The REAL reason we ask you for photos of your fourby…

We may have told you that we need to see photos of your vehicle to determine your insured value, but that is codswallop – we just like sitting and looking at photos of custom trucks …

Club 4X4 Insurance
Jul 05 2017

We may have told you that we need to see photos of your vehicle to determine your insured value, but that is codswallop – we just like sitting and looking at photos of custom trucks all day! But in all seriousness, read on to see why we sometimes ask you for further information at the quote stage.

You may have realised at this point already, that Club 4X4 do things very differently to your run-of-the-mill insurer who may currently take care of your house, pet and boat insurance. The reason for this is because we ARE different. Our mission is to be the insurer of choice for the 4X4 enthusiast, be an advocate for the industry that supports us, and to protect the lifestyle of those who like to tour the dirt roads of this great country. We achieve this through our market leading coverage which includes true off-road cover, Australia-wide personal effects coverage and our signature off-road recovery cover for when your roadside assistance provider doesn’t want to get their tow-truck’s tyres dirty.

In addition to these benefits, another reason that many of our customers swear by us is that we actually factor in the cost of your touring accessories and modifications and insure these ON TOP of your vehicle value. This means that in the unfortunate circumstance that your pride and joy is stolen or written off, you are not only covering yourself for what the stock vehicle is worth but also for the money that has been spent on customising it to your requirements. However, in order to do this, we may need to see some photos of your rig with a list of your accessories and modifications to justify the amount that you have requested (and to drool over your truck…).

Now, to the topic that has confused many customers over time – we ask you to place an object somewhere on your vehicle that is visible in each of the requested photos. At first glance, this may seem to be a strange request to many people (some customers have actually asked if we are having a go!), but stay with us – this is our way of verifying that the photos we receive are current, as opposed to photos taken prior to our conversation. The object can be as simple as a hat or a water bottle so long as it is the same one in each photo. See an example here. On a side-note, we have realised we have an extremely creative customer base with all manner of objects being used – we even had one gentleman strike some… unique poses whilst holding today’s newspaper!

But why does it matter when the photos were taken and why do we ask you to place the same object in each of the photos? Unfortunately, not everyone is as honest as others and can look to benefit from their insurance through fraudulent activity. For example, if someone is trying to insure a vehicle to claim dishonestly on damage that already exists, they will be unable to provide us with recent photos including an object in them without revealing the pre-existing damage. Furthermore, if your vehicle is highly modified, the chances are that we will insure it for way beyond what its worth on the market (and what other insurers will cover you for!). Given this, the photos represent overall condition and some oversight of the accessories and modifications, which go hand in hand with the list we ask for in determining what we can cover you for.

It’s important to note that not everyone will be asked for photos to get a quote, but if you are asked to provide them, it will be due to one of the reasons provided below:

Pre-Existing Damage:

  • One of the questions we ask through the quote process addresses pre-existing damage. You can still take out cover with us if your vehicle has minor damage so long as you declare it at the quote stage. We will ask you to provide us with photos so that we can assess the suitability of the coverage to our conditions of cover. In some cases, we will note the damage on the policy so that if that area is damaged in an incident, we can factor this in to the figure paid out. If the damage is significant, we may advise you that we are unable to cover the vehicle until this damage is repaired.

Accessories/modifications value:

  • If your accessories/modifications amount takes up a significant percentage of the insured value in total, you may be asked to provide us with photos and a list. For example, if you have purchased a GU Patrol for $30,000 and then spent a further $20,000 getting it chopped into a dual cab we would ask you for photos and a list to justify the amount. If it all checks out we can cover you for up to $50,000 in this situation!

Dollar value of your accessories/modifications:

  • This is similar to the point above but takes into account the actual dollar amount of your extras, as opposed to their percentage against the vehicle value. So for example, if your 200 series Landcruiser has a market value of $90,000 and you have the full touring fit-out for around $30,000, even though it is not a huge percentage of your vehicle value it is still a significant dollar amount – hence we will ask for proof. We feel it is pretty reasonable to verify that amount before agreeing to cover the amount as the reality is that most insurers would think you are a lunatic, ask you what a GVM upgrade is and tell you they can’t cover you for that much!

Age/value of vehicle:

  • Spotting a clean 80 series Landcruiser or GQ Patrol is becoming increasingly rare! This is due to the simple fact that with age, most things deteriorate. For this simple reason, if your vehicle is around 20 years old you will automatically be asked for photos just to ensure that it is still in an insurable condition. We are not denying the quality and reliability of these old trucks, we just need to make an accurate assessment of their insured value. Remember – this can work in your favour if you have taken good care of your truck as we will often be able to provide you with a sum insured higher than you will find elsewhere.

So there you have it, hopefully this has cleared up any confusion you may have has surrounding our processes at the quoting stage. The main message that we want you to take away from this is that receiving this information allows us to make an accurate assessment of the vehicle’s replacement value (mods and all!) so that we can ensure that you pride and joy is being covered for its true value.

Until next time,

Happy Touring!

Club 4X4 Insurance