Insurance & Tuners: Beware of the Trend

[DAVID GAGNARD]

As most of you know I'm in the insurance claims industry.....Laws vary a great deal from state to state and policys vary a great deal from company to company....

For instance,in Louisiana,the company I work for,right now,if you "add" something to your vehicle (wing,wheels,stereo equipment,etc.,etc.) and it is permanately attached to the vehicle (lug nuts,screws,one screw),then it becomes part of the vehicle and if it is damaged we have to pay for it.....Wheels are not that big of an issue,right now it is stereo equipment,kids in high school buy a $2,000.00 Isuszu pickup and then goes and puts 4k or more of speakers,amps,cd changers,cross-overs, and a few other gizmos I can't remember,truck gets totaled,we owe for the truck and the 4k of stereo stuff,but he only paid premiums for a 2k truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The company I work for is in the process of re-writing their policys.... In the near future,the vehicle will on be covered for factory installed items,if you later up-grade your stereo equipment and want it covered fine,you will have to bring in reciepts for the equipment and your premium will reflect the increased value to the vehicle,same will go for wheels,wings and anything else you add and want covered..... I personally think it is only fair..... You pay premiums for a 2k truck and when it gets totalled or your 4k stereo stuff gets stolen you want them to cover your loss without ever paying premiums for these items......

Around here we have not seen any increase in "tuner high speed" accidents.... May be that the local as well as state police have been advertising they are watching for this ever since "Fast & Furouis" came out..... Now we have a "drag racing " law in these parts..... It is about a half notch under a DUI and the judges have been going pretty hard on these tickets........

We do have a lot of racing venues though,at least five dirt tracks within 1.5 hours of my house,two drag strips,and 5 autocross clubs..... Can't say if that makes a difference or not,but the drag strips now have "Import Only" weekends and they are usually full of cars as well as spectators......

Art; In Louisiana,inusrance follows the vehicle first and registered owner second,only if it can be proved the vehicle was taken and used without the owners consent and/or knowledge can the insurance company deny coverage for an accident....only other occasion is that if an excluded named driver was driving the vehicle...also there is a law about the minimum and maximum heights of any vehicles bumpers.....problem is the only ones they check are the monster truck wannabe 4x4s.....

David