Insurance and modifications

[Quhet]

I'm currently car hunting, I'm 23 and have had my first (in my name) car for 6 months. I got myself a 2001 Saab 93 for £1400 because it was slightly left-field, had a bit of poke and plenty of room.
It's a good car but has various niggles and I'm a bit bored of it.

Looking at a variety of replacement cars (MX-5 included you'll be pleased to note) and a number of the cars I've seen on the classifieds have had slight modifications.

In my experience of getting insurance quotes, any hint of a modification pushes premiums ridiculously high. I can understand if a car has about 50 turbo's bolted onto it and a fk off bodykit, but would having undeclared subtle modifications invalidate any insurance (e.g tasteful alloys, lip spoiler, replacement leather interior)?

These aren't necessarily what I'd go for but this & this are good examples of what I could get

Would I need to declare these modifications?

[iva cosworth]

Declare EVERYTHING.

It might not affect premium that much.

Bad consequences if the worst happens and mods not declared

[abbotsmike]

In the eyes of an insurance company, a car is either modified, or not. There's no such thing as "a little bit modifies, and tastefully too, so it doesn't count". IMO if you cant afford the insurance, buy a standard car. or buy a modded one and make it standard.
Having said that, plenty of more specialist insurers won't hike the premium for cosmetic mods only.

[Quhet]

So if for example you replaced the alloy wheels on your car to slightly bigger/ differently styled ones from the same model range, would this need to be declared?

[designforlife]

Generally you pay slightly more for a modified policy in the first instance...but, once on the policy, mods that don't affect BHP are usually free to add.

It's not worth the risk to not declare them IMO.

Well worth finding out if your chosen modified policy will cover mods like-for-like in the event of damage in an accident...all very well having £600 alloys, but if your policy doesn't cover their value then thats potentially a lot of money gone.

[iva cosworth]

Quhet said:

So if for example you replaced the alloy wheels on your car to slightly bigger/ differently styled ones from the same model range, would this need to be declared?

Absolutely Yes.

Makes it more attractive to theft.

If you crash it,it will have been the wheels fault [to ins co.]

[PanzerCommander]

Always declare everything, it depends on the under writer, you will get loaded for anything that enhances performance, but unless you want a like for like replacement on cosmetics and they cost more/increase the potential nickability of the car then you don't always get hit with an increase. Make sure you use specialist brokers as the big ones on TV often don't like insuring modifications and will really load the premium.

[designforlife]

If they were none standard to the model you have insured, the insurer *could* use it as an excuse to wriggle out of paying out.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

The general school of thought is thus:

Small, non-performance enhancing mods you might get away with under the normal, routine claims procedure - i.e. if you damage your own car, or damage someone else's in a minor fashion.

However, if you have some huge, hideous accident where there are injuries, or worse deaths - it seems your vehicle will be subject to the highest scrutiny, and ANYTHING the insurance company find that they don't like will impact heavily on the whole deal.

So - it depends on how lucky you feel, punk?!

Me - I don't take even the slightest risk at all when it comes to cars and driving them on roads with other people around. You never know when some dippy cyclist or pedestrian might make a bee-line to your front grille - no matter how slowly and carefully you're driving.


I have a modified Jeep Wrangler - it has a suspension and body lift, locking diffs, snorkel, and all that kinda stuff to make it better off-road. To me however, the modifications make very little difference to my propensity to be involved in an accident on the road - they're not PERFORMANCE mods, they're mods to make it better in the mud. Indeed, as it's a bit higher up running on big wheels - if anything I'm even more careful when I drive it.

I could probably get away with insuring it as a standard Wrangler - and indeed, I recently knocked over a parked motorcycle - someone thought it would be a good idea to park a bike right behind it whilst I was in a shop for 10 minutes. Of course, it being so high up - I couldn't see the bike in my back window when I reversed, and I knocked it over.

No-one came round to inspect my Jeep prior to the claim going through.

However. If on just one occasion I managed to flatten someone and kill them - that would be a different matter entirely, and the car would no doubt be subject to Police and insurance company scrutiny. And the mods would be clear to see.

