Insurance increase from £466 to £4550

[Gress]

Heyo.
I was looking at an EP3 Civic Type-R due to the K20 engine.
Checked the insurance, and it was £466, compared to my £300 for an old beater golf (25, 7 years no claims, male).
Compared it to the quotes after declaring a turbo modification, and the cheapest quote on 2 different comparison websites was £4550.

I then tried Adrian Flux, and Greenlight, both of which wouldn't even give me a quote and told me I'd have to call them.

Is it this bad for everyone? I'm a homeowner, and fully employed as a software developer which should make things cheaper, as well as being a named driver on another policy. You can buy an EP3 Type-R for about 4900 on autotrader at the moment, so paying the entire price of the car to insure it, per year, seems ludicrous.

Would love to own something that I can wrench on, but these prices are nuts.

[RoadToad84]

Having worked in the insurance industry for a few years, I'm fairly confident that the fact that it's modified is causing the online quote system to fall over and either apply a ridiculous loading, or flat decline.

The computer system isn't nuanced enough to factor in modifications and you'll be best off speaking to a human adviser, preferably at a company that deals with non standard vehicles - Footman James and Adrian Flux spring to mind

[Gress]

Hm, could be the case. I figured i was just SOL when both Adrian Flux and Greenlight both said they couldn't do anything without a call and that was just their way of telling me to sod off.

Will give them a call tomorrow to see if they will actually do a fair price. Else I'll just go get a 911 996 or Cayman 987.1. I still don't get why having a modified car make the same bhp per kg as a another stock car warrants such unreasonable insurance quotes, but it is what it is I guess

Cheers

[samoht]

Try A-Plan and perhaps Sky too.

Yes, I'd expect to have to ring and have a conversation for a reasonable quote on a significantly modified car.


The thing is, lots of people buy a Porsche just in order to drive very slowly with the top down and display their wealth. For an insurance co these are good customers, and bring down the overall claim rate.

No-one adds a turbocharger to a Civic in order to drive slowly.

[normalbloke]

Brentacre.

[Mr Tidy]

Modified cars never fit the online comparison sites criteria sadly.

Howden (used to be A Plan) have schemes for them at their Thatcham office.

Or is there a forum for Civics that has a nominated insurance provider?

That's how I got my modified BMW Z4 insured via Chris Knott Insurance who are a partner on z4forum.

[Hoofy]

One thing to consider is that there is a cost to have this modification. If you had an accident and it was a write-off, and they gave you a bog standard car, you'd be demanding that you had one with the turbo upgrade because that's what you paid for.

When I renewed my insurance for my Porsche that I like to drive slowly whilst displaying my wealth, they said that my upgraded exhaust system wasn't covered. I thought they meant that they had decided not to insure my car but he explained that in the event of a claim, my exhaust system wouldn't be covered... so my car is covered as if the exhaust is standard. I said it wasn't a problem as I have a spare exhaust system*.

* - sometimes I walk up and down the road carrying said spare system to display my wealth.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[clive_candy]

Hoofy said:

One thing to consider is that there is a cost to have this modification. If you had an accident and it was a write-off, and they gave you a bog standard car, you'd be demanding that you had one with the turbo upgrade because that's what you paid for.

When I renewed my insurance for my Porsche that I like to drive slowly whilst displaying my wealth, they said that my upgraded exhaust system wasn't covered. I thought they meant that they had decided not to insure my car but he explained that in the event of a claim, my exhaust system wouldn't be covered... so my car is covered as if the exhaust is standard. I said it wasn't a problem as I have a spare exhaust system*.

* - sometimes I walk up and down the road carrying said spare system to display my wealth.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Isn't it the case too that people who drive modded cars are lunatics and therefore much more likely to smash up their vehicle and take out several other people's vehicles in the process?

[Hoofy]

clive_candy said:

Hoofy said:

One thing to consider is that there is a cost to have this modification. If you had an accident and it was a write-off, and they gave you a bog standard car, you'd be demanding that you had one with the turbo upgrade because that's what you paid for.

When I renewed my insurance for my Porsche that I like to drive slowly whilst displaying my wealth, they said that my upgraded exhaust system wasn't covered. I thought they meant that they had decided not to insure my car but he explained that in the event of a claim, my exhaust system wouldn't be covered... so my car is covered as if the exhaust is standard. I said it wasn't a problem as I have a spare exhaust system*.

