Why You Should Declare Your Mods

[Ekona]

Declare every single thing that doesn't come with the base car. So yes, I would declare sat nav, up to them if they're interested or not.

 

You should see the list I had to give my insurers last month

[MidnightRacer]

It was good fun declaring a roll cage to the insurers once...... hello......... are you still there? .............. ended up having to take out motorsport insurance because obviously fitting a roll cage makes you a maniac and not in any way responsible about your safety!

 

while the original point was spot on it still infuriates me that insurers seem to use every little thing to either try and get out of paying claims or charge you more money, perhaps if we had a fairer and easier system people would be more inclined to be truthful in the first place.

 

It would be fair to me that anything that increases the value of your vehicle requires a higher premium. (most aftermarket parts are actually cheaper to replace)

It would also be fair to say that anything that increases the power of the vehicle should require a higher premium.

 

why they dont just say they will insure you but not provide replacement cover for your mods is a mystery to me...... you would have thought that not having claimed in 10 years would be more important than having a few bits stuck on your car!

 

and despite my moaning I think we do still have one of the best countries for allowing modified parts on vehicles.... although this is really seperate from insurance.

[Ekona]

why they dont just say they will insure you but not provide replacement cover for your mods is a mystery to me...... you would have thought that not having claimed in 10 years would be more important than having a few bits stuck on your car!

Admiral & co do, and they also charge you extra for the privilege of not having your mods covered like for like

 

I'm with the insurers on this one. More people who mod their cars crash them, so it's fair that premiums should be increased. Personally I'd like to see car insurance state-run and then not for profit, so premiums should be significantly lower. Of course, that would then mean we'd be dealing with civil servants instead of claims advisors and I'm not sure I'd wish that on anyone!

[OsakaBen]

Why make something illegal not to have and then hand it to private companies for profit?

[Flex]

Why make something illegal not to have and then hand it to private companies for profit?

 

Probably because if it where privatized now HMRC would lose out on all that beautiful tax revenue, of course they probably only get about 1% of what's due anyway.

[OsakaBen]

Why make something illegal not to have and then hand it to private companies for profit?

 

Probably because if it where privatized now HMRC would lose out on all that beautiful tax revenue, of course they probably only get about 1% of what's due anyway.

 

That's true, and if it was too cheap we'd have 17 year olds driving round in Zeds spinning out all over the place and government would just put the premiums up anyway. :/

[samsniss350z]

I suppose i had a lucky escape if truth be told with my last 200SXS14 which was pretty highly modified, but i was honest and everytime an upgrade was fitted i vigilantly got on the phone to them to declare it. my biggest mistake and my lesson was well and truly learnt from this experience was that when i bought the car it had nitrous solenoids fitted, not wired up, no nitrous tank, no hose leading from Nos tank to solenoids and no wiring to a 'go' switch. I had a bit of a shunt and was going to have my insurance cancelled for an 'undisclosed modification' which pi**ed me off to say the least. I explained the situation to the insurance companyy who sent out another 'engineer' who looked over the car thoroughly this time and found that i was being honest about the nitrous solenoid situation. I also argued that if i was trying to hide something then why would i disclose thousands of pound of modifications but i didn't see the point of mentioning something that wasn't competely fitted. They relented although i did get stung for an extra £500 on my excess. My lesson has been learnt and i now declare anything that was fitted as an extra and whether this was factory fitted, fitted by myself (i'm a mechanical engineer by trade) or whether fitted by a trader, even to the point of being pedantic by mentioning i had an air freshener hanging fom the mirror (a mate runs a garage and the MOT spies were out and he got a bollocking for passing a car that had an air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror claiming it was instructing the drivers view, unbelievable but true). I can't understand the mindset of drivers who run modified vehicles without notifying insurance, imagine knocking some over & causing serious injury and then finding you were no longer covered.

[rabbitstew]

It was good fun declaring a roll cage to the insurers once...... hello......... are you still there? .............. ended up having to take out motorsport insurance because obviously fitting a roll cage makes you a maniac and not in any way responsible about your safety!

 

I had the same problem many years ago. I decided I wanted to give my old 850cc Mini the "rally" look, so I fitted a roll cage to it. The cage actually slowed the car down as it added weight to the car, and should I have an accident it would make the car safer. Anyway, I really struggled to find any insurance company who would insure me. They all assumed that I would deliberately go out and roll my car. In the end I had to get specialist insurance from Adrian Flux to cover me, on an 850cc mini which was only worth about £200 tops as it was at the time.

