Afterburners etc - do I tell the insurance?

[bryanlister]

When ever obtaining insurance quotes, one of the stock questions the insurers ask is "any modifications?". When they ask this - they do not necessarily mean things that make a car go faster - but anything that changes the car from how it was originally produced - and in their eyes, anything that could affect the safety/crime risk of the vehicle.

Whilst I am sure that Clive's 'Afterburners' etc look nice and are probably a safety improvement over the dim fiesta lamp cluster - me wonders whether insurers need to know about this 'mod'. If the car got totalled and I had not informed them, I reckon that a company could use this to wriggle out of a claim.

What do you fellow owners think?

[Steve _T]

My immediate thoughts are to tell 'em, although I will no doubt be contradicted. My reasoning is that there's no point giving them some angle then can use to manoeuvre out of paying if you're unfortunate enough to have to claim. It also opens you up to the, "anything else you haven't told us sir?" line of questioning if you're caught out.

Regards,

Steve
(and Bright Yellow Chimaera 5L)

[MikeyT]

I think you should tell them but be prepared to argue with them if they insist on increasing the premium at all because of it – can't see what the rear lights could have to do with any theft of/from the vehicle etc. If they are brighter than the originals, there's an argument for saying this is safer (and they should discount your premium )

Edited by MikeyT on Tuesday 22 January 09:20

[Ston]

I might not use the word 'afterburner' too much when talking to an insurance company

'Hi, I have just fitted a new pair of afterburners to the back of my V8 TVR, will this effect my premium? ' the operator will almost have a heart attack

definatly change it to something boring, like a 'new rear light cluster'

[Jason F]

I`d say tell `em.. Or they will be able to refuse to pay out and you don`t want that, should the worst happen

[bryanlister]

quote:
I might not use the word 'afterburner' too much when talking to an insurance company

"Hi is that Norwich Union, yes? I need to let you know about a little modification to my car. OK, yes, I've fitted a pair of afterburners. Well, I got them cheap off Richard Noble. Performance increases? Well, they are on the TVR which is pretty fast anyway. I only use them on track days, honest. They kick in at 5750 rpm and get me to Mach 0.6 in a straight line. Oh yes, do I need to tell you about the brake parachute too?"
Ha ha - I am almost tempted to do a wind up call!