Insurance and Modifications
Discussion
Just experiencing my first delve into "properly modified" car insurance.
I've got a 954cc 106 XN that I've got SORN'd and have been modifying over winter. It's getting near being ready, so I've started doing the appropriate paperwork, I've written to the DVLA to inform them of the engine change and new engine number, and I'm arranging to cancel my existing insurance policy and take out a new one.
Currently it costs me £283 a year to keep the standard car insured, which is cheap as chips really, I'm 27 years old, it's garaged and I live in rural mordor, with a clean licence and no convictions.
I've just finished speaking to 3 seperate brokers who deal with modified insurance. In the end I've gone with a one that rhymes with Hadrian Tux, however all 3 were very very close price wise.
With all modifications declared, including full stainless exhaust, upper and lower strut braces, stripped interior, 2 seats, engine change, gearbox swap, suspension swap, brake upgrade, induction and alloy wheels, it's dropped £23. I'm paying £250 with £100 excess, and like for like cover on parts.
This seems great to me, I was expecting to be paying a bit more in all honesty, but it begs the question, why do you see all these "1.0 on the log book" type ad's everywhere? Not only is it actually cheaper to insure, the insurance is worth a toss if I do end up needing it as opposed to void, and much more importantly, all my hard work is correctly insured!
I've got a 954cc 106 XN that I've got SORN'd and have been modifying over winter. It's getting near being ready, so I've started doing the appropriate paperwork, I've written to the DVLA to inform them of the engine change and new engine number, and I'm arranging to cancel my existing insurance policy and take out a new one.
Currently it costs me £283 a year to keep the standard car insured, which is cheap as chips really, I'm 27 years old, it's garaged and I live in rural mordor, with a clean licence and no convictions.
I've just finished speaking to 3 seperate brokers who deal with modified insurance. In the end I've gone with a one that rhymes with Hadrian Tux, however all 3 were very very close price wise.
With all modifications declared, including full stainless exhaust, upper and lower strut braces, stripped interior, 2 seats, engine change, gearbox swap, suspension swap, brake upgrade, induction and alloy wheels, it's dropped £23. I'm paying £250 with £100 excess, and like for like cover on parts.
This seems great to me, I was expecting to be paying a bit more in all honesty, but it begs the question, why do you see all these "1.0 on the log book" type ad's everywhere? Not only is it actually cheaper to insure, the insurance is worth a toss if I do end up needing it as opposed to void, and much more importantly, all my hard work is correctly insured!
It's interesting, isn't it? I'm sure there's a lot of insurers who needlessly bump up premiums or ask for certified engineer's reports to scare customers away, simply because they don't want to deal with it. Go with an insurer who can and the costs are often reasonable - for 106 insurance try Prestige.
Got a build log of your car?
Got a build log of your car?
I'll be making a thread on it at some point soon, currently it's some terrible iPhone pictures and an awful lot of bits everywhere!
It is interesting, I was expecting to pay around the £600 mark, and was very happy to, I'm hoping to take the car to Europe later in the year and the last thing I need is it to be seized at any point because it's not "in order" as it were.
Happy chappy I am!
It is interesting, I was expecting to pay around the £600 mark, and was very happy to, I'm hoping to take the car to Europe later in the year and the last thing I need is it to be seized at any point because it's not "in order" as it were.
Happy chappy I am!
It's because you are in 'good' insurance circumstances, they aren't...
So, for you, there's a low risk profile area, a good history as you're not 17, and modified cars are often less likely to be crashed as you're an enthusiast with the right conditions to play without harm.
They are likely to be under 25, inner city, and modifieds have a higher incidence of crashing as they use the 'performance' in the Maccy D's car park/high street to impress childish flange... Having a s
t job/unemployed but really selling 20 bags doesn't help either.
So for you it was a drop, for them it's a doubling or more.
So, for you, there's a low risk profile area, a good history as you're not 17, and modified cars are often less likely to be crashed as you're an enthusiast with the right conditions to play without harm.
They are likely to be under 25, inner city, and modifieds have a higher incidence of crashing as they use the 'performance' in the Maccy D's car park/high street to impress childish flange... Having a s
t job/unemployed but really selling 20 bags doesn't help either. So for you it was a drop, for them it's a doubling or more.
otolith said:
I find that the older I get, the less difference the type of car makes to my insurance costs. If you'd tried insuring that 7 years ago, you might have had more trouble.
true indeed, but I'm not so sure it's true of the insurance market of today, costs for new drivers are astronomical, I imagine I simply wouldn't be able to cover it. A lot of insurers won't cover engine conversions, and the specialist ones tend to be 25 and over.That said, on the various forums etc, there are still often cars changing hands undeclared amongst people of my age and older. A lot of the younger drivers seem to want flash new cars as opposed to power these days.
Its surprising how cheap it is to modify a car, my insurance hasn't gone up a huge amount despite the mods I have done to it (there is a build thread in Readers Rides) and also liked in my Garage on here if you are interested.
It does seem to be (as others on this thread have pointed out) that some insurance companies simply do not want to deal with them.
It does seem to be (as others on this thread have pointed out) that some insurance companies simply do not want to deal with them.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff