Insurance Warning

[bigblock]

This is becoming a very grey area indeed. Proper clarification should be worded in the policy about factory fitted extras etc. Seems to be something the insurers don't want to tell us so that they can nail you when the issue may rear itself when making a claim. Looks like another win win stitch up as if you tell them about factory extras they will bump up the premium anyway.

[Miseryguts]

Lets look at this from a different perspective.

You are in your car waiting at a junction.

Boy racer back ends you,with enough force to make his car undriveable.

Boy racers car will be examined by the insurance company.

You didn't tell us about the wide wheels did you boy racer or the body kit.

Sorry we have cancelled your policy,you are not insured.

You have been hit by an uninsured driver.

How do you feel now?

Better or worse.

An extreme example,but not impossible.

[smudge-1991]

Ye but he has been and done aftermarket stuff ... That's exactly what happened to me some Mong in his "my first golf" crashed into halforda thing he didn't get a payout but his insurance had to pay me off because it wasn't my fault he had lied to them about his car and boom new car for me ... My insurance told me that because something on my insurance in the small print in case of such events that they would have to pay out due to some insurance regulation body

[FROSTYBALLS]

From an insurance viewpoint, the insurers need to establish as accurate a picture of repair or replacement costs as possible should a claim be made, and if additional or non-standard items are fitted, this can affect this picture.

For example the fact that a car may have had a DAB or sat nav option fitted may not be apparant when an insurance assessor is evaluating an insurance claim, and some of these options are quite expensive.

At the end of the day the onus is on the owner to provide the insurer with an indication of a vehicle's value, and whether the vehicle has additional or non-standard kit. An idea of specs for older vehicles can be obtained from reviews on sites like Parkers, etc, and also from specs of similar cars on sale at dealers, etc. Obviously there will be some instances where it will be difficult to ascertain whether vehicles are to standard spec - in which case the best option would be to declare the vehicle has something fitted which may or may not be standard, and let the individual insurer decide whether it is a modification or not. Ignorance is no defence.

[StevieH888]

I would think the 3rd party aspect obligations are intact, albeit as was said earlier your insurer may sue you for it.

When I contacted Adrian flux for my mods they seemed more interested in what the mods were worth.

My Auris SR180 is chipped (205bhp), lowered\stiffened and has a pedal box.

Its now not far off the speed of light. Engine sounds sexy under acceleration too.

[smudge-1991]

What pedal box is it

[Heidfirst]

" it depends what your insurer is like and if they are bumping up the price for optional extras I would move on to another who takes the car as it comes from apart from aftermarket modification"

or alternatively mine is actually charging me as per my risk & a lot of others are charging people for cover that they don't really need.

Every year I do an exercise on my renewal & they have always been within the top 3 lowest quotes (& when I go back to them with a better quote they have always managed to get closer) with many well known ins. companies often quoting premiums that are multiples of theirs. To give you an idea, before extras like legal etc. my premium is £170 fully comp.

[StevieH888]

DTE systems.