insured ( the shop employee) wrecked.

Not saying know it all... Cause I certainly don't. I am saying in my short 20 years in the insurance business. I haven't found it. If someone has found it please I'm all ears.

and again I'd rather just be up front out of the gate than have a fellow offroad enthusiast be put in a shit situation when the policy doesn't perform.

To list a few carriers off top of my head that aren't interested in insuring your Prerunner/Off-Road truck to value.

Progressive
Travelers
Safeco
Infinity/Kemper
Grundy
Hagerty
JC Taylor
Hartford
Liberty Mutual
Stillwater
Mapfre
Bristol west
Encompass
Foremost
Farmers
Snakefarm
AAA
National General
CSE

Going to shoot a podcast next week with my old man about the topic. Thanks for the reminder @59sled

Over and Out

E

 

[AiiRaciing]

Without knowing all the pieces to the puzzle of a claim it's tough to weight in.

Who was at fault? what policy was the claim made on?( was it the dudes personal auto policy or was it the outlaw business policy? etc

I've seen a truck totaled to the tune of $80,000 paid out from insurance company. cliff notes: shop that was test driving and smashed into a wall bent one of everything.

The customers Auto insurance would only cover Value of stock truck when the claim was turned in.
The Garage Keepers Policy Paid full value of the truck that their insured ( the shop employee) wrecked.

Not saying know it all... Cause I certainly don't. I am saying in my short 20 years in the insurance business. I haven't found it. If someone has found it please I'm all ears.

and again I'd rather just be up front out of the gate than have a fellow offroad enthusiast be put in a shit situation when the policy doesn't perform.

To list a few carriers off top of my head that aren't interested in insuring your Prerunner/Off-Road truck to value.

Progressive
Travelers
Safeco
Infinity/Kemper
Grundy
Hagerty
JC Taylor
Hartford
Liberty Mutual
Stillwater
Mapfre
Bristol west
Encompass
Foremost
Farmers
Snakefarm
AAA
National General
CSE

Going to shoot a podcast next week with my old man about the topic. Thanks for the reminder @59sled

Over and Out

E

I don’t know the full details, and I wish I did because I remember you talking about this on DR probably 15 years ago, but knowing how Outlaw operates there’s no way it was under their policy. It was on one of their runs(I wanna say it was outside of Barstow). And Brandon, I’m 99% sure it was Gordon, but it’s been a lot of years so I can’t be 100%

 

[59sled]

Without knowing all the pieces to the puzzle of a claim it's tough to weight in.

Who was at fault? what policy was the claim made on?( was it the dudes personal auto policy or was it the outlaw business policy? etc

I've seen a truck totaled to the tune of $80,000 paid out from insurance company. cliff notes: shop that was test driving and smashed into a wall bent one of everything.

The customers Auto insurance would only cover Value of stock truck when the claim was turned in.
The Garage Keepers Policy Paid full value of the truck that their insured ( the shop employee) wrecked.

Not saying know it all... Cause I certainly don't. I am saying in my short 20 years in the insurance business. I haven't found it. If someone has found it please I'm all ears.

and again I'd rather just be up front out of the gate than have a fellow offroad enthusiast be put in a shit situation when the policy doesn't perform.

Going to shoot a podcast next week with my old man about the topic. Thanks for the reminder @59sled

Over and Out

E

I appreciate all the feedback.
I have everything including the house on USAA. insurance.

With my old 59 I never worried about it, because its value is only about $6000. And if they can figure out how to start and drive a stick shift. Then they can have it. HaHa.
But with these PreRunners $6000 can just be shocks alone.

I was more concerned with theft. Where everything disappears. At least with some collisions we know we can rebuild it. To a point.

I thought with all these 70's muscle cars and other old cars that are being built these day. Like all the SEMA cars. That there would be some kind of specialty car insurance where you can say "hey I want to insure my truck it for $30,000 in theft". Obviously would have to pay a higher monthly premium. Kind of like insuring a piece of artwork or jewelry.

So it basically comes down to, do everything in your power not to get your truck stolen.

Thanks for all the info @dwphoto
Hope this helps for others that had this question too.

 

[desert_steve]

To list a few carriers off top of my head that aren't interested in insuring your Prerunner/Off-Road truck to value.

Progressive
Travelers
Safeco
Infinity/Kemper
Grundy
Hagerty
JC Taylor
Hartford
Liberty Mutual
Stillwater
Mapfre
Bristol west
Encompass
Foremost
Farmers
Snakefarm
AAA
National General
CSE

Going to shoot a podcast next week with my old man about the topic. Thanks for the reminder @59sled

Over and Out

E

You can add Wawanesa to that list. Hell, they didnt want to cover my F350 dually because its a "commercial" vehicle. I had to send them pics of the 100% stock truck (and the door tag) so they could have an insurance pow-wow about/over it. In the end they cover[ed] it, but it was a hassle.

