Insuring a standard car as modified
Discussion
You often hear about people getting insurance claims rejected as they didn't declare mods but how does it work the other way round? I was thinking of fitting a free flow intake and exhaust to my car along with a re-map but I won't be doing it all at the same time. I was reading about modified car insurance and read a few people saying they found there was actually a magical number of mods where the insurance was cheaper than only having one mod.
My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
CloudyNight said:
You often hear about people getting insurance claims rejected as they didn't declare mods but how does it work the other way round? I was thinking of fitting a free flow intake and exhaust to my car along with a re-map but I won't be doing it all at the same time. I was reading about modified car insurance and read a few people saying they found there was actually a magical number of mods where the insurance was cheaper than only having one mod.
My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
Insure what you have anything else would be asking for trouble.My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
I would find an insurance company that would accept the mods once they are completed and then tell them you have modified it.
Can't answer your specific question .
However lots of companies will allow you to add mods later or declare that you plan to do these mods. And take out a policy that will cover them.
Adrian flux will do this.
You're correct in my experience modified car insurance is cheaper or the same as insuring a standard car. However I've not owned anything standard for quite along time. So it might be different these days.
However lots of companies will allow you to add mods later or declare that you plan to do these mods. And take out a policy that will cover them.
Adrian flux will do this.
You're correct in my experience modified car insurance is cheaper or the same as insuring a standard car. However I've not owned anything standard for quite along time. So it might be different these days.
ARHarh said:
Insure what you have anything else would be asking for trouble.
I would find an insurance company that would accept the mods once they are completed and then tell them you have modified it.
Just be more careful than I was when selecting insurance. I planned to modify my 340i with a stage 1 tune and a change of wheels. I got a good price from a well know provider and called them up. I asked if I could modify the car as I planned to do it in the near future and was told no problem, just contact them when it was done and they would change the policy. I would find an insurance company that would accept the mods once they are completed and then tell them you have modified it.
A month later I decided to book the car in so called the insurance company to let them know. Apparently, my policy doesn't allow modifications at all so I had to keep the car standard. I think come renewal time, I might declare a tune, take out the policy with it declared and then get the modification done.
I guess the answer is ask the insurer but in my experience when I was into modifying cars I used Greenlight regularly and I would call and discuss planned modifications and say for example I want to get them fitted in a weeks time, they just added the mods immediately if I was happy with the price change.
I didn’t have an accident though.
I didn’t have an accident though.
I would declare each mod as it's added. If you have mods on your insurance but not actually on the car then the insurance company can easily void your insurance because your car isn't as stated on your policy. I would think this especially if a number of mods together means your insurance is less than if you didn't have all of them fitted - imagine if you had a crash, declared on your policy that you'd had much better brakes installed yet didn't yet have them on the car. It's all well and good trying to edge around the rules until something goes wrong, which is why you have insurance in the first place - it just isn't worth trying to be clever by being dishonest.
Antony Moxey said:
I would declare each mod as it's added. If you have mods on your insurance but not actually on the car then the insurance company can easily void your insurance because your car isn't as stated on your policy. I would think this especially if a number of mods together means your insurance is less than if you didn't have all of them fitted - imagine if you had a crash, declared on your policy that you'd had much better brakes installed yet didn't yet have them on the car. It's all well and good trying to edge around the rules until something goes wrong, which is why you have insurance in the first place - it just isn't worth trying to be clever by being dishonest.
I'm not disagreeing with your advice, but wondered whether that's what ins co's do...ah 100bhp increase that's an extra £500, but bigger brakes reduces it to £400 or...
ah 100bhp increase that's an extra £500, but bigger brakes, that's another mode for an extra £200 please
Just curious
ARHarh said:
CloudyNight said:
You often hear about people getting insurance claims rejected as they didn't declare mods but how does it work the other way round? I was thinking of fitting a free flow intake and exhaust to my car along with a re-map but I won't be doing it all at the same time. I was reading about modified car insurance and read a few people saying they found there was actually a magical number of mods where the insurance was cheaper than only having one mod.
My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
Insure what you have anything else would be asking for trouble.My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
I would find an insurance company that would accept the mods once they are completed and then tell them you have modified it.
BertBert said:
Antony Moxey said:
I would declare each mod as it's added. If you have mods on your insurance but not actually on the car then the insurance company can easily void your insurance because your car isn't as stated on your policy. I would think this especially if a number of mods together means your insurance is less than if you didn't have all of them fitted - imagine if you had a crash, declared on your policy that you'd had much better brakes installed yet didn't yet have them on the car. It's all well and good trying to edge around the rules until something goes wrong, which is why you have insurance in the first place - it just isn't worth trying to be clever by being dishonest.
I'm not disagreeing with your advice, but wondered whether that's what ins co's do...ah 100bhp increase that's an extra £500, but bigger brakes reduces it to £400 or...
ah 100bhp increase that's an extra £500, but bigger brakes, that's another mode for an extra £200 please
Just curious
Apart from the risk of voiding the policy, there's also the desire on your part to be able to claim for the work you have had done.
Assume that your car will be a total write off, and you have spent £1000 on modifications, you want to recover at least some of that £1,000.
Back in 1999 I bought a 9 year old, 22,000 mile Saab and converted it to run on LPG at a cost of £1,700.
I declared the mod to the main stream insurers I used, no extra premium.
A year later I got run off the road by a texting driver coming straight at me on a single carriageway A road at 60 mph.
I took to the ditch and the car was a write off.
The insurerd confirmed that the mileage was indeed now only 40,000 on a 10 year old car and paid me market value plus an extra £1,000 for the now second hand LPG system.
These days I have tow bars on two of my cars. I always declare them, because if the car gets rear ended, I will need to replace the tow bar at a cost of around £400
Assume that your car will be a total write off, and you have spent £1000 on modifications, you want to recover at least some of that £1,000.
Back in 1999 I bought a 9 year old, 22,000 mile Saab and converted it to run on LPG at a cost of £1,700.
I declared the mod to the main stream insurers I used, no extra premium.
A year later I got run off the road by a texting driver coming straight at me on a single carriageway A road at 60 mph.
I took to the ditch and the car was a write off.
The insurerd confirmed that the mileage was indeed now only 40,000 on a 10 year old car and paid me market value plus an extra £1,000 for the now second hand LPG system.
These days I have tow bars on two of my cars. I always declare them, because if the car gets rear ended, I will need to replace the tow bar at a cost of around £400
Apparently having a particular job type can reduce premiums as well. Why not disclose one of those and go job hunting during the year? Or maybe give a false address in a lower risk area as you might move there one day?
You are basically asking if it’s ok to give incorrect information to the insurance company with the aim to reduce your premiums.
Sorry to be so snarky but some of the questions being asked on PH these days are totally ridiculous.
You are basically asking if it’s ok to give incorrect information to the insurance company with the aim to reduce your premiums.
Sorry to be so snarky but some of the questions being asked on PH these days are totally ridiculous.
Edited by TonyF1 on Sunday 6th April 10:01
swampy442 said:
The bottom line is, insurance companies will do anything to avoid paying out in the event of an incident, don't give them a reason.
If the reason if fraud then I can understand them not paying out.I must be one of the few who think their car insurance costs are just fine, and when I had an accident they just paid out what the car was worth with no hassle. In fact even with the excess deducted I still got what I paid for the car 6m earlier.
CloudyNight said:
You often hear about people getting insurance claims rejected as they didn't declare mods but how does it work the other way round? I was thinking of fitting a free flow intake and exhaust to my car along with a re-map but I won't be doing it all at the same time. I was reading about modified car insurance and read a few people saying they found there was actually a magical number of mods where the insurance was cheaper than only having one mod.
