Insurance And Mods

[mrmetallica]

just gone over to lv .i remembered id put a st spoiler on so told them .they come back wanting to charge me £26 od to add it to my policy ,what a rip off.what would happen if you dont tell them about such changes.can they refuse to insure you for an accident ? i told them id just take it off

[gus607]

Make a claim & you'll soon find out. :)

[mrmetallica]

Make a claim & you'll soon find out. :)

so your saying they could refuse to pay out for having a st spoiler instead of normal one.i could under stand if id up graded the engine bhp but a spoiler realy

[JC600]

Yes, every modification has to be declared. Some insurers don't want to insure modified cars, so will just inflate prices for the smallest things.

[gus607]

They could say you have increased the value of the car, or even made the car more desirable to car thieves !

Never ever give an Insurance Co the slightest excuse not to pay out if a claim is made.

[mrmetallica]

i cant understand why they ask so much money just to add them to the policy.sheer greed .i dont intend to not tell them ill just take it off .

[artscot79]

In the event of an accident the car will be checked by an assessor they have access to build data so they know what came on the car from the factory any deviation Is a modification some they don't bother about some they do the argument is by fitting an st spoiler you make the car more asthetically appealing to a thief .any modification not declared makes the insurance nil and void so you're not covered you then get into the territory of you were driving without valid insurance

[mrmetallica]

i let them rob me for the spoiler.just can believe they charge so much .never paid any thing to sky for mods .

i know they have to be reported its the fact they charge to add that got me.

[JC600]

That's why I always get modified insurance schemes, as you only get charged for power increasing mods. Was only £60 over the year for 25% power increase for the remap. Not had to pay a penny extra for anything else.

[Dee_82]

how does that work if lets say you buy a car with some sort of modification that you wasn't aware of, is it up to us to check as built data to confirm our car is as it should be, or does the, "how would I know that" defence hold water.

Just seems a little harsh that you get voided insurance because the previous owner did something out of spec which for most people would be nigh on impossible to spot. EGR valve, DPF gutted, Cat back exhaust upgrade, ECU remapped, Brake drum replacement, head light upgrade. I mean yeah lets assume for a second everyday Joe can get a hold of as built data, that's fine for some of those but they expect them to hook up the ECU to check DPF software still present, or remove the EGR valve to check for he presence of a plate? or download the cars ECU, and compare there maps to some known source of unmodified stock maps?

[Dave_TDCI]

how does that work if lets say you buy a car with some sort of modification that you wasn't aware of, is it up to us to check as built data to confirm our car is as it should be, or does the, "how would I know that" defence hold water.

Just seems a little harsh that you get voided insurance because the previous owner did something out of spec which for most people would be nigh on impossible to spot. EGR valve, DPF gutted, Cat back exhaust upgrade, ECU remapped, Brake drum replacement, head light upgrade. I mean yeah lets assume for a second everyday Joe can get a hold of as built data, that's fine for some of those but they expect them to hook up the ECU to check DPF software still present, or remove the EGR valve to check for he presence of a plate? or download the cars ECU, and compare there maps to some known source of unmodified stock maps?

Exactly the question I was going to ask. Surely something as simple and small as changing a front grill could hardly be classed as a modification to void an insurance policy?...For example if a previous owner did a mod as small as taking a chrome grill from a Mk2 Zetec Focus and fitting it on an LX model is that still classed as a mod? Makes absolutely no difference to the power or performance of the car.

And in regards of interior mods such as changing the stereo head unit...does that have to be declared also technically speaking?

[turbohater]

I have asked this question before but no one answers it ,what are modifications.If i fit tyres of a different make when the originals wear out is that a modification .Same goes for spark plugs,discs and pads,windsceen wipers,air filter,light bulbs.I dont mean upgrades just normal replacement parts

[Dee_82]

I think replacing parts that are like for like would be ok.

But it begs the question, if I replaced parts with parts from china which are a pile of crap and those parts failed would the insurance not pay out? how about if I upgraded those parts to "better than spec" its just as "different" in spec to OEM so would that count as a mod and thus void insurance because I upgraded the car out of spec making it more expensive?

The whole thing seems as clear as mud.

If a car passes an MOT it (should be) safe on the road regardless. Tesco insurance once told me that if I hadn't declared my DRLs and head unit (they didn't bump the price for those) then if the car was wrecked they wouldn't pay out for them. This seems like a sensible approach. you fit an ST spoiler an the car is burnt out, they pay up but not for any mods you've not declared.

My question is around "performance" mods you didn't know about, would they pay up and how is the new owner supposed to know these have been done in the first place.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

None of the above service items would be classed as '' modifications ''

[GrahamJC]

Sticking my neck out a bit but I would not have thought normal replacement parts of the type you describe would count as

modifications. Maybe someone on here knows better but I certainly would not think of notifying my insurer in respect of any

of the parts on your list.

[turbohater]

I would class some Chinese tyres as more of a risk than fitting an ST spoiler

[artscot79]

a modification is anything which improves the performance or makes the car more appealing to a thief so aftermarket induction filters- engine or exhaust mods -spoilers- bodykits-brake modifications -suspension modifications-non standard lighting-sportier seats different alloys these are mods as are decals or vinyl not fitted as standard

[Dee_82]

and how many of those would an every day joe know has been applied to the car they just brought

[richard150]

I remember some years back a insurance would not pay out because the owner had put go faster stripe ( pin stripe ) down the side of is car :(

[turbohater]

I can understand performance parts but how do sill protectors etc affect the cars rating.If the car was wrote off,by all means you would not expect them to be included in the payout but not to void the policy as has been mentioned in the Fiesta part of this forum.

[artscot79]

I don't make the rules you're car is insured as standard ie with factory spec its on the owner to ensure the info is correct .....my mate didn't get his insurance pay out as he had a k&n filter fitted and not declared

[Dee_82]

But how can an owner tell if its been remapped? I'm not meaning to be arsy, just trying to point out the failings of the system. You can't expect an a new owner to have a 400 quid remap to make sure its stock an not improved

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

If & when I sell my Mondeo I would inform the buyer that it's been remapped as that fact adds value.

[supercmaxer]

My car came with factory fitted privacy glass but for some reason none of the glass was tinted, I tinted the windows and told the insurance company, I think they have a list of what extras and what is standard on all cars, they guy said I can see your car should of came with privacy glass. Didn't add to the premuim, I told them about gel badges, DRL's, upgraded stereo, again nothing added to the premuim. My insurance is due again and I've told them I've lowered the car, added tow bar and a ford decal strip the premuim went up by £25 so I think it pays to tell them, I have a family and don't fancy being told that the car is uninsured becuase of a few mods I didn't declare

[Dee_82]

Which would be really useful for the new owner but suppose you didn't know it had been mapped when you got it, say it was a repo job you got for a good price where does the burden of proof lie?