Just last week a buddy of mine was traveling to my house form his farm driving his 2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax truck (8inch lift, 35" rubber), hauling his DRZ. It was about 2:30pm on gravel road when he met a gravel truck on the gravel road, and when he pulled back to the center of the road, he slid right across into the ditch and rolled his truck. He rode his DRZ to my house from where he rolled and we went out and flipped his truck over and waited for a tow truck. S.G.I. is not giving him insurance because of the lift (BTW it just passed a road side checkpoint safety a month ago)
The wont even insure the bent handlebars and broken plastic on the bike.
He showed them $86,000 of receipts he has into the truck including the purchase price and lift...etc. S.G.I. says that soon all trucks with any ride height mods will be non insurable in a roll-over:lame:
The truck is non salvageable and only good parts are powertrain
At least the DRZ is OK :banana:

That's bullshit. Over here they have to be able to prove that the mod considerably contributed to the accident to get out of a claim. Are we talking a 2in lift or 10in?

Is there an ombudsman/insurance watchdog he can contact, or any other steps he can take?

AusDRZe said:

wyattchad54 said:

There ya go! :thumbsup:

D'oh! Skim reading to blame...

8in lift's pretty damned high. Over here if you get a mechanical engineer to 'sign off' on the setup it will remain legal. If you don't then you're just playing with fire.

Sorry to say it, but your buddy just learnt one of the most expensive lessons there is with 4WDs...

Ya he did learn a lesson, he said the DRZ will be getting a few more miles than expected on it this summer. Guess he'll have to go back to the oil rigs this winter instead of staying at the farm.
S.G.I. said that the roll over wouldn't of happened if it was a stock truck, I think they are 100% right on that.
That truck was useless anyways, too high to do anything with....need my truck to put the sled deck on in the winter and his is a huge pain in the ass to load bikes in too.

I'm suprised the DRZ survived the roll over...

Did he just roll the truck onto its side? If so then I can see how the DRZ would be fine.

alexsuzuki125 said:

If its a total loss besides powertrain... I don't think he just put it up on its side.

I'd guess the straps broke and the drz went down on its side and then came out.

That high of a truck would just be a bigger pain in the ass to load your bike.

I think your buddy needs a lawyer with experience in this area.

Don't waste your money on a lawyer. Save it for repairs or replacement.

Your everyday auto insurance company is set up to cover pretty much stock vehicles. Every company I write for has specific questions to answer about modified suspensions and offers coverge for custom parts and equipment. If he answered that no then he is SOL. If someone answers yes then they usually ask for some details and accept or deny coverage on that paticular vehicle.

The only thing I can think of that could be in your favor is if you agent never fully explained the question when completing the application. In that case you may have a claim against his Errors and Omissions coverage which covers agent goof ups. Even still it would be tough to prove.

Always get a copy of the application you sign when taking out any insurance.

man that is bullshit insurance companys find any damn way they can to **** you over, I'm sick and tired of pricks like that is pisses me off.

Kevbong said:

We had a discussion at work regarding this situation. I said that the lift was a contibuting factor... and someone piped in... what if he hit a wall doing 150 mph... going fast is a contributing factor, can they deny my claim?

To which I replied, I bet if I intentionally removed the speed limiter from my car and crashed at high speed, I guess they probably could deny any claims.

I never really thought about anything like this before... how often do claims get denied for crap like this?

sbarkley657 said:

I don't know all the details so I can only comment so much but do you really think it's the insurance companies fault that someone probably didn't read or ask what they were applying for nor did they read the policy itself when it was delivered.

Would you really feel ok paying the same rates to insure a stock 2007 GMC compared to the same person who has damn near a monster truck worth $86,000?

If insurance companies covered things like this everyones rates would be through the roof.

The biggest thing I hate about insurance is that us agents are supposed to stick to selling and can't really get involved in claims. Which may be a good thing as I would probably cover everything and anything. Conflict of intrests I guess. So I can only speak from insurance law in general.

Regalman said:

They would probably cover the loss but only pay him the ACV for 2007 GMC.

Regalman said:

It's possible if really dug into it they could but the burden of proof would fall to the insurance company to prove it was removed and was the primary reason for the accident. Many times proving that would cost more than the claim itself so they just pay the claim. That's something that is not quite as obvious as 8inch lifts and 35inch tires.

Regalman said:

In 18 years of doing this I have yet to hear of any of my clients having a claim denied because of such factors. I try to bring all of this to their attention at the time of application so I don't have to worry about such things. Trust me I would be the first person they call.

Thats the Insurance Companies for you. As long as you pay and don't file a claim everything is cool, but when you need them it's usually a pain to get your vehicle fixed.

icecold said:

Seriously? I've had a few 'situations' in my day... never once had an issue. Of course, I let my body man argue with the adjuster. He is really good and I've never had a problem.

Of course, my rates go up... but thats just how insurance works. :thumbsup:

I am sorry so many of you have such bad opinions or have had bad experiances with your companies.

I have had people hit a deer on their way to work and have a claim check in hand by lunch. I've been on site and seen peoples home destroyed by fire and then rebuilt. Kids mauled by dogs and made well again by insurance paying for reconstructive surgery.

I have seen alot good in what I/we do. But there are and always will be exceptions, different interpretations, ect. Pleasing the masses is one tough business I tell ya.

And Regalman is right. I good agent is worth his weight in gold. Find a good one and if you ever have problems with the company or questions on coverge call him. Then the obligation of doing things fair and square fall on both the agent and the insurance company.

Makes you wonder about a big bore kit on your bike. It makes the bike faster and is more cc's than what is stated on your policy. I think the break off point is around 400cc's for cheaper insurance.

Before I bought my bike I checked insurance on an SV-650 and it was over 4 times the amount of the DRZ.

Kevbong said:

I'm sure it all boils do to the whole universal issue of paying so much then knowing you can't use it... or you end up paying even more.

Of course, I know people who have turned in tons of claims and somehow fly under the radar. Its a weird industry for sure to try and figure out how they come up with rates.

Hell, I have a cracked windsheild and refuse to turn it in. Its very low and almost unnoticable. When I do replace it, I'll probably just pay cash.

I'm waiting for one really bad oopsie (at fault accident) to finally come off my record so I can redo all my insurances. Having 1 car and 3 bikes really adds up with my less than stellar driving record.