* - sometimes I walk up and down the road carrying said spare system to display my wealth.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Isn't it the case too that people who drive modded cars are lunatics and therefore much more likely to smash up their vehicle and take out several other people's vehicles in the process?

I guess it's more likely! Can't see why it's gone up 10 times because of the turbo upgrade, though.

[soad]

You don’t say what power that’s running? Try a supercharged or a chipped one.

[LooneyTunes]

Gress said:

I still don't get why having a modified car make the same bhp per kg as a another stock car warrants such unreasonable insurance quotes, but it is what it is I guess

If you’re looking at it from the perspective of bhp/kg alone, consider that a car designed from the outset to handle a certain power output will have other components and elements of the design take that power into account. A vehicle subject to only a power increase may not have other components/systems (such as brakes) capable of handling the additional performance made available by the power increase.

Edited by LooneyTunes on Tuesday 25th June 07:40

[119]

Hoofy said:

clive_candy said:

Hoofy said:

One thing to consider is that there is a cost to have this modification. If you had an accident and it was a write-off, and they gave you a bog standard car, you'd be demanding that you had one with the turbo upgrade because that's what you paid for.

When I renewed my insurance for my Porsche that I like to drive slowly whilst displaying my wealth, they said that my upgraded exhaust system wasn't covered. I thought they meant that they had decided not to insure my car but he explained that in the event of a claim, my exhaust system wouldn't be covered... so my car is covered as if the exhaust is standard. I said it wasn't a problem as I have a spare exhaust system*.

* - sometimes I walk up and down the road carrying said spare system to display my wealth.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Isn't it the case too that people who drive modded cars are lunatics and therefore much more likely to smash up their vehicle and take out several other people's vehicles in the process?

I guess it's more likely! Can't see why it's gone up 10 times because of the turbo upgrade, though.

Because they don’t want to insure it.

It’s a way of telling someone with a Barried up car to ‘fk off’.

[Antony Moxey]

Gress said:

I then tried Adrian Flux, and Greenlight, both of which wouldn't even give me a quote and told me I'd have to call them.

So why didn't you call them then?

[idealstandard]

Adrian Flux don't do quotes online. Just call them.

It's who I use for my modified or unique cars

[bencollins4]

As everyone else has said, you’re not going to be able to cover something like this without picking up the phone. They will want to know the rest of the car has been suitably upgraded, and a bit more detail about your use, previous car history, etc. Fact is, cars modified heavily for power are crashed a lot more often than non modified, and they provide a massive headache when written off in terms of how to value.

Try the brokers mentioned above or Howdens Thatcham, who have specialist schemes.

[murphyaj]

Another +1 for A-plan / Howden. I know a few people with highly modified cars that have arranged insurance through their Thatcham branch, you'll speak to a real person who has experience insuring specialist cars.

[Baldchap]

We used to be with A Plan and now with Chubb via a local broker.

I mapped the van and the Up and it made absolutely zero difference. Not even an admin fee.

[Martin_Hx]

normalbloke said:

Brentacre.

These guys

[98elise]

clive_candy said:

Hoofy said:

One thing to consider is that there is a cost to have this modification. If you had an accident and it was a write-off, and they gave you a bog standard car, you'd be demanding that you had one with the turbo upgrade because that's what you paid for.

When I renewed my insurance for my Porsche that I like to drive slowly whilst displaying my wealth, they said that my upgraded exhaust system wasn't covered. I thought they meant that they had decided not to insure my car but he explained that in the event of a claim, my exhaust system wouldn't be covered... so my car is covered as if the exhaust is standard. I said it wasn't a problem as I have a spare exhaust system*.

* - sometimes I walk up and down the road carrying said spare system to display my wealth.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Isn't it the case too that people who drive modded cars are lunatics and therefore much more likely to smash up their vehicle and take out several other people's vehicles in the process?

It wouldn't be a surprise that modified cars are involved in relatively more accidents.

[-Lummox-]

Gress said:

...the cheapest quote on 2 different comparison websites...

...wouldn't even give me a quote and told me I'd have to call them...

There's your problem right there... pick up the phone and you'll get a realistic price instead of a "computer says no" response...