[CJRamze]

 

I have a somewhat interesting story.

I had a Ibiza Cupra, I declared all of the modifications that came on it.

I swapped from Adrian Flux to Admiral after a house move, Adrian flux wanted to take my premium from £1000 a year to £2400 a year.

They then dropped it by £1000 when I kicked off but I still swapped to Admiral.

 

About half way through my Policy I'd had a call regarding a 'Dump Valve'

I informed them that I don't have a dump valve I have a re circulation valve and it was replaced by an aftermarket piece because the original had failed.

 

I was told that my insurance was invalid because they WOULD NOT COVER power modifications... I argued because I had remap declared, Exhaust system, Battery in the boot, Spacers, Huge Jetex cone filter and a Carbon fiber enclosure for aforementioned filter and all of these things were covered.

 

I was told there and then my insurance was invalid and not to drive the car until I'd sent them a signed receipt stating the modification had been removed.

I argued a few more times and eventually gave up.

 

So there I was... 300 miles from my house, About to catch a ferry to the isle of man with the Car club for a weekend away,

I 'replaced it'

 

But seriously, I despise these companies if it doesn't enhance the performance or alter the external looks to an extreme degree you shouldn't have to list it.

Its just another way for them to siphon money from you!

[Paddy78]

I declared around 40 modifications on my insurance report, these range from a remap to a stubby... Just because "you" don't think it makes a difference, doesn't mean "you" shouldn't declare it. I know insurance companies are out to make money, but why give them a perfectly justifiable excuse to invalidate your insurance and not pay out?

[StevoD]

why they dont just say they will insure you but not provide replacement cover for your mods is a mystery to me...... you would have thought that not having claimed in 10 years would be more important than having a few bits stuck on your car!

Admiral & co do, and they also charge you extra for the privilege of not having your mods covered like for like

 

I'm with the insurers on this one. More people who mod their cars crash them, so it's fair that premiums should be increased. Personally I'd like to see car insurance state-run and then not for profit, so premiums should be significantly lower. Of course, that would then mean we'd be dealing with civil servants instead of claims advisors and I'm not sure I'd wish that on anyone!

 

interesting yet i bet on a statistical bases more factory oem cars are involed in RTI than ones that have been modified as a total number so by that logic modified cars should have a lower premium i know there is no chance of that happening,

 

but like most things were do you stop if you had a brake fluid change with dot 5 and you only had dot 4 from factory that's a changed that increases brake efficiency and should be noted with the insurer same with a higher performance engine iol if by lowering friction give 1bhp its a power increase, because like most insurance company say it must be as it left the factory, well working with VW if a car had an issue and for arguments sake related to a aftermarket brake caliper vw would claim its not a OEM part available on the vw network so in the same light it would be classed as a modification for OEM standards and not warranty covered so even tho its not a BBK and does the same job technically its a modification

Edited March 31, 2014 by StevoD

[Ricey]

I would love to see one of these companies stand by their failure to pay after you told the media that they've bankrupted you over a fecking part that the monkey on the phone probably doesn't even understand.

 

That's half the problem.....at least the likes of Sky and Livingstone Warman have people on the phone who understand what the actual mods are.

 

 

[rabbitstew]

VW if a car had an issue and for arguments sake related to a aftermarket brake caliper vw would claim its not a OEM part available on the vw network so in the same light it would be classed as a modification for OEM standards and not warranty covered so even tho its not a BBK and does the same job technically its a modification

 

Id wager that 90% or more of 2nd hand cars have non standard parts on them by now. Think of all those cars having tyres replaced, or brake pads, discs or even air filters. Most garages will just use the cheapest generic parts from their local parts supplier. For all we know, a cheap £4 air filter from XYZ Car Spares may give you 1bhp more than the genuine OEM Nissan air filter. How is a buyer these days supposed to know all these things and inform their insurance company.

 

I think most people know if they make some significant performance or physical change to their car they need to inform the insurance company but simply adding some stickers to the boot, bolting on a chrome tail pipe or changing the brake pads from genuine nissan to halfords specials they probably wouldnt tell the insurance company. I guess it depends on how much the insurance company wants to get out of a claim as to what they question in the event of a claim.

[oVerboost]

Also, I know of genuine people (not being sexist here) but they are girls who have bought cars because they're nice looking, and don't even realise they are modified. Unless the seller tells them or a friend like I did to them, they wouldn't have a clue! :/ I think it's about time that people were insured, not the vehicles themselves (like in the US).

