Insurance declaration of spoiler?

Insurance declaration of spoiler?

Author
Discussion

AllOurYesterdays

Original Poster:

23 posts

88 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Hi PH.

I'm thinking of having the OEM rear spoiler fitted to my car (F10 BMW), it's very small and literally just sticks on the boot with some 3M tape.

Do I need to tell my insurer?

Ekona

1,652 posts

201 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Depends on the insurer. Some want to know about every conceivable extra, even OEM options (Admiral group) and some really don't give a hoot.

But yes, I would tell them. Best case they don't care, worst case you cough up the extra to make sure your policy is valid. Even more importantly, they may choose to refuse to insure a car with that mod, and so would cancel your insurance instead which isn't much fun. A phone call beforehand just makes everyone's life easier and simpler. smile

pits

6,423 posts

189 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
In theory yes, but an oem boot lip isn't exactly the crime of the century and I personaly wouldn't say anything, probably, it's not like you're adding some great big gamping wing to it, and without going through the build sheet of the car they wouldn't know, and even then someone may have stuck it on before you bought it, maybe a dealer option.

By the law and no doubt the people about to cry about my response on here, yes you should declare it.

Is there any point? No, OEM lip with no gains or loss in value or performance, fit it and don't worry.

HedgeyGedgey

1,281 posts

93 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Dad got stung by admiral last year, had a crash and had to go through hell to prove that his astra had a small spoiler as standard. Even after he proved to them that it was on from the factory they still deducted ~£350 from his payout for the inconvenience. Funnily enough no one in the family are with admiral anymore. It's upto you, if I was you I'd stick it on and if you have to claim etc I'd just rip it off if it is only held on with 3M stuff tbh

Ekona

1,652 posts

201 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Bit difficult to rip it off if you're laying in a hospital bed and the car is impounded somewhere, though. If that happens, would you really want to be sat there worrying about not owning up to something as trivial as a spoiler as well?

Just depends on your own personal level of risk. There's arguments both ways, personally I can't be arsed with taking gambles on insurance but I can see why some would.

hoegaardenruls

1,218 posts

131 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
HedgeyGedgey said:
Dad got stung by admiral last year, had a crash and had to go through hell to prove that his astra had a small spoiler as standard. Even after he proved to them that it was on from the factory they still deducted ~£350 from his payout for the inconvenience. Funnily enough no one in the family are with admiral anymore. It's upto you, if I was you I'd stick it on and if you have to claim etc I'd just rip it off if it is only held on with 3M stuff tbh
With Admiral, I've taken the route of declare everything that was an option over base spec, my main concern being the rear lights (an expensive OEM option) likely to take a knock, but also coloured seat belts, everything..

Davie

4,733 posts

214 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
The insurance industry is utterly corrupt.

"Mr Jones, I'm sorry to say that due to having a small, OEM spoiler fitted to your car that we were not aware of, we will be cancelling your policy and voiding your claim after you span off the A303 in the rain at 54mph... oh and by the way, those Sunny Yoohoo tyres at 2mm, yeah we're fine with those"

Utter utter bks...

Same as "You can only use your NCB on one of your three policies"

No problem, in that case my 6 points only apply to the car I was driving at the time?

"No, we'll pump you over all three policies for that"

It's honestly little wonder there are so many uninsured drivers out there.




caelite

4,273 posts

111 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
pits said:
In theory yes, but an oem boot lip isn't exactly the crime of the century and I personaly wouldn't say anything, probably, it's not like you're adding some great big gamping wing to it, and without going through the build sheet of the car they wouldn't know, and even then someone may have stuck it on before you bought it, maybe a dealer option.

By the law and no doubt the people about to cry about my response on here, yes you should declare it.

Is there any point? No, OEM lip with no gains or loss in value or performance, fit it and don't worry.
Pretty much this, if it looks OEM your engineers report isn't going to note it, I wouldn't bother.

bobski1

1,763 posts

103 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Davie said:
The insurance industry is utterly corrupt.

"Mr Jones, I'm sorry to say that due to having a small, OEM spoiler fitted to your car that we were not aware of, we will be cancelling your policy and voiding your claim after you span off the A303 in the rain at 54mph... oh and by the way, those Sunny Yoohoo tyres at 2mm, yeah we're fine with those"

Utter utter bks...

Same as "You can only use your NCB on one of your three policies"

No problem, in that case my 6 points only apply to the car I was driving at the time?