 

[Pt Mugu RAM 4x4]

Looking forward to the podcast !

 

[charlie brown]

my truck has always been street legal and insured sine 1988. i gave up 25 + years ago about finding proper insurance. as long as liability is covered, i am good. if it needs to be fixed, i built it, guess i could fix it again.

 

[smokeysevin]

For the stolen/stripped/burned/flooded aspect, I would be screwed as there is a ton of aftermarket stuff I have on my truck that is hard to get anymore. From a totaled from a wreck perspective, I just look at it like I would buy the truck back and pull what I could and move it to a replacement stock example.

Yeah, it would suck to lose the time and materials from damage but that's kind of life. What I am not spending in pricy insurance now would probably make up for a decent chunk if the eorst happened. My truck is paid off and really not that hard to replace since its not rare or anything.

My truck is also not built as radically as some of the others here though so I am not really in the same ballpark as y'all.

Sentimentally I would be really bummed since it was my late grandfather's truck and my first vehicle but insurance doesnt help with that anyways.

Sean

 

[Mannysouza]

I went down this rabbit hole on my truck build. My problem was that the truck had 40” tires for Hagerty or Grundy to insure plus they do not cover off-road. I even talked to rep, he walked out to look at the truck and said he couldn’t help me then walked away. For the other insurance companies a fully caged truck is considered a race truck and therefore won’t be covered. I’m sure they would cover you in one an accident but would be dropped after that. Most companies will caver the vehicle but not the aftermarket parts.

I did get t boned in my prerunner ranger. About 25 years ago. The insurance attempted to total it out. It was a very low mileage ranger with maybe 40k on the odometer plus a lot of custom work. I was able to have it appraised and then it was covered.

At the end of the day, we are insurance nightmares. Our bumpers destroy other cars and other cars destroy themselves hitting us. I’m just happy to be technically legal to drive on the streets.

 

[smokeysevin]

I went down this rabbit hole on my truck build. My problem was that the truck had 40” tires for Hagerty or Grundy to insure plus they do not cover off-road. I even talked to rep, he walked out to look at the truck and said he couldn’t help me then walked away. For the other insurance companies a fully caged truck is considered a race truck and therefore won’t be covered. I’m sure they would cover you in one an accident but would be dropped after that. Most companies will caver the vehicle but not the aftermarket parts.

I did get t boned in my prerunner ranger. About 25 years ago. The insurance attempted to total it out. It was a very low mileage ranger with maybe 40k on the odometer plus a lot of custom work. I was able to have it appraised and then it was covered.

At the end of the day, we are insurance nightmares. Our bumpers destroy other cars and other cars destroy themselves hitting us. I’m just happy to be technically legal to drive on the streets.

Swap the 40s out for some 20" wheels with lo-pro tires and call the inspector back.

Sean

 

[UCD BAJA]

Without knowing all the pieces to the puzzle of a claim it's tough to weight in.

Who was at fault? what policy was the claim made on?( was it the dudes personal auto policy or was it the outlaw business policy? etc

I've seen a truck totaled to the tune of $80,000 paid out from insurance company. cliff notes: shop that was test driving and smashed into a wall bent one of everything.

The customers Auto insurance would only cover Value of stock truck when the claim was turned in.
The Garage Keepers Policy Paid full value of the truck that their insured ( the shop employee) wrecked.

Not saying know it all... Cause I certainly don't. I am saying in my short 20 years in the insurance business. I haven't found it. If someone has found it please I'm all ears.

and again I'd rather just be up front out of the gate than have a fellow offroad enthusiast be put in a shit situation when the policy doesn't perform.

To list a few carriers off top of my head that aren't interested in insuring your Prerunner/Off-Road truck to value.

Progressive
Travelers
Safeco
Infinity/Kemper
Grundy
Hagerty
JC Taylor
Hartford
Liberty Mutual
Stillwater
Mapfre
Bristol west
Encompass
Foremost
Farmers
Snakefarm
AAA
National General
CSE

Going to shoot a podcast next week with my old man about the topic. Thanks for the reminder @59sled

Over and Out

E

Snakefarm......is really an insurance company? Just sounds nasty!

 

[36Fan]

I know some guys with high dollar luxury prerunners register them as "speciality construction vehicle" and insure them at replacement value, but it is not cheap oe as simple as calling Geico etc and getting it done.

 

[Dirt-Rod]

I have State Farm and they wouldn’t cover my truck and asked them how do they insure buggy’s. They told me a stated value policy. After an hour with the agent, it was going to be like $550 a month. Needless to say I’m like you all. Just standard coverage and don’t crash.