Car written off. Clutch question and more.

AhMuhFace · Jul 12, 2019

Hey brother dubbers, my car was written off Saturday in a fairy bad accident.
Searched for some information regarding how I can recoup some of my loss and couldn’t find needed info.
I’m trying to list mods and I’m not very educated on what could give me more grief or more financial relief.
Insurance knows about the aftermarket wheels and new tires but can I claim my clutch as an aftermarket upgrade? Had a rough couple years and can’t even remember if I declared any upgrades at all to them! Don’t want to cause myself problems but don’t want to lose everything I invested.
Any info or advice is appreciated!

vbrad26 · Jul 12, 2019

Where is the car now?

Derushi · Jul 12, 2019

You should talk to your insurance agent. It probably depends on who's at fault, and who the insurance company is.

My GTI was totaled earlier this year and I had plenty of mods on the car. I basically ended up just listing all the mods I've done, along with receipts, and sent it all to my insurance. I got some money back for a few mods but the rest of them were denied lol, which isn't surprising. I'm pretty sure my clutch upgrade and other aftermarket mods were denied.

AhMuhFace · Jul 12, 2019

The car is at the municipal impound. Because of some solid witnesses, it should be deemed the other drivers fault.
Insurance is TD.
Sorry to hear they denied a bunch of your mods, hope you recovered well.
I guess I’ll submit some receipts and see what happens!

MeltedSolid · Jul 12, 2019

If it's the other driver's fault, then I imagine you would be able to claim everything you can find a receipt for (and I think it would even be their responsibility if anything you own that was even in the car and damaged in the accident would also be claimable, i.e. if you had a laptop on the seat and it was smashed, etc.).

AhMuhFace · Jul 13, 2019

Thanks, I’ll inquire with insurance to see if that’s still how it works with them.

zero10 · Jul 15, 2019

I was insured with TD, note "was", a few years back when my Elantra was hit and they were a complete nightmare to deal with. They pinched every penny and refused to stand behind anything. I had a poor opinion of them prior to the claim but they were really cheap. Their handling of the claim was so bad I left the company afterwards.

I hope your experience is better, but be prepared for a fight. As far as I know they won't deal with modified cars at all, I had a Ford Focus that I had lightly modded (tires, wheels, camber plates, bushings) for autocross and they told me straight up they would drop me because I was going to racing events with it, even though there's no insurance on the track, simply because it indicates "high risk activity". Just in case it's regional - I was also in Calgary at the time.

AhMuhFace · Jul 16, 2019

Zero10 I really appreciate you sharing your experience.
They’ve seemingly been hit and miss for me but so far, on this claim at least, they’ve been better than average. A little off topic but do you mind me asking which insurance co’s You’d consider over TD? Just in the process of getting insurance quotes for something a little better than a base model golf.

zero10 · Jul 17, 2019

I ended up going to Darren at Touchstone insurance (a broker) and they put me with Aviva. They ended up saving me a couple hundred a year over TD. About 2 years later I had to make a claim with them when our van got hit and they were excellent to deal with.

That said I know they have moved away from recommending Aviva - I think they're now recommending Intact?

Either way, in Alberta I find it's worth shopping around once a year or so to see if your insurance company is still a good deal.

dr_mat · Jul 17, 2019

I have to say almost all standard insurance policies I've seen in the UK don't cover your modifications. Specialist policies may differ.
On that basis you may have to buy the car back from the insurer and strip the modified parts for resale, then sell on the shell to recoup the buy-back cost.

AhMuhFace · Jul 24, 2019

Thanks zero10 and other dubbers, after reading your reply I got a couple quotes from intact and aviva for a golf R. Unfortunately TD came in the lowest, But maybe things will change once the other driver is concluded to be at fault.
I took a bit of a hit for the upgrades but they paid out fair for the car at least!
Now the next step is finding a good accident lawyer.
You guys were good help, I appreciate it

Car written off. Clutch question and more.

AhMuhFace

New member

vbrad26

Autocross Champion

Derushi

Go Kart Champion

AhMuhFace

New member

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie

AhMuhFace

New member

zero10

Ready to race!

AhMuhFace

New member

zero10

Ready to race!

dr_mat

Go Kart Champion

AhMuhFace

New member