"No, we'll pump you over all three policies for that"

It's honestly little wonder there are so many uninsured drivers out there.

+1

couldn't agree more, totally corrupt & have people bent over a barrel. A legal requirement but is it really controlled as well as it should be

Winky151

1,267 posts

140 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Admiral have just paid out on my wifes car she wrote off & they asked about any mods including factory fitted options. I'm also with Admiral for my VXR8 with all mods declared (exhaust, cam, filter, re-map even the de-badge) & they added £13 to my renewal. IMHO a spoiler is more obvious to an assessor inspecting the vehicle than a remap so I'd declare it. Maybe tell them up front that you're thinking of having it fitted & ask what would it do to your premiums.

coppice

8,564 posts

143 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Corrupt ? Not at all .But you do need to devote a week or two to digesting the ts and cs . I suspect there is far more corruption in the false claim industry , for which we all pay. All insurance works on the basis of an absolute duty of disclosure , nothing new in that , how ever frustrating it may seem . .

johnxjsc1985

15,948 posts

163 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
If not corrupt then certainly lacking in customer focus and consideration. I consider being in my mid 50's having no points on my license for over 35 years and no claims at all to be a fair risk . The recent debacle with Lancaster Insurance (who I have used previously) does make you consider what it is they are trying to achieve. I would be very wary about not informing an Insurance Company about any Mods the consensus being that in the event of a claim the first process is finding a way not to pay out.
I'm done with comparison sites I am going back to finding a local broker

2 sMoKiN bArReLs

30,230 posts

234 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
AllOurYesterdays said:
Hi PH.

I'm thinking of having the OEM rear spoiler fitted to my car (F10 BMW), it's very small and literally just sticks on the boot with some 3M tape.

Do I need to tell my insurer?
The answer is always yes. If it make no difference, then it makes no difference. If it does then if you have a whoopsy you are covered.

MitchT

15,788 posts

208 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
bobski1 said:
A legal requirement but is it really controlled as well as it should be
No, and as long as there's insurance premium tax it won't be. It suits the treasury for us all to get caught out some way and end up paying more.

Wacky Racer

38,099 posts

246 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
I think it's quite reasonable for any insurance company to ask you to declare any modifications (within reason)

For example, if you had a bog standard Ford Mondeo, but put fancy alloy wheels on it, it would become much more attractive to a (scrote) thief.

I would certainly declare a spoiler, as some insurance companies would use this addition to try to wiggle out of a claim if you had not declared it.

You should always read the T&C's carefully with any contract.

vikingaero

10,256 posts

168 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Winky151 said:
Admiral have just paid out on my wifes car she wrote off & they asked about any mods including factory fitted options. I'm also with Admiral for my VXR8 with all mods declared (exhaust, cam, filter, re-map even the de-badge) & they added £13 to my renewal. IMHO a spoiler is more obvious to an assessor inspecting the vehicle than a remap so I'd declare it. Maybe tell them up front that you're thinking of having it fitted & ask what would it do to your premiums.
I'm utterly aghast at peoples views of Admiral Group. I've worked in Insurance for a number of years (not motor) but Admiral are very much considered to be the bottom feeder of car Insurers. They are a very good company for vanilla drivers driving vanilla cars.

With Admiral you pay an additional premium to cover a modification. That means that they won't invalidate your cover because of the modification. That doesn't mean that they will pay up to repair or reinstate that modification if it is damaged or total loss. To be fair I've heard stories where people with modifications where Admiral have replaced mods but these tend to be easy to replace off the self parts. But I've also heard a lot of stories about their sharp practice. The key here is the Standard Parts Replacement Clause:

11. Standard parts replacement
Your policy does not cover any non standard parts (modifications). Manufacturers optional extras and adaptations made due to a disability are only covered if they have been declared and we have agreed to arrange cover for them.

If you make a claim for loss or damage to your car, provided it is economical to do so, wewill only pay the cost of replacing parts needed for
your car to meet the manufacturers specification along with any optional extras and/or disability adaptations you declared.

To give an illustration I say have a Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Air Con that has 16 inch rims as standard as my manufacturers standard car. It's a bog standard vanilla car that Admiral love to insure. I decide to fit phat 20 inch rimzzzz to it. Additional premium to cover my £2,000 rimzzz is £150. I now have a front end accident. Admiral will repair the front of the car but will not replace 20" rim. They will only supply a 16" manufacturers specification rim or provide the cash equivalent, say £120 and leave you to foot the rest of the £500 rim.