Insurance + Upgrades

[andycore]

Hi Guys, hit a bit of a snag at about midnight last night, resulting in a bit of damage to my baby. Some idiot came down my street, slammed into the rear drivers side of my dad's A3 sitting on the street, which was driven up over the gutter and into my XR6 parked in the driveway.

There's been quite a bit of damage to my front bar, scrape marks, some nice red scratches where the Audi's been kind enough to leave it's paint, and the thing has obviously buckled as the clips that hold it on to the body at either end are broken, leaving the very ends of the bar hanging off.

The Audi, as you may be wondering, is possibly a write off. But that's not why I'm starting a thread. And yeah, I did a search, but I couldn't find any conclusive answers, so I figured I'd give my own a go.

Since I bought the car my intention has always been to put a different front bar on, probably a GT style one, to match engine modifications and such to be made in the future (read: when I'm off my P's). So what I'm wondering, is if anyone has had any experience with claiming through insurance, and paying the difference between a standard piece of equipment and a better one?

What I want to do, is have my insurer (AAMI) cover the cost of a new bar and all associated painting etc, as they normally would, but for a GT bar -- which I would gladly pay the difference between the prices to have. Is this possible, or am I p*ssing up the proverbial?

Any experience you've had with AAMI would be really helpful, as I don't see why it should be that big of a deal if I'm willing to pay the difference.

[Yaw]

I would not worry too much.
The worst that could happen is they insist that they replace it with the standard option. In which case you could then offer to pay the difference. But I suspect that if you have the details of the party at fault they will be looking to recover from that person anyway.

Be open and honest, talk with the assessor if the issue comes up. Usually they will be ok with it. Alternitavley, they may agree to a cash settlement for what the standard would cost them, its then up to you to get the repairs done, but of course if you choose that option, you will not have the guarantees that your insurer offer.

[Fiesta God]

An AAMI assessor should be more than happy to organise that for you with the winning repairer ... just let them know what you want to do.

[something wrong]

The only snag you may hit is if AAMI do the repairs in their own shop. If they do they only will replace what is on there as its alot of hassle for no gain for them.

If the send it to a approved repairer they will tell you which one (Or ask if they dont) and speak directly with the approved repairer, Most would be happy to do the change and you pay them the cash difference, (make sure you have an idea of what the price difference is so you don't get stung).

I found the AAMI assessor really easy to deal with so also sound him out as well he / she might be able to help.