Non disclosure of mods

[catcoconut]

Hi, Just after a little advice please.

I had a car accident on a roundabout 2 wks back, which i think will end up as my fault even though the bloke cut across and smashed into the side of me.
The insurance company instructed a repairer who took my car off and left me a lovely (awful!) courtesy car. A wk later i get a phone call from them to say they need to collect the courtesy car as my insurance claim had been put on hold!

I phoned insurance to be told my claim had been passed over to another company for them to look into the claim. I was instructed by them to send all various bits of paperwork then they interviewed me over the phone yesterday asking all manner of questions.
It came up that the garage who took my car had told them it had a different air filter fitted and i hadn't declared it. I told them the windows were tinted but no one mentioned the different exhaust tail pipe that was also fitted.
I just tried to blag it saying the car was as i purchased it because i genuinely had forgotten about the air filter as the servicing and MOT etc was my ex partners job and although i know a little about cars, i am a woman ;o)
I was told the info would go back to insurance company and i would hear back within the next 7 days.
Has anyone got any experience with this kind of thing? What could be the likely outcome?
Could they void my insurance and not pay out for either the other drivers car or mine?? Or will they pay for his but not mine? I'm insured fully comp by the way. I'm rather worried about the outcome.

Thanks for reading )

Edited by redletter on Wednesday 19th September 09:27

Edited by redletter on Wednesday 19th September 09:29

Edited by redletter on Wednesday 19th September 09:30

[Captain Muppet]

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Edited by Captain Muppet on Wednesday 19th September 09:58

[StottyZr]

I doubt much will come of a K&N filter and tinted windows.

Although I think quite a few on here will give you lots of stick for not declaring mods, and having poor spelling

[balls-out]

My understanding is that you have failed to fulfil your obligations and so techincally could have invalidated your insurance. I think in practice this is unlikely, butt they they may well charge you the extra premium that they view your should have paid on the mods.

[Captain Muppet]

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Edited by Captain Muppet on Wednesday 19th September 09:57

[Kozy]

Not condoning your actions, but sounds like you got unlucky with a jobsworth inspector. Blag like your life depends on it, if you are a genuine female you may have a leg to stand on. At the end of the day an air filter and a back box aren't the end of the world, however some insurance companies will try and use undisclosed stickers to wriggle out of a payout.

[randlemarcus]

redletter said:

What's wrong with my spelling??

I can't see anything objectionable in your spelling. Which is a relief, as your grammar and sentence construction is execrable. This isn't Twitter, you know

As to the original point, you may find some reduction in payout, as they would have charged more for the risks you represent, having non-OEM parts fitted. I'd be tempted to point out to them that they are both non-performance enhancing parts (unless they actually are, and not just magic beans devices). Did you fit them in your ownership?

[Riley Blue]

Damage assessor probably spotted the non-disclosed tints and back box and wondered 'what else'. Are assessors sent insurance documents for cars they inspect?
OP - why do you think it might be your fault if the other driver drove into the side of your car?

[redletter]

Thank you Captain Muppet.

The car is as my ex partner purchased it, the only thing he had done was the window tints..I think!

[ZOLLAR]

balls-out said:

My understanding is that you have failed to fulfil your obligations and so techincally could have invalidated your insurance. I think in practice this is unlikely, but they they may well charge you the extra premium that they view your should have paid on the mods.

This is the likely outcome, or possibly a proportional settlement if write off.

[Kozy]

I tell you what's more fun, when they come back and say we're refusing you claim because of the undisclosed tints, wheels, spoiler and Recaro seats.

All very amusing when they were factory fitted.

[redletter]

I was going straight over the roundabout and the guy was turning right, although no indicator.
I thought i had enough time to cross as he wasn't at the roundabout yet but as i got halfway across he came into the side of me, right over the top of the hump.
The insurance company told me as it's a small roundabout and i saw him approaching i should have waited so it's likely im at fault.

[balls-out]

Kozy said:

, if you are a genuine female you may have a leg to stand on..

wtf?
Genuine as apposed to fake?
Or the law assumes that any soft headed little woman does understand the dirty bits under the bonet?
Talk about being condescending....

[randlemarcus]

redletter said:

I was going straight over the roundabout and the guy was turning right, although no indicator.
I thought i had enough time to cross as he wasn't at the roundabout yet but as i got halfway across he came into the side of me, right over the top of the hump.
The insurance company told me as it's a small roundabout and i saw him approaching i should have waited so it's likely im at fault.

That sounds likely. You know when your instructor said "assume everyone else is an idiot out to kill you". That's what he meant.

[Du1point8]

redletter said:

I was going straight over the roundabout and the guy was turning right, although no indicator.
I thought i had enough time to cross as he wasn't at the roundabout yet but as i got halfway across he came into the side of me, right over the top of the hump.
The insurance company told me as it's a small roundabout and i saw him approaching i should have waited so it's likely im at fault.

which is pretty much correct...

having to yield to the right depending on conditions and other traffic, its the same as pulling out on someone at a junction and then they hit you as you dont give them the time to react.

Which if you did as you say you literally pulled out on him a second or so before the other car got there.

As for the no declaration of mods, whilst I despise people who do this and then say it wasnt them, they didnt know, etc... even worse playing the female card.

However I will answer it... they will more than likely reduce any of your payout by the amount the mods would have cost on the insurance, I also wonder if they wiil pay out and then cancel the insurance, then you will have declare the crash and more importantly the cancellation, which is like being black listed as you will have to tell the next insurance company why.

[Kozy]

balls-out said:

wtf?
Genuine as apposed to fake?
Or the law assumes that any soft headed little woman does understand the dirty bits under the bonet?

Genuine as in not fronting/falsifying details yada yada. And yes, I'd assume they'd take a woman's word if she said she had no idea of some minor modifications, over a teenage bloke who was driving 'his mums car' as a 'named driver'.

balls-out said:

Talk about being condescending....

Was it? Meh.

[defblade]

Air filter and back box are unlikely to be relevant to the claim, but are your FRONT side windows tinted? If so, that may be held as part of the problem by the insurers...

[mrmr96]

What type of air filter is it? If it's just a different brand of panel filter, then is that still a mod?
Similarly, if your old exhaust correded through, then you had a replacement fitted, is that a mod too?

Possibly because they are not the same spec as the originals they class them as mods. Would be a bit harsh not to cover the claim because of them though. Since they didn't contribute to the crash (not like having a remap which made the car faster or something) then I wouldn't think it was fair to knock it back; rather just replace the bits with standard when they fix your car, or pay out the unmodified price for the car.

Who is your insurance company by the way? I know some of the cheaper ones tend to wriggle more than the others.
(There's two reasons to buy insurance i] because it's a legal requirement and ii] because you want a payout if your car is damaged. The really cheap insurers are good for people buying because it's a legal requirement, but if you're interested in getting a payout then you should look at something other than price when choosing a provider.)

[98elise]

None of the tyres, the air filters, brakes or exhausts on any of my cars are original. I have no idea if the replacements are better or worse. I've always bought quality parts though, so when does buying decent like for like parts become a mod? Does fitting a K&N into the original housing represent a mod? how is Mr or Mrs average supposed to know the difference?

[dinz22]

Same thing Happened to me! they Upped my insurance by £800 for the mods and carried on with claim!
i said i bought the car like that and wasn't aware of the mods!