Cover Your Pimped Ride Properly

By Author: Norris Rios
Total Articles: 572
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There are a lot of TV shows emphasizing the style and popularity of customized cars, and for many car owners such a temptation is very hard to resist. Today there are a lot of accessories you can use for customizing your car and it goes far beyond fuzzy dice. With so many cars on the road, many drivers want their vehicle to stand out from the crowd, that's why you see all those stylish grills, spinners, insane stereo systems and LCD screens all over the car. It's all limited only by your budget and imagination.

But one thing drivers tend to forget about when customizing their vehicles is the added cost of insurance that increases after you've installed all the fancy and expensive add-ons. What does your insurance company think about that? Here are some things to keep in mind when looking forward to customizing your vehicle:

Start customizing only after speaking to your insurance provider

It's the most reasonable way of avoiding additional problems with car insurance. First speak to your insurance company representative and learn what your policy will and will not cover. You don't want to find that out after ...
... having an accident and filing a claim, right? Otherwise, you risk being underinsured or even denied coverage simply because you have customized your vehicle without informing the insurance company.

Your car insurance provider will typically ask you whether you want to make a minor or a substantial customization. In case of a minor customization that doesn't seriously affect the value of your car you may leave your policy intact since it will be enough to pay for the repair. But if you want to change a lot of details and install costly features, you will definitely need an endorsement to cover the installed equipment and parts. You might as well need to raise your collision and comprehensive coverage amounts in order to make sure that your policy is adequate to the increased value of your vehicle, which will definitely rise after you've installed all the costly things in it.

In most cases the custom parts cost more than the original parts, so you will want to reconsider all your coverage amounts in order to make sure that the car is covered properly. Because in case you end up in an accident and need a repair, your insurance company will only cover the actual value of the original parts, or can even deny you with coverage because you have failed to inform them about customizing your vehicle.

Safety is important

Don't forget that the most important thing about customization is safety. Make sure that the custom parts are installed by a professional, don't attempt to do it on your own. You may install the parts in a wrong way, which will decrease the safety of your vehicle. And you definitely don't want to do that if you want to have lower car insurance rates from your provider. Not to mention that such mistakes can be a threat to your life. So be smart when customizing your ride - spend some money to pay the professional.