Car mods & insurance claims
Discussion
I have a modified car which is set up the way I like and has had approx £6k of modifications made to it. It runs as smoothly now as it did 60k miles ago.
Putting aside any argument that the modifications increase the value of the car, the market value of the car is about £7k at the moment (for sure, the modifications were made for my pleasure and in full knowledge that in accountants terms and in they view of my other half they would be a “waste of money”!).
I was recently involved in an accident where the other party’s insurer has immediately accepted full liability. My insurer’s body shop people have not yet looked at the car and assessed the necessary repair cost but I have already been put on notice that if the cost of the repair is over 66% of the market value the car is likely to be written off. The damage is not considerable but, if my insurer’s body shop quote high, might get close to the £4,500 mark and we could then be talking about a w/o. The other party’s insurer may also feel it is in their interests to w/o ASAP and pay me out quickly to halt the courtesy car charges they are incurring. If this happens, I will be looking to “buy back” my car and get it repaired myself (which would render the question below academic, though I’d still be interested in people’s thoughts).
My question is about precisely what I’m entitled to claim from the other party’s insurer which should form the basis of the loss calculation - is it:
(1) Just the market value of the car (eg £7k) as an assessment of the cost of replacement; OR
(2) The market value of the car plus the estimated cost of the modifications necessary to put me back in precisely the same situation I would be in if the accident had not happened?
If anybody has been in a similar situation or has any insight into this issue, I’d be interested to read your thoughts.
Cheers
Putting aside any argument that the modifications increase the value of the car, the market value of the car is about £7k at the moment (for sure, the modifications were made for my pleasure and in full knowledge that in accountants terms and in they view of my other half they would be a “waste of money”!).
I was recently involved in an accident where the other party’s insurer has immediately accepted full liability. My insurer’s body shop people have not yet looked at the car and assessed the necessary repair cost but I have already been put on notice that if the cost of the repair is over 66% of the market value the car is likely to be written off. The damage is not considerable but, if my insurer’s body shop quote high, might get close to the £4,500 mark and we could then be talking about a w/o. The other party’s insurer may also feel it is in their interests to w/o ASAP and pay me out quickly to halt the courtesy car charges they are incurring. If this happens, I will be looking to “buy back” my car and get it repaired myself (which would render the question below academic, though I’d still be interested in people’s thoughts).
My question is about precisely what I’m entitled to claim from the other party’s insurer which should form the basis of the loss calculation - is it:
(1) Just the market value of the car (eg £7k) as an assessment of the cost of replacement; OR
(2) The market value of the car plus the estimated cost of the modifications necessary to put me back in precisely the same situation I would be in if the accident had not happened?
If anybody has been in a similar situation or has any insight into this issue, I’d be interested to read your thoughts.
Cheers
Edited by RichardDastardly on Sunday 16th January 08:28
Do you have all modifications disclosed with your own insurer and as a result an agreed higher value to cover the car?
If you do then you might have some success with this, if not then I fear you won’t.
What kind of modifications are you talking about, if it’s £2-£3k worth of wheels then just get them removed and bolt a standard set on if they plan to write off the car and they are in damaged.
If you do then you might have some success with this, if not then I fear you won’t.
What kind of modifications are you talking about, if it’s £2-£3k worth of wheels then just get them removed and bolt a standard set on if they plan to write off the car and they are in damaged.
Thanks for your thoughts.
All modifications are disclosed and my cover is under a ‘modified car policy’. The valuation on my policy does not break down the market value of the car generally and the modifications but assesses the value of the car higher than the approx £7k value.
The claim I will be making is not against my insurance though. It will be a claim for my loss against the other guy’s insurer.
All modifications are disclosed and my cover is under a ‘modified car policy’. The valuation on my policy does not break down the market value of the car generally and the modifications but assesses the value of the car higher than the approx £7k value.
The claim I will be making is not against my insurance though. It will be a claim for my loss against the other guy’s insurer.
If you have an agreed value with your insurer then I would be claiming through them and let them recover the claims costs from the 3rd parties insurers.
Otherwise you risk having to fight to get them to repair rather than write it off.
You need to inform your insurer about the accident anyway so what are you risking by not using them?
Otherwise you risk having to fight to get them to repair rather than write it off.
You need to inform your insurer about the accident anyway so what are you risking by not using them?
If you claim from the third party insurer then your rights are determined by liability law, and the damage is assessed in terms of the loss in car suffered - ie the difference between what it would have sold for just before the accident, and any residual salvage value. The modifications will only be taken into account if they would have affected the seeking price of the car. Certainly it's unlikely that they'd affect it enough to add up to the cost of buying an unmodified second hand car and then repeating all the modifications.
If you claim through your own policy then your rights will be determined by what your contract with your insurer says - a standard market value policy will payout the market value on much the same terms as above; an agreed value policy will pay out the value that was agreed when it was taken out.
If you claim through your own policy then your rights will be determined by what your contract with your insurer says - a standard market value policy will payout the market value on much the same terms as above; an agreed value policy will pay out the value that was agreed when it was taken out.
Similar situation that I was in.
I had a friendly chat their engineer/claims adjuster and he said that if it had been an unmodified vehicle they'd have written it off due to the repair costs. However, when taking into account the costs of replacing the declared modifications (about £8k) they realised it would cost less to repair it, so that's what happened.
Probably the wrong choice in the end as their approved bodyshop didn't do a very good job (mismatched wheels & tyres, inoperable handbrake, knackered air-con, brake pad sensor plugs moved to inside the bolted on bodywork instead of clipped to and accessible from the wheel arch, stiff/clunky gearbox, mis-aligned bonnet, etc.), and despite going back multiple times it was never fixed to a pre-accident condition as I was told to take any further issues up directly with the insurance company as they had no margin left to do any further fixes. It also seems the bodyshop's 5 year guarantee on repairs was worthless, as they closed a year later.
Although I did manage to negotiate a new diff as part of the bungled repairs complaint, and called a close to the matter...18 months after initially getting the car back.
I had a friendly chat their engineer/claims adjuster and he said that if it had been an unmodified vehicle they'd have written it off due to the repair costs. However, when taking into account the costs of replacing the declared modifications (about £8k) they realised it would cost less to repair it, so that's what happened.
Probably the wrong choice in the end as their approved bodyshop didn't do a very good job (mismatched wheels & tyres, inoperable handbrake, knackered air-con, brake pad sensor plugs moved to inside the bolted on bodywork instead of clipped to and accessible from the wheel arch, stiff/clunky gearbox, mis-aligned bonnet, etc.), and despite going back multiple times it was never fixed to a pre-accident condition as I was told to take any further issues up directly with the insurance company as they had no margin left to do any further fixes. It also seems the bodyshop's 5 year guarantee on repairs was worthless, as they closed a year later.
Although I did manage to negotiate a new diff as part of the bungled repairs complaint, and called a close to the matter...18 months after initially getting the car back.
Edited by mmm-five on Sunday 16th January 12:17
I’m going through my insurance company. Their claims handling contractor has arranged the courtesy car, will be costing up the repairs and then liaising with the other guy’s insurance company. I’ve been advised (by my insurance co) to ignore any attempts by the other insurer to contact me directly.
So I'm no expert on these matters, but presumably you have actually claimed from your insurance company and they are trying to recover the costs from the insurer for the third party.
That means what you are covered for and how it affects things like NCB are governed by the agreement you have with your insurer.
That means what you are covered for and how it affects things like NCB are governed by the agreement you have with your insurer.
BertBert said:
So I'm no expert on these matters, but presumably you have actually claimed from your insurance company and they are trying to recover the costs from the insurer for the third party.
That means what you are covered for and how it affects things like NCB are governed by the agreement you have with your insurer.
Yes, that's it now, all control has been handed over to his insurers to deal with the matter as they so choose.That means what you are covered for and how it affects things like NCB are governed by the agreement you have with your insurer.
Always try and keep control of the situation if possible. People give control over in order to get the hire car, that's the problem.
God forbid getting involved with the claims management companies.