 

Also, dealers sometimes do their own options, I work for Nissan in a Plymouth and know for a fact they have a special deal with wolfrace wheels and fit these to cars where as 99.9% of new owners wouldn't have declared these... The buyer as far as they are concerned just presume it's a standard upgrade if they aren't clued up.

Edited March 31, 2014 by oVerboost

[Ekona]

but like most things were do you stop if you had a brake fluid change with dot 5 and you only had dot 4 from factory that's a changed that increases brake efficiency and should be noted with the insurer

The brakes issue is that the car can then stop much quicker than normal, which then could catch out people behind you and they then drive into the back of you. Okay, so that's their fault not yours, but if they're insured by the same insurer as you then that insurer has to pay out twice still

 

Tbh, I think that's a load of old cobblers and it's more the fact that the car is modified and therefore more likely to be stolen, as opposed to anything else.

 

How is a buyer these days supposed to know all these things and inform their insurance company.

They should ask the company they're purchasing from. If they've followed due diligence, then they cannot be to blame.

 

I think it's about time that people were insured, not the vehicles themselves (like in the US).

And Europe, which is why there's a huge problem with Johnny Foreigner being done for not having insurance in this country. They don't realise that it's different over here.

[samsniss350z]

I find it unbelievable that some insurance company's charge a minimum £40 premium for changing from summer tyres to cold weather tyres. Surely you're safer driving a car in cold weather with cold weather tyres that can stop in half the distance that summer tyres can. Insurance----a license to print money!!

[spursmaddave]

Also, I know of genuine people (not being sexist here) but they are girls who have bought cars because they're nice looking, and don't even realise they are modified. Unless the seller tells them or a friend like I did to them, they wouldn't have a clue! :/ I think it's about time that people were insured, not the vehicles themselves (like in the US).

 

Also, dealers sometimes do their own options, I work for Nissan in a Plymouth and know for a fact they have a special deal with wolfrace wheels and fit these to cars where as 99.9% of new owners wouldn't have declared these... The buyer as far as they are concerned just presume it's a standard upgrade if they aren't clued up.

 

Wow you don't see many Plymouths over here

 

 

 

Sent from the golf club...

Edited April 4, 2014 by spursmaddave

[rabbitstew]

I find it unbelievable that some insurance company's charge a minimum £40 premium for changing from summer tyres to cold weather tyres. Surely you're safer driving a car in cold weather with cold weather tyres that can stop in half the distance that summer tyres can. Insurance----a license to print money!!

 

Most insurance companies will try to charge you some sort of "admin fee" for any changes at all mid-policy, whether thats changing your number plate to a private one, or changing your car.

 

The insurance company I was with last year for one of my motorbikes charged me £70 to cancel my insurance policy completely. Amazing when you think they only charged me £62 for the entire year to insure my Yamaha R1!!! So the cancellation fee was actually more than the insurance cost me in the first place!

[GARGOYLE]

I rang my insurance company and declared my new wheels and the price £0.

 

[GMballistic]

I rang my insurance company and declared my new wheels and the price £0.

Bargain.

[billydc2]

I've declared my mods including exhaust. A bit wary about putting decats on though. Are they illegal with them not passing an mot test and would they void your insurance?

[Ekona]

They're not illegal, you just won't pass an MOT with them. You won't pass MOT with a large chip in your windscreen, but that's not illegal.

 

If your insurer won't accept them, just change insurer.

[spursmaddave]

Just ordered a Cobra exhaust to replace my stock one which failed horribly and has died a rusty painful noisy death. Anyone on here give me a hint as to how much Admiral are going to gouge me for an aftermarket exhaust? Even though my understanding is it does nothing to the performance of the car, its just the back box and mid pipe I got by the way.

 

Admiral are excellent at being reasonable with declaring mods. Check on their website as you may be able to declare it via email at no extra cost.

 

+1 was with them when I had my Zed and can't get better for the Jag either with lots of mods

 

 

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[spursmaddave]

They're not illegal, you just won't pass an MOT with them. You won't pass MOT with a large chip in your windscreen, but that's not illegal.

 

If your insurer won't accept them, just change insurer.

 

Would any insurer allow them for road use though?

 

 

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[Ekona]

Why would they not?

 

For example, I have my car insured with 'exhaust changes' under modifications. That includes any part of the exhaust, so manifold to backbox. I'm running a cat as I can't be arsed with the hassle, but I could swap happily to decats if I wanted.