Has Anyone Mentioned Mod's To The Insurance???

[alkyz89]

Just a quick one, has anyone done any modifications to their car and mentioned it to the insurance e.g twin reverse light, led lights, number plate lights??

just wondered if it increaased their insurance and if the insurance company allowed the MOD's??

i have done afew bits to the car but dnt want to void the insurance... i would have thought twin reverse lights w=ould be the safer option especially if reversing on to a main road???

if anyone knows if this wil effect the insurance rough idea on prices would be spot on

cheers in advance for the help!!

[Stoney871]

I declared a bluefin to mine but probably due to my profession and advanced (high speed pursuit) driving qualifications i didn't have any increase in premiums.

Generally safety improvements like parking sensors / better lights / thatcham approved alarms etc. should reduce premiums, things like lowering / tints / retunes etc. will likely increase them but not as much as you would think.

I'm pretty sure driving qualifications / age / incident free driving years will help to balance it out.

I currently have full no claims and the aforementioned qualifications and my insurance is pretty decent.

One tip to help your insurance levels is to search for sites which can offer you legal alternative employment descriptions that incur lower policy loading.

e.g.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/

It is amazing how your postcode can affect your policy too.

My home location pushes my policy up but my works car park (where my car seems to spend most of it's time) as it's very secure brings it back down again.

it really is advisable to declare all mods no matter how small as Insurance Companies love to wriggle their way out of claims on any technicality.

If you're worried about ringing them to report mods, try asking them what effect it will "theoretically" ;) have on your premiums and then weigh up the pros and cons from there.

[Danny87]

I recently fitted white and black leather gaitors for my handbrake and gearstick, and hopefully sooner a friend who's breaking his Zetec-S MK5 is going to give me his steering wheel (which essentially is the same as mine, but is coloured on the sides - I will probably spray these white for my car to match the dials etc). I'm somewhat careful on these sorts of things so I wanted to contact my insurance, they told me that these 'mods' (if you can call them that lol) aren't in the list of "Must be reported to us" so neither will have any effect on my premium.

My sister's boyfriend has a MK5 Fiesta Zetec-S and it's lowered, aftermarket alloys, tinted windows, red and black roof (in the style of a chess board lol), K&N, chipped etc. Anything that could have benen done has been done, is this declared? Nope - but when/if he crashes and claims he will find his insurance won't be so quick to pay out....

Dan

[Preee]

I declared my Front DRL's , there was no change in my preminum , i have yet to declare my rear parking sensors.

My other lighting Mods were not listed

But i will declare the rear parking sensors and if i make any more changes then i will declare them , like everyone else i could not affors to be without my car in an insurance claim so i always play it safe.

[alkyz89]

cheers for the help guys... i dont pay monthly though i paid my insurance in one hit so i guess if it does increase it will just be a one off payment?

BLIMEY for me to inform them of the modification to have twin reverse lights they want me to pay £40 does tht sound reasonable?

[mitch84]

cheers for the help guys... i dont pay monthly though i paid my insurance in one hit so i guess if it does increase it will just be a one off payment?

BLIMEY for me to inform them of the modification to have twin reverse lights they want me to pay £40 does tht sound reasonable?

Sounds like they just want to make money out of you!

How can an extra reverse light effect your premium??? , you should not have to pay a thing for that!

[alkyz89]

apparently anything that is not a manufacturers option is not covered... and typically the guy has no clue what im on about anyways he just types a load of rubbish into the computer and it gives him a price... at first i was saying 'oh so you have added a spot light' lol i was like no i havnt got a spot light on the rear of the car lol

but anything that is an option from manufactures just has to be noted down but doesnt affect any cost... so im thinking i may just say that i have swapped the fog lense for a clear one end of lol

[Lenny]

seems ill be on the phone for a while to AA insurance in the coming weeks lol may be easier to get them to become a member of the forum and see my guides then give me a quote based on that lol

[alkyz89]

yea its so arkward trying to explain a modification to someone that probably doesnt evan drive haha i dont see how else i can get round this... additional boot light will probs be £40 aswel, custom heater controlls £40 lol footwell lighting is an option so i shouldnt have to pay for those... front and rear S badge i dont evan want to ask lol its ridiculous surely adding a reverse light to the other side of the car is classed as a safety feature?

[Preee]

Don't forget your DMB stickers £40 each , gonna be cheaper to buy a Farrari and insure that , maybe you just spoke to the wrong person , If the Extra is not listed then they have no grounds to charge. As the reverse light would not be listed they are just trying to add a standing charge by the sounds of it.

[Lenny]

To be correct, the insurance company should lower your insurance policy for fitting this kind of modification, because in the event of your car being stolen, their are plenty of ford focus on the road, but less than five with dual reverse lights, clear fog unit and fourth brake light in the badge.

[alkyz89]

well they said they dont cover modifications that arnt and option from manufacture then he says £40 haha

[Pidu]

This whole thing is strange to me. In other countries I know you do not have to notify insurer about any modifications. The only requirement is to have valid UK MOT equivalent, that means all the modifications are legal, you still pay the same amount of money for insurance.

I checked with my insurer - Tesco - they do not charge extra for reversing sensors, but I do not even want to ask about cruise control :) After all it is factory feature, added by Ford dealer :)

[Lenny]

well they said they dont cover modifications that arnt and option from manufacture then he says £40 haha

But all the parts you have used are Genuine Ford parts, just manipulated to fit in different areas that the manufacturer hadent though of ;)

[Stoney871]

My sister's boyfriend has a MK5 Fiesta Zetec-S and it's lowered, aftermarket alloys, tinted windows, red and black roof (in the style of a chess board lol), K&N, chipped etc. Anything that could have benen done has been done, is this declared? Nope - but when/if he crashes and claims he will find his insurance won't be so quick to pay out....

