Insurance

[Gord]

An FYI for the people here that may not have seen this:

http://www.mco.org/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2603

This is getting out of hand, and will get worse before getting better. Just wish I could afford a truck and trailer...

-Gord

[Greg F]

Where's my dictionary of expletives? I've always been with State Farm.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[spoonie]

whether you're with state farm or not, this will eventually trickle down and affect all of us.

GOOD info:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1238479

it seems that someone who's got lobbying ability wants to help.

thoughts?

~spoonie

[MitS]

There's a thread discussing this topic in the General disuccion section. It's started by the same guy.

http://racing.kos.net/soloforums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2346

My family has been with State Farm for 30 years. First they raise my premium $300 a year (when I have no tickets, ever, and no accidents) and now they do this. Makes me wish I had spent my money elsewhere.

[spoonie]

plea your case, i did.

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/feedback/minister.htm

every little bit helps.

just calmly explain that what you do shouldn't be penalized by money-grubbing bastards :P

here's what i sent in:

Dear Sir:

I am one of the rare motorists in the GTA that has a modified car (1995 GLX VW Jetta) in which both my broker and insurance carrier know of all the modifications applied to it.

I am, for now, still insured and they renewed my policy.

However, a recent state-farm initiative is to drop all vehicles that are in *ANY* modified state. I cant begin to think there this will lead - most of these people will be forced to either de-mod their cars (which affects them financially, and the parts vendors...and the distributors...well, we see where this goes) - or face HEAVY premiums from Facility insurers that are there because the law FORCES them to have an expensive, legal option to people they don't want to insure.

Fix it. For the love of god, please find a way to fix this.

It's time to stop the insurance industry from writing additional laws on top of the HTA. There are several ways things can be improved.

Just one possible solution from the VwVortex user 'wolfier' :

1. Safety certificate - just like an emission test, a safety test ensures that a modified vehecle is safe - so all the TFATF cut springs, 5 inch drops, gigantic wings would be distinguished from those whose cars are actually safer after modifications.

2. Adjuster technicians - they'll do performance tests (e.g. dyno) to determine a reasonable increase in premium. For example, it'll prevent a modification that adds 2 horsepowers to classify a car as exotics, while correctly matches the premium of a, for example, chipped Jetta 1.8T to be comparable to a 220 horsepower car.

