Mods and Insurance

[jeffsy]

All

There is an interesting thread in the General Section on Engine Mods and insurance advising however I wanted to widen this out to other mods vis a vis Griffs.

What is the general view on Mods and advising your insurance. I can appreciate that enhancing bhp etc would be very relevant however other things? For example

- Modwise light enhancement mod - add safetys - should this be advised?

- Steve Heaths droplinks - ditto?


As these improve safety rather than performance would these cause an issue?

Id appreciate your views

[dnb]

I usually ask the insurance co. what level of detail they require. So far, all they've wanted to know are vague details such as "% BHP increase" for engine mods and "how much lower is it than standard" for suspension changes.

I've only found a couple of people who actually know anything about cars & genuine performance (as opposed to Max Power) mods. This is somewhat worrying, as it'll be used to generate risk statistics - the old problem of garbage in, respectability out.

[antonyj]

I am with Classicline, they have been fine about the spiders and brakes, and the MA chip. No problems at all so far.

[FlipFlopGriff]

My advise is record everything and put it in writing to the insurer. So very time you alter from original let them know. That way if you do need to claim they can't wangle out of their commitment it on a technicality. I have just put it on a Word document and add to it as required. Better to be safe than sorry.

Graham - I have told them about everything including remote boot release, kickplates, gold badges etc as well as suspension and engine mods. The only elements which increase the premium were the Nitrons, the OZ wheels and the exhaust mod. Either one of these added the same to the premium.

FFG

[dnb]

Good plan there FFG. I've actually done similar (mainly for my own records and service history).

My current insurer weren't all that interested in this sort of thing (presumably the call centre people couldn't fit it into their standard tick boxes?).

BTW, they did pay out on a claim my good lady had last year, without any problems about mods. They did scrutinise the car for road worthiness.

[griffter]

You have to disclose any change from standard.
Light modifications could cause lights to fail leading to you driving 'blind'.
New drop links could fail without warning, and suddenly screw your handling.

I'm quite sure this won't be the case with the two specific products you mention - but the point is unless you tell them otherwise, the ins. co. are insuring a standard car, standard components, standard quality.

It's tempting to think you'd get a discount for bigger brakes, rollbar etc, but the reality IME is anything but. I've had a load of trouble getting my rollbar approved (increased excess) and they only insured it all becuase it's professionally fitted.

Basically, you don't make the rules, they do - and if you take the policy out you're bound by them, however unreasonable and profitable they may seem.