On his head be it.

Technically he has invalidated his insurance conditions and as such if involved in a collision or pulled over and his insurance checked he could be classed as uninsured.

[Danny87]

Oh totally, to be honest non of the mods are even to my liking so I tend not to get too involved. There's a difference between me and him too, I was given a warning for speeding (I was polite, friendly, didn't shout, accepted it etc) whereas sister's boyfriend was given 3 points for being on his phone. On to the difference... I now pay more attention to my speed, but the latter still talks on his phone while driving. Just hope he doesn't have an accident, funnily enough I've just got back from a drive and he nearly hit me up the ... rear bumper, ABS won't save you if you don't drive to the conditions!!

[Stoney871]

Sorry to say mate but he sounds like he needs a bump to make him realise that a Driving Licence is a privilege not a right.

Get your sister to buy him a bluetooth earpiece and maybe he'll get the hint.

It may save his licence at a later date.

He appears to need an attitude modification to become a more considerate driver.

[Danny87]

No I agree with you mate! What worries me most is whether he drives in a similar manner when he's got my little sister with him. She assures me he slows down and stops taking risks. Just hope that's the case.

I have my bluetooth hands free in my car and sometimes I don't even like talking on that because it can be distracting, especially when you're trying to negotiate a busy junction or roundabout. I paid a tenner for it in Tesco last year, and at that price there's really no excuse.

[Stoney871]

I suppose i take my phone for granted as i've a Parrot system fitted and as long as my bluetooth is active on my phone it just kicks in automatically.

Drivers using phones on the move is a real pet hate of mine, it's statistically proven that using a phone while driving is equal to driving while on the legal drink driving limit.

How can anyone safely drive while holding a phone? unless they're an octopus it's near impossible.

Glad i can do something about it.

I have no sympathy for anyone i pull for using their phone while driving.

I take great delight in issuing the ticket.

Even the simplest bluetooth earpiece will solve the problem.

By the letter of the law, even if the driver pulls over while using a phone, if the engine is still running they are still driving.

[Lenny]

some good advise to anyone who uses bluetooth to connect to their handsfree in their car,

if you switch your bluetooth on your phone to ON and then set visibility to Hidden,

the phone will still automaticlly connect with all paired devices

and will leave your battery lasting a little longer compared to having visibility on.

[Danny87]

Great advice again my man :) I will give it a try when I use my car later, the battery life on my phone sucks!

[alkyz89]

as if talking on the phone isnt bad enough, what about the people you see reading/writing a txt message??? they are constantly looking at their lap!!!!

i plug my phone into the aux port and when i get a phone call just switch to the aux setting and hit green button on the phone... new phones alll seem to have a decent enough microphone built in and the convo comes out over the radio

[Stoney871]

as if talking on the phone isnt bad enough, what about the people you see reading/writing a txt message??? they are constantly looking at their lap!!!!

i plug my phone into the aux port and when i get a phone call just switch to the aux setting and hit green button on the phone... new phones alll seem to have a decent enough microphone built in and the convo comes out over the radio

Totally agree.

There are a great range of bluetooth systems available now, some inexpensive basic ones and some top of the line ones that will obviously be more pricey.

There really is no excuse for holding a phone while driving.

Texting really is stupid, i can't text and walk at the same time - certainly wouldn't even attempt to while driving.

Remember people - if you're involved in an accident the Police can check your phones to see if it was in use at the time.

No phone call is more important than your life.

If you really can't live without it pressed to your ear buy a bluetooth. Do everybody else on the road a favour..

[Pitmonster]

My philosophy is that insurers will do anything they possibly can to get out of paying, and if there is anything non-standard on there that you haven't declared then it's a reason for them not to pay out.

Therefore I would declare everything - you may feel a hero by not declaring, but if you have an accident then not only will they not pay out, but they'd actually declare the insurance policy invalid and therefore you could be prosecuted for driving without insurance.

In my opinion the risks are simply not worth it.

Earlier somebody mentioned that it cost £40 to declare a minor modification and then it was discussed that each modification could cost £40 to declare, adding up to many hundreds of pounds. My guess is that the £40 was an admin fee (I've experienced this before), and it's likely that if you declare lots of small mods at the same time then you'd only have to pay the fee once, rather than £40 per mod.

[Lenny]

Rang my insurance company today hoping for a reduction after fitting the DRL's then to tell them about the rest of the modifications and hopfully the reduction on the DRL's would cancel out the hike on the other Mods and my poilcy fee would remain as was before i rang, :D

But to my surprise:

rear badge light,

additional reverse light,

additional boot light,

E Marked DRL's that dim when full lights are active

apparently

''Sorry Lenny some insurance companys do recognise DRL's as a safety feature but they wont bring your Insurance down any cheaper with us because our company doesnt yet recognise them as a safety feature and lights of any description fitted to your vehicle are not classed as a Modification but must road compliant''

ST Pod with Gauges

''If the Gauges dont enchance the performance of the engine in any way, they do no effect your policy''

ST Rear Spoiler

''No Change to your policy'' Basically anything that enchances the engines performace will need to be notified to us immedieatly, but anything cosmetic or lights providing they are in compliance with the law we dont see any problem, and do not need to be reported to us''

so all declaired and no change to my policy, to be honest im annoyed the insurance company doesnt recognise DRL's as a safety feature, since the Road safety are trying to bring them in to law and say they are a safety feature,

but on the plus side they didnt put my insurance up by anything for declaring the other modifications neither so Happy days B)