I've driven modified cars for 20+ years so come across this a few times
The issue is the market value or the agreed value - it sounds like in your case you have an agreed value which makes it a lot simpler
I've found the best solution (for me) is to take the payout and rebuild it myself - ideally with them agreeing NOT to write the car off
The issue is the market value or the agreed value - it sounds like in your case you have an agreed value which makes it a lot simpler
I've found the best solution (for me) is to take the payout and rebuild it myself - ideally with them agreeing NOT to write the car off
KTMsm said:
I've driven modified cars for 20+ years so come across this a few times
The issue is the market value or the agreed value - it sounds like in your case you have an agreed value which makes it a lot simpler
I've found the best solution (for me) is to take the payout and rebuild it myself - ideally with them agreeing NOT to write the car off
I don't think we really know this from what the OP has said.The issue is the market value or the agreed value - it sounds like in your case you have an agreed value which makes it a lot simpler
I've found the best solution (for me) is to take the payout and rebuild it myself - ideally with them agreeing NOT to write the car off
RichardDastardly said:
I have a modified car which is set up the way I like and has had approx £6k of modifications made to it. It runs as smoothly now as it did 60k miles ago.
Putting aside any argument that the modifications increase the value of the car, the market value of the car is about £7k at the moment (for sure, the modifications were made for my pleasure and in full knowledge that in accountants terms and in they view of my other half they would be a “waste of money”!).
I was recently involved in an accident where the other party’s insurer has immediately accepted full liability. My insurer’s body shop people have not yet looked at the car and assessed the necessary repair cost but I have already been put on notice that if the cost of the repair is over 66% of the market value the car is likely to be written off. The damage is not considerable but, if my insurer’s body shop quote high, might get close to the £4,500 mark and we could then be talking about a w/o. The other party’s insurer may also feel it is in their interests to w/o ASAP and pay me out quickly to halt the courtesy car charges they are incurring. If this happens, I will be looking to “buy back” my car and get it repaired myself (which would render the question below academic, though I’d still be interested in people’s thoughts).
My question is about precisely what I’m entitled to claim from the other party’s insurer which should form the basis of the loss calculation - is it:
(1) Just the market value of the car (eg £7k) as an assessment of the cost of replacement; OR
(2) The market value of the car plus the estimated cost of the modifications necessary to put me back in precisely the same situation I would be in if the accident had not happened?
If anybody has been in a similar situation or has any insight into this issue, I’d be interested to read your thoughts.
Cheers
I had this about 12 years back. Putting aside any argument that the modifications increase the value of the car, the market value of the car is about £7k at the moment (for sure, the modifications were made for my pleasure and in full knowledge that in accountants terms and in they view of my other half they would be a “waste of money”!).
I was recently involved in an accident where the other party’s insurer has immediately accepted full liability. My insurer’s body shop people have not yet looked at the car and assessed the necessary repair cost but I have already been put on notice that if the cost of the repair is over 66% of the market value the car is likely to be written off. The damage is not considerable but, if my insurer’s body shop quote high, might get close to the £4,500 mark and we could then be talking about a w/o. The other party’s insurer may also feel it is in their interests to w/o ASAP and pay me out quickly to halt the courtesy car charges they are incurring. If this happens, I will be looking to “buy back” my car and get it repaired myself (which would render the question below academic, though I’d still be interested in people’s thoughts).
My question is about precisely what I’m entitled to claim from the other party’s insurer which should form the basis of the loss calculation - is it:
(1) Just the market value of the car (eg £7k) as an assessment of the cost of replacement; OR
(2) The market value of the car plus the estimated cost of the modifications necessary to put me back in precisely the same situation I would be in if the accident had not happened?
If anybody has been in a similar situation or has any insight into this issue, I’d be interested to read your thoughts.
Cheers
Edited by RichardDastardly on Sunday 16th January 08:28
My car was written off, btw, it was my insurer that did everything, ie sent engineers etc despite another being liable, and made the decision not to repair, agreeing it with other party.
I expressed my interest in buying the salvage, and this was helped by me keeping control of it, ie after the accident I had it recovered to my home, not a salvage yard.
They estimated the pre accident value at 14k, about 3k more than non modded, in fact, and offered it back to me for 1200 quid. This was probably about 100 more than a stock car.
It was well bailed, but I did repair it, and get it back on road for 2 years. Then it lunched it’s turbo due to an oil line failure, so I repaired it all back to stock, the missus used it for a few years and I sold or the mods on.
Ouroboros said:
KTMsm said:
OP exactly what value have you insured it for - because that's your answer
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