Extra headrest: Do I have to declare this safety mod?
Discussion
My Vauxhall Astra J 2015 year reg was purchased used in 2018.
I realised after purchase that with the standard cloth upholstery there is a seatbelt but no headrest provided for the rear centre (5th) passenger, which seems pretty dangerous but was legal at the time.
I was very concerned about this and research revealed that the leather upholstery version does have a centre headrest and pretty soon I found a 60% leather seatback on eBay with the extra headrest and easily fitted it to the car.
But now I find I am asked by insurers if the car has been modified. Does this count as a modification? If I answer “yes” on the online quotes I get a dropdown list but there is nothing like this mod presented as an option to choose, and if I select “body mod “ I always end up being told the car cannot be insured.
Can anyone offer advice? Specifically, if I do not declare as a mod do I risk invalidating the insurance? SAGA helpline were interested in the query but haven’t come back to me yet.
Unfortunately I didn’t keep the old seatback so that one is a non starter, and yes, although the car has since passed several MOT tests, I did fit the seatback myself at home. I will ask my garage about this tomorrow.
I realised after purchase that with the standard cloth upholstery there is a seatbelt but no headrest provided for the rear centre (5th) passenger, which seems pretty dangerous but was legal at the time.
I was very concerned about this and research revealed that the leather upholstery version does have a centre headrest and pretty soon I found a 60% leather seatback on eBay with the extra headrest and easily fitted it to the car.
But now I find I am asked by insurers if the car has been modified. Does this count as a modification? If I answer “yes” on the online quotes I get a dropdown list but there is nothing like this mod presented as an option to choose, and if I select “body mod “ I always end up being told the car cannot be insured.
Can anyone offer advice? Specifically, if I do not declare as a mod do I risk invalidating the insurance? SAGA helpline were interested in the query but haven’t come back to me yet.
Unfortunately I didn’t keep the old seatback so that one is a non starter, and yes, although the car has since passed several MOT tests, I did fit the seatback myself at home. I will ask my garage about this tomorrow.
Edited by benawhile on Monday 22 April 22:40
With the additional safety feature it's much more desirable to anyone looking to steal it and therefore a higher risk from an insurance point of view so best declare it or any claim you make will be turned down.
In the absolute worst case scenario...You bought a 9 year old car, you thought the seat looked a bit odd, but it was like that when you bought it.
"SAGA helpline were interested in the query but haven’t come back to me yet." I bet they were, so they can slap £100 on top of your premium.
Should have not told the insurance company.
"SAGA helpline were interested in the query but haven’t come back to me yet." I bet they were, so they can slap £100 on top of your premium.
Should have not told the insurance company.
Geertsen said:
Surely if you declared this you’d have to declare a tow bar, a bicycle rack, furry dice, extra mats, a USB charger in the cigarette lighter, different tyres to the ones supplied by the factory, etc.
I have tow bars on two of my cars and both insurers consider it to be a modification and name it on the policies.smokey mow said:
Geertsen said:
Surely if you declared this you’d have to declare a tow bar, a bicycle rack, furry dice, extra mats, a USB charger in the cigarette lighter, different tyres to the ones supplied by the factory, etc.
I have tow bars on two of my cars and both insurers consider it to be a modification and name it on the policies.benawhile said:
Thanks for responding, other people are also saying it's an option rather than a mod, I'll go with that one.
S100HP sorry I'm a bit slow, if there's a reason why I shouldn't put the reg in the post I can ask for it to be deleted
Click on the pen symbol in your original post and edit out the reg number.S100HP sorry I'm a bit slow, if there's a reason why I shouldn't put the reg in the post I can ask for it to be deleted
Geertsen said:
smokey mow said:
Geertsen said:
Surely if you declared this you’d have to declare a tow bar, a bicycle rack, furry dice, extra mats, a USB charger in the cigarette lighter, different tyres to the ones supplied by the factory, etc.
I have tow bars on two of my cars and both insurers consider it to be a modification and name it on the policies.Geertsen said:
Surely if you declared this you’d have to declare a tow bar, a bicycle rack, furry dice, extra mats, a USB charger in the cigarette lighter, different tyres to the ones supplied by the factory, etc.
You don't? I pay 10 grand a month for all my modifications. Just in case the insurance company send around a forensic inspection squad after I claim for reversing into my gate post.
Better to be safe than sorry.
Many thanks for the comments, good jokes, terrible jokes, weird? jokes, I have reached a consensus with myself and decided that the seat was damaged so I had to replace it with whatever I could get, it has passed M O T, therefore it is not a mod.
Found new insurers.
Saga man decided it WAS a mod and wanted to charge me £120 extra. No way.
Thanks again, problem solved
Found new insurers.
Saga man decided it WAS a mod and wanted to charge me £120 extra. No way.
Thanks again, problem solved
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