Yes, it basically doubles the premium from around 200 quid to 400.

But an extra 200 quid a year for piece of mind? Invaluable, I say.

[roystinho]

I went with Brentacre and got a policy that allowed any cosmetic mod (so I could strip my track car) and it was only £40 more than the cheapest gocomparethemoneysupermeerkat.com could offer. bargain as other companies stick a £25 admin fee plus cost of mods on every time you do something. With this no hike and no fee to add on

[elvismiggell]

I've often wondered about this, what about factory options? i.e. my car has things like the light and sound pack etc - am I supposed to declare them even though they're not modifications, but they're not 'standard' per se.

[roystinho]

Some ask for factory options, some ask is it standard. Bit of a grey area as a car could have factory upgrades, but it's a standard car. I'd always check and be honest, might cost you a tenner in the short term, but maybe a lot more in the long term god forbid

[mizx]

Quhet said:

So if for example you replaced the alloy wheels on your car to slightly bigger/ differently styled ones from the same model range, would this need to be declared?

Yes.

iva cosworth said:

Declare EVERYTHING.

It might not affect premium that much.

This.

As has been said most things other than power increases generally won't raise your premium, anything that you'll want to do will probably make little or no difference. You might be suprised what you have to pay if you look around enough.

I'm a few years older than you, but my '10 MX5 cost me £770 with 0 no-claims (had Motability cars only since passing), my Racing Beat exhaust made no difference even though I informed them it's quoted to give an (albeit tiny) 2-3 extra BHP. That was with Footman James though so I had the discount for MX5 OC. IIRC they said changing wheels would make no difference too.

Edited by mizx on Thursday 2nd August 22:49

[Quhet]

Thank for the replies guys, certainly something to ponder

In terms of specialist insurers are some deemed better than others?

Also on the modifications side of things, how petty do you go? When you think about it, a lot of pre-2000s cars have replacement stereos...

[dabofoppo]

Try someone like Adrian flux I'm with them now and with all my mods declared my policy is £200 cheaper than any confused.com policy at £400 (£600 paying monthly).

[PanzerCommander]

Quhet said:

Thank for the replies guys, certainly something to ponder

In terms of specialist insurers are some deemed better than others?

Also on the modifications side of things, how petty do you go? When you think about it, a lot of pre-2000s cars have replacement stereos...

You will find that many insurance policies will have an extra bit that says you are insured for £*** non standard hi-fi equipment or something of the sort.

Put it this way I have braided brake hoses fitted and as they are non standard they are decalared. The Strut mounts on the front are upgraded units (extra ajustability when it comes to alignment and stronger than the stock ones) these are also declared. Neither affected the policy at the time of fitment. I even declare the clear indicator lenses on the front.

Really nothing is too petty when it comes to insurance.

[Gixer]

One of my cars is very modded. Engine is bigger, ported etc, suspension, brakes, loads of stuff. I declare everything and it makes no difference at all to the premium.

A friend that used to work in insurance used to call many of the questions they ask about you and your vehicle 'catch questions'.

[DaveCWK]

Does anyone have an actual example of an insurer not paying out due to discovering light modifications on a written-off car?

I have seen them refusing to cover the additional cost of modifications.

I have seen them request the difference in premium to cover the mods when they are discovered after the crash.

I have seen them use the existence of extensive chav mods to uncover fronting and not pay out.

I have never heard of an insurer pursuing the insured for 3rd party costs because of the discovery of modifications on the insured's car.

How does the insurance industry deal with the countless people who insure cars as standard and who wouldn't have a clue whether the previous owner modified their car or not?

[Quhet]

DaveCWK said:

Does anyone have an actual example of an insurer not paying out due to discovering light modifications on a written-off car?

How does the insurance industry deal with the countless people who insure cars as standard and who wouldn't have a clue whether the previous owner modified their car or not?

I had thought about this to be fair. What is stopping people who have modified their cars from pleading ignorance and pretending they were on the car when they bought it though?

[mike88]

My performance modified 620TI was actually CHEAPER to insure than if I said it was standard! We're talking over 50bhp increase and some expensive coilovers, alloys etc. It was £90 less than standard.