Power increase insurance
Power increase insurance
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inline6bmwfan

Original Poster:

93 posts

53 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
How do they measure power in the event of a crash?

Genuinely wondering.

So most insurance companies have brackets that come with their own premium, usually its 25% increase for one bracket then anything over 25% is the next bracket and so on.

Lets say a car can have both 'stage 1' and 'stage 2' remaps and the only other 'performance mod' is a sports cat, which is declared on the policy.

Stage 2 remap takes the power 30% over stock, stage 1 is 25% etc.

How do they check this in the event of a claim? This is a specific scenario but wondering how they generally check.


bencollins4

1,242 posts

237 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
If it’s a small claim, chances are no one is checking. If it’s a big one and they’re on for a huge settlement, they’re going to check the car / insured out pretty extensively using any means they deem fit.

You don’t want to be the one where insurers settle then come to you for their losses when someone is badly injured.

inline6bmwfan

Original Poster:

93 posts

53 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
bencollins4 said:
If it’s a small claim, chances are no one is checking. If it’s a big one and they’re on for a huge settlement, they’re going to check the car / insured out pretty extensively using any means they deem fit.

You don’t want to be the one where insurers settle then come to you for their losses when someone is badly injured.
But how can they check a cars making 440 instead of 420 for example? Put it on a dyno?

Beethree

832 posts

120 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
Not if it’s a mangled ball of metal!

I’d imagine they’d interrogate the ECU to try to establish what map, fuelling, boost it’s running and make an estimate from that.

AlexGSi2000

815 posts

225 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
inline6bmwfan said:
But how can they check a cars making 440 instead of 420 for example? Put it on a dyno?
They may inspect the ECU - all of them nowadays have a flash counter, so they can tell if its been remapped.
They may also even inspect the map and compare with standard.

Like others have said, its probably unlikely for a small claim, but would be possible for a larger claim.

Pebbles167

4,599 posts

183 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
I doubt they would, unless as said before, someone died or something in which case if they wanted to know the exact power figure, then yes I'd expect they'd have to use a dyno. Who's dyno and where I don't know.

More likely they'd have a mechanic look over the engine, see what mods were there, and if the insurance company suspected the car was significantly different to what was listed they may well refer the matter to the police who might carry out a criminal investigation on you, where they'd probably find that you had the car remapped etc and didn't declare it. I think this kind of thing has happened before.

inline6bmwfan

Original Poster:

93 posts

53 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
AlexGSi2000 said:
inline6bmwfan said:
But how can they check a cars making 440 instead of 420 for example? Put it on a dyno?
They may inspect the ECU - all of them nowadays have a flash counter, so they can tell if its been remapped.
They may also even inspect the map and compare with standard.

Like others have said, its probably unlikely for a small claim, but would be possible for a larger claim.
I mean more if a remap is declared but one that is 25% more than standard whereas the actual power is 30% more than standard.

QuickQuack

2,848 posts

132 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
inline6bmwfan said:
How do they measure power in the event of a crash?

Genuinely wondering.
(...)
This is a specific scenario but wondering how they generally check.
In other words, you got your car remapped, increased its power way beyond the manufacturer's specifications, insured it without declaring it to your insurance company, had a serious accident, and now you're trying to work out if and how the insurance company can work out that the car was remapped, presumably so that you can destroy the evidence first? scratchchin

inline6bmwfan

Original Poster:

93 posts

53 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
QuickQuack said:
inline6bmwfan said:
How do they measure power in the event of a crash?

Genuinely wondering.
(...)
This is a specific scenario but wondering how they generally check.
In other words, you got your car remapped, increased its power way beyond the manufacturer's specifications, insured it without declaring it to your insurance company, had a serious accident, and now you're trying to work out if and how the insurance company can work out that the car was remapped, presumably so that you can destroy the evidence first? scratchchin
First of all its currently got a stage 1 map which is fully declared to the insurance as are all the other mods, second of all there has been no crash and third of all, the stage 2 maps have a 'up to 450bhp' quote, ive asked the company what actual power should one expect on 95 ron fuel and they couldent tell me, just thats its up to 450bhp but thats on like 99 ron fuel and obviously depends on many factors including the engine health and so on.

So the car MIGHT hit 450, but it also MIGHT be at 420, therefore thats why i was curious how it would be affected, im actually wondering generally aswell to be honest as this sort of thing always intrigues me.

Pebbles167

4,599 posts

183 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
Do the insurance company ask specific power? On my last modified car, they just had "Remap" or something listed.

inline6bmwfan

Original Poster:

93 posts

53 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
Pebbles167 said:
Do the insurance company ask specific power? On my last modified car, they just had "Remap" or something listed.
Yeh, well its in brackets.

Up to 25%

26 to 35%

Etc

Glenn63

3,970 posts

115 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
They wouldn’t be able to tell if your on the edge of 24% or 26%. Those brackets are a rough guide to charge you more.

I also thought insurance companies can no longer refuse a pay out, but they can minus the extra amount the policy would have been from what they pay out. What stops them saying the policy would have been £10k I’m not sure.


Edited by Glenn63 on Tuesday 2nd August 14:18

Beethree

832 posts

120 months

Tuesday 2nd August 2022
quotequote all
Glenn63 said:
They wouldn’t be able to tell if your on the edge of 24% or 26%. Those brackets are a rough guide to charge you more.

I also thought insurance companies can no longer refuse a pay out, but they can minus the extra amount the policy would have been from what they pay out. What stops them saying the policy would have been £10k I’m not sure.


Edited by Glenn63 on Tuesday 2nd August 14:18
Pretty sure they still have to pay third parties but will then go after the policy holder to recoup it all…