Dealing With Insurance Companies

[Van DeWald]

I'm just curious how chasers deal with their insurance companies and high insurance rates. In light of what just happened last night, how do insurance companies handle damage to a vehicle when you intentionally are putting yourself in harms way. It's the same premise that if you leave the keys in your car and it's stolen, you just forfeited your right to coverage in many cases.

I've not had to file a claim for chasing personally, but have filed claims for hitting deer and hail damage to my home and vehicles sitting in my driveway. After 3 "act of God" claims, they were ready to drop me.

But what happens when you purposely put your vehicle into harms ways, i.e. when you punch a hail core, or worse, have your vehicle totaled from a tornado. Or is the fact that you were chasing severe storms left out, and you just happened to be hundreds of miles from home in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason?

 

[bvassmer]

Well, how I do it is simple. I don't claim my hail damage. My deductable is too high to justifiy claiming any windows that break, so I just fix it myself. It took $300 to fix two windows lost May 12th, 2005. The dents and other damage are just wounds that will stay.

I look at it this way, if I get into hail, who cares if I get a few more dents... they arent going to reduce the worth of the car anymore. I just like to avoid the window smashers!

 

[Kenny Drake]

... I was just driving and out of the middle of nowhere a freak hailstorm...

 

[David Drummond]

You would be surprised how many claims they get on hailstorms even out in the boonies.

My agent knows full well what I do, how can they not, they have pics of it decked out and see me on TV. I pay a very nice sum of money for that ZERO deductible on non-collision. I could care less about hail damage. I just want the glass replaced and financial protection from theft.

I guess it depends on your agent, your policy and your carrier. There are LOTS of various vehicles that are insured that are intentionally put in harms way every day. It's not just chase vehicles.

 

[Jason Persoff]

David's points are well taken. My insurance agent read about my chasing in the paper and cut the article out and sent it to me with an explanation about my coverage. Very funny to me.

My comment to my agent was that they continue to pay for damage caused to insured cars that are driven into high crime areas; by pizza delivery drivers (who statistically have a higher rate of accidents); and by people with known convictions for DUI. Those carry far more inherent risks than my hobby.

Thus far, I've never had a claim denied...But I guess it's a matter of time.