Some places more civilized than Ontario have already been using similar systems for a long time. (e.g. UK). It is time we catch up. It'll benefit everyone, even the insurance companies.


~~~~~

It is possible to find a valuable and protifablt solution to this problem without making everyone suffer.

Is the Ministry of Transportaion Ontario up to the task? its obvious McGuinty is NOT.

~Russell Soares

[Martini Focus]

I've given up I'm not even going to bother bringing my Focus on the road this year. It's straight to Ebay and the autotrader.

[Yvan]

I don't know if this is the 'memo' they referred to, but this is what it says on the newsletter I received:

Altered Vehicles

With the help of your buddies and a good mechanic, you've customized your car. Your car may be the envy of the neighborhood (HOW DID THEY KNOW?) but it may no longer be insured. Alterations can cause the vehicle top react differently from original manufacturer's intentions, or affect the engineering of the vehicle so that it may not perform safely. For these reasons, we don't provide coverage for such vehicles. Altered vehicles are those physically or mechanically altered in any of the following manners:

Contours changed in any significant fashion from manufacturer's design.
Centre of gravity/normal body "level" has been materially changed.
Equipped with non-standard accelerating devices or equipment designed for unusual performance, (ie nitrous oxide).
An engine not available from the manufacturer as a standard option for the year and model.
Extra-wide treaded tires designed and normally used for racing.

If your vehicle has been altered, you must notify your agent who can arrange for alternate coverage. If in doubt, play it safe – call your State Farm® agent!

[Martini Focus]

Well my Focus meets none of those requirements. Hmmmm

Where did that letter come from?

[AlienDNA]

Originally posted by Yvan
I don't know if this is the 'memo' they referred to, but this is what it says on the newsletter I received:

-Extra-wide treaded tires designed and normally used for racing.


Cool! Slicks are still A-OK! :D

[roooo]

Well, well .. my car breaks that last rule about tires straight from the factory!

They may not be particularly wide, but Dunlop SP9000 are used as a rain tire in the DTM series so in a way they are "designed for racing". Oops...

How do they explain the fact that every single Mustang, Corvette, and Camaro, etc, etc comes with tires wider than what is used in most European touring car race series? Hmmmm...

:rolleyes:

[MastaDeeMon]

So, does anybody remember what killed the Muscle cars in the early seventies? Hint: It wasn't fuel related.

D.

[AlienDNA]

Originally posted by MastaDeeMon
So, does anybody remember what killed the Muscle cars in the early seventies? Hint: It wasn't fuel related.

D.

Emissions controls?

[MastaDeeMon]

It was insuarance companies, nobody would insure Muscle cars anymore. Then the automakers stopped making them and people drove crapboxes for many years until WHAM!! Ford released the Taurus SHO for 1989, and things have been great since. More power, better cars, bigger engines. But guess what? Insurance companies have caught on and pretty soon, the Chevy Malibu is going to be the car of choice, and we're all going to have to trailer our cars. I hate insurance companies.

D.

[roooo]

Gee, I always thought it was the gas shortage which lead to new emissions controls...

[roooo]

Hrm. All the guys on the muscle car shows on TV keep pointing out the gas thing. Guess they would like to keep their jobs ... :)

[miataboi]

...ever since women got the vote.....


;) :eek:

[Greg F]

Originally posted by miataboi
...ever since women got the vote.....


;) :eek:

Man, you're in soooo much trouble now! You'd better get your testicles insured brother!

[silverwolfracin]

The SHO Taurus was the re-introduction? How about C5 Corvette, IROC and Mustang SVO? The SHO might have helped jack rates.... my 88 Z28 is cheaper to insure than: 90 Corolla GTS, 90 Miata, 89 Dakota 4X4, 92 Ram 50 or 01 Prelude. By a large margin in many cases.
I'm as worried as the rest of you for rising or cancelled insurance. Only one tip I can think of. Get to know your insurance agent. Take him out for a beer, or get him involved in Solo.
:D get naked pictures of him with his Grandmother :D

[Suzie]

Originally posted by Greg F
Man, you're in soooo much trouble now! You'd better get your testicles insured brother!

Don't people usually only insure things that are WORTH something? :cool:

Suzie

[njansenv]

This TRULY, REALLY scares me. I've always understood that modifications that aren't 'declared' are not covered, and to me, that makes complete sense. BUT, if my insurance is void due to modifications, I'm SOL.

Interesting story: in Dec, my Neon was rearended by a truck in traffic, his fault, no questions. However, the Bodyshop noted that I had a laptop in the car, and asked if I had a 'TFATF' style engine controller. (It was a school project: full engine management for under $300). They told me to remove it before the adjuster saw it, or I might not be covered.... I'm with State farm.

What disappoints me, is that all car enthusiasts are painted with the same brush: Joe in his 'slammed civic yo' with cords showing on the inside of nearly new tires because he couldn't afford a camber kit, and with 700lbs of stereo equipment etc etc, is considered the same as 'one of us', with a car whose performance has been enhanced in everyway (particularly braking and handling). We all know that properly modified cars are considerably safer than they came from the factory.... I consider it a part of 'active safety'. We have a Miata, and I certainly wouldn't want to be hit in it, but it's agility, braking etc etc make it much more likely that an accident would be avoided in the first place.... Here I go, preaching to the converted.:D

So: would we lose insurance if we put a roll bar on the Miata? Scary to think so: that means the insurance company would rather deal with severe head injuries in the event of a rollover????

Nate