My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
Just tell Insurers what you have actually done to the car and don’t make things up. My plan was to wait for my next insurance renewal and take out a policy declaring the mods I have planned and then have them carried out during the term of that policy. What I'm wondering is what would happen if I have to make a claim and the assessor finds the car has say a standard exhaust when I've said it was modified. Do they care or would they try to use it as a reason not to pay out?
Declaring a mod which didn’t happen serves no purpose other than to create an issue for you potentially if you are unlucky enough to have a claim.
swampy442 said:
The bottom line is, insurance companies will do anything to avoid paying out in the event of an incident, don't give them a reason.
The bottom line is simply being honest with Insurers is always the answer and thus don’t give them any excuses as such for looking into a claim with extra vigilance. In reality Insurers claim departments usually only don’t pay out where there has been either fraud committed or vital details of information not given to them at inception and even then this may only mean a reduced payout after additional premium has been applied to reflect the actual insured risk.
98elise said:
If the reason if fraud then I can understand them not paying out.
I must be one of the few who think their car insurance costs are just fine, and when I had an accident they just paid out what the car was worth with no hassle. In fact even with the excess deducted I still got what I paid for the car 6m earlier.
Both times I've been paid out for a total loss claim, I also had no issue with either insurer paying out a fair value with little hassle. Actually in both cases they paid more than what I paid for the cars.I must be one of the few who think their car insurance costs are just fine, and when I had an accident they just paid out what the car was worth with no hassle. In fact even with the excess deducted I still got what I paid for the car 6m earlier.
Maybe we're just the lucky ones, but the premiums I pay feel pretty reasonable.
I guess it depends who you are with.
I was with Adrian Flux when I had my last Jag XJR. It was modified by Tom Lenthall, 200 cell cats, sports exhaust, Caldoofy supercharger inlet, K&N's, different alloys and a couple of body mods. The end result was that they noted the mods but didn't charge me any more for the changes. Result.
I was with Adrian Flux when I had my last Jag XJR. It was modified by Tom Lenthall, 200 cell cats, sports exhaust, Caldoofy supercharger inlet, K&N's, different alloys and a couple of body mods. The end result was that they noted the mods but didn't charge me any more for the changes. Result.
Zephyr Speedshop said:
Can't answer your specific question .
However lots of companies will allow you to add mods later or declare that you plan to do these mods. And take out a policy that will cover them.
Adrian flux will do this.
You're correct in my experience modified car insurance is cheaper or the same as insuring a standard car. However I've not owned anything standard for quite along time. So it might be different these days.
However lots of companies will allow you to add mods later or declare that you plan to do these mods. And take out a policy that will cover them.
Adrian flux will do this.
You're correct in my experience modified car insurance is cheaper or the same as insuring a standard car. However I've not owned anything standard for quite along time. So it might be different these days.
the-norseman said:
I've previously insured a lot of modified cars.
Last time I did with Adrian Flux, I said to them, look the car is standard but I will be adding "xxxxx" to it soon and they said thats fine, well insure it as modified right now and you can add them to it.
OP this is you answer, just speak to insurers who deal with this kind of stuff. if you ask admiral they will have kittens about it. if you ask flux, they will let you add the mods later. ignore all the usual PH the insurance man is going to get you nonsense, it a thing that you can do with the right insurer. Last time I did with Adrian Flux, I said to them, look the car is standard but I will be adding "xxxxx" to it soon and they said thats fine, well insure it as modified right now and you can add them to it.
flux have insured my
z cars mini - insured modified from the start
Mk2 VR6 turbo golf - insured modified from the start
mk3 VR6 - insured stock and modified over a year. (declared at the start of the policy)
Corrado 16v - insured stock and modified over a year. (declared at the start of the policy)
Mk2 fiesta zetec - insured with suspension/wheels , then engine swapped to a 1.8 and then a 2.0 zetec (declared at the start of the policy)
turbo 205 gti - insured engine swapped, but then bigger turbo and multiple mods declared later (added later with no extra costs)
208 gti, - insured with engine mods , but suspension , wheels and brakes add later including my spare track wheels. (added later with, only the track wheels were an extra cost)
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