Factory fitted option - declare for ins renewal?
Discussion
thirsty33 said:
Declare it ALL - bore them to bloody tears if you have to.
I do and I have. It takes 2 sides of A4.
What is a modification though. As far as I can tell, if Grannys micra has the exhaust replaced by quickfit, and Dunlop tyres fitted in place of the original Bridgestones, she should declare them and is uninsured if she fails to.
My insurance company hate me. I can deal with that. I've got enough friends.
I bought my car second hand. It's only because the previous owner gave me the original invoice that I was aware that the dash had been upgraded from vinyl to leather. Elephant.co.uk increased by premium by £75 a year because this "interior upgrade" makes my car more desireable to steal. That's right - scrotes shop around TVR Tuscans looking for those that have leather dashboards. Not only that, but none of the manufacturer fitted options are covered under elephant's insurance.
So an extra £75 quid a year to cover something that they won't pay out on. I should have kept my mouth shut.
So an extra £75 quid a year to cover something that they won't pay out on. I should have kept my mouth shut.
An interesting scenario has just come up in my household. I bought my daughter her first car last year, a bog standard 1.4 Peugeot 306, which had genuine Peugeot alloy wheels. She insured it and told them it was standard. I went to buy a set of locking bolts and was told that the XL model, which hers is, never came with alloy wheels and these must have been fitted by a previous owner. Do we have to now tell them it isn't standard?
YIKES, £75 for a leather dash.
Insurers that do that are better off loosing you business than you paying up imho.
As per 306 alloy wheels. I think the main reason they worry is that if you have the wheels stolen, and you claim, they "assume" the car has steelies to replace, and you claim it has alloys.
That imho is reasonable, IF you want to claim for stolen alloys.
On the other hand, if the car is say stolen and written off, the engineer will value the car, and may value it higher with alloy wheels, which again, were not insured.
If the wheels are stolen, chances someone would steal steelies is low, but alloys is higher, so more risk, even if they paid out for just steelies, they are more likely to!
I'd honestly say insurers are in their rights to charge more for some stuff, but HOW much they charge is sometimes a bit OTT. £75 for a leather dash is just a joke.
I'd not say, and if it came to pay out time, just take the £75 reduction in car value because they are not paying out for that "added" option.
Mind you, knowing insurers, they'd say that adds £1000 to the value, and cut the payout by LOADS. And even if you had insured it WITH the leather declared, then it'd suddenly only be worth £50 extra over a normal model, if that
Like I said, insurers that care Soooo much and charge so much for such subtle changes are not worth using, as they are clearly milking you for lots of money for bugger all!
Dave
Insurers that do that are better off loosing you business than you paying up imho.
As per 306 alloy wheels. I think the main reason they worry is that if you have the wheels stolen, and you claim, they "assume" the car has steelies to replace, and you claim it has alloys.
That imho is reasonable, IF you want to claim for stolen alloys.
On the other hand, if the car is say stolen and written off, the engineer will value the car, and may value it higher with alloy wheels, which again, were not insured.
If the wheels are stolen, chances someone would steal steelies is low, but alloys is higher, so more risk, even if they paid out for just steelies, they are more likely to!
I'd honestly say insurers are in their rights to charge more for some stuff, but HOW much they charge is sometimes a bit OTT. £75 for a leather dash is just a joke.
I'd not say, and if it came to pay out time, just take the £75 reduction in car value because they are not paying out for that "added" option.
Mind you, knowing insurers, they'd say that adds £1000 to the value, and cut the payout by LOADS. And even if you had insured it WITH the leather declared, then it'd suddenly only be worth £50 extra over a normal model, if that
Like I said, insurers that care Soooo much and charge so much for such subtle changes are not worth using, as they are clearly milking you for lots of money for bugger all!
Dave
gilbertd said:
An interesting scenario has just come up in my household. I bought my daughter her first car last year, a bog standard 1.4 Peugeot 306, which had genuine Peugeot alloy wheels. She insured it and told them it was standard. I went to buy a set of locking bolts and was told that the XL model, which hers is, never came with alloy wheels and these must have been fitted by a previous owner. Do we have to now tell them it isn't standard?
It is worth telling them, but it is unlikely they will increase your premium if they are factory alloys.
My Mum bought a pre-registered Audi A4 from a dealer a few years ago. It was a car ordered for a manager who left the company before the car was delivered. As he was a manager, he got it with a load of factory extras that were not actually possible to order for that particular car if you were a normal customer. She fully delcared all the additional extras but the standard response she got from insurance companies was as they were all factory options, even though not technically available for her car, they didn't affect her insurance.
I remember when a heater was an optional extra on the 'Spridgets' ... don't recall being charged extra insurance for it though.
Of course, the factory fitted all cars with a heater on the production line and charged for it, and if you didn't want it you would wait ages for a new car.
Which introduces the interesting aspect of "delete options" - do the insurers load the premium if you take those (e.g. removal of model badges)?
List everything: floor mats; fluffy dice and nodding dog (although the premium should be loaded for those!); tax disc holder, tax disc and number-plates (it didn't come off the production line with those on); ...
Streaky
Of course, the factory fitted all cars with a heater on the production line and charged for it, and if you didn't want it you would wait ages for a new car.
Which introduces the interesting aspect of "delete options" - do the insurers load the premium if you take those (e.g. removal of model badges)?
List everything: floor mats; fluffy dice and nodding dog (although the premium should be loaded for those!); tax disc holder, tax disc and number-plates (it didn't come off the production line with those on); ...
Streaky
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