I've got to phone them later on today about my house insurance so may ask them about car insurance.

I also checked that these phone calls have been recorded and will act as evidence of what has been said.

All phone calls are recorded' date=' well they are here. It seems strange that you don't have to phone them to notify them of any changes you make.

Just been on their website to get a quote....

Motor Insurance - Quote & Buy Online

We cannot insure:

* Motor cycles, vans, pick ups, minibuses.

* Cars which have not been manufactured for the UK market

[b'] * Cars which have performance enhancing modifications.[/b]

* Cars which are used abroad for more than 180 consecutive days.

I've just rung them..the plot thickens.... with fog.

The lad I spoke to, said he'd have to get back to me when I asked if I was covered for mods or not. He initially said I wasn't, even though as I stressed to him , that I was led to believe I was back in april when I took the policy out!!!

He's just rung me back, said he's spoken to the underwriters, and they catergorically state...NO ENGINE MODS OF ANY DESCRIPTION WILL BE ALLOWED.

So it seems I'm not going to be covered. Told himto relay the message that I'm very dissapointed, but more than that, that I may have in fact been driving around in an inadequately insured car for the last 6 months.

Have requested something in writing to confirm all this.

VERY annoyed with them.

They weren't interested in rear window tinting however. That it seems, IS acceptable...but you never know with this lot!

I have just taken out a policy with LV for my Octy TDI and asked them about the situation re fitting a tuning box. As the policy isn't due to start until this Friday' date=' I thought I'd recheck the sutuation as I don't want to find myself without any cover.

I have now spoken to three different customer service reps and had a consistent message from all of them - that they don't need to know about mods other than those that increase cubic capacity.

I also checked that these phone calls have been recorded and will act as evidence of what has been said. In addition, they have put a note on my policy to specifically mention the tuning box.

I suppose the situation may be different for a full-blown remap or more radical modifications, but I am now happy that I will be covered and that there will be sufficient evidence on file to back this up.

Incidentally, my policy appears to be underwritten by LV themselves rather than a third party - things may be different for policies underwritten by other companies.[/quote']

STUART! BEWARE!

**** and elbow syndrome spring to mind as I've just spoke to someone there who tells me the same as Stuart was told.

WTF is going on?

Just been on their website to get a quote....

[snip]

We cannot insure:

[snip]

* Cars which have performance enhancing modifications.

IIRC their website has said that for quite a long time (it did when I looked on it for a quote about 9 months ago - I think!)

Have now written to LV for written clarification as to:

1) their current policy on performance enhancing modifications;

2) why renewal notices did not appear to have highlighted changes in the policy terms and conditions; and

3) why staff at LV appear to be giving differing advice.

Basically, the current state of confusion being shown by their customers should not be allowed to happen. They will have the FSA (their regulator from 14th January) crawling all over them if this turns into a mis-selling issue. The rules for insurance selling have been tightened up considerably in the last few years and advice to customers over the phone is one area that is viewed as key.

Sorry Stuart, didn't mean to frighten you. :eek: See my apologetic pm!

L&V really need taking to task over the mass confusion they are causing, and the conflicting tales and quotes too.

Just been in a large bodyshop, got talking to the bodyshop's estimator, and he was telling me that when an insurance assesor comes to inspect a damaged vehicle, they only generally assess if it's modded by it's appearance, i.e. lowered, induction kit,and oh,I suppose NEONS

He interestingly said..and DON'T take this as green light to copy, that some/most insurance companies that they deal with...of which L & V sadly ISN'T one, will give the customer a chance to pay the extra premium that they would have been charged originally if they'd declared such mods, to authorise repairs!

He also stated that they don't strip down ECU's to check for rechipping...UNLESS they have good reason to be suspicious..i.e. as above, and nearly always if it's been a 'fatal'

DON'T PLEASE take all this as being the same everywhere.

Just called LV again to check my policy and they have my mod listed and confirm'd the insurance policy. I'm going down the same track that I will now wait for a letter

K

A year or so ago I changed to L&V after previous insurer refused to continue covering my scoob (only a Sport ffs) as I'd put 17" instead of standard 15s and aftermarket backbox on

L&V said they only needed to know about any changes that would affect engine power' date=' eg remap, exhaust from centre forward....etc

This morning called to transfer insurance from scoob to Fab vRS arriving on Wednesday. I asked all of the pertinent questions regarding cover for ANY potential mods I am likely to make, so was redirected to another dept.

They reiterated exactly what had been said to me beforehand - only need to know about mods that increase power. He is going to confirm with the underwriters to be certain. Will know the answer within 3 days.

I've heard this exact prob about L&V allegedly cancelling scoobynetters' policies.[/quote']

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, they (L&V) finally sent a letter today for me to call them....

Underwriters state that I will NOT be insured if I remap to increase bhp!!!! :eek:

Which leads me to believe that the call centre telephonists DON'T have current info about what we can and can't mod

Not got the remap done yet, but looking like Adrian Flux, and a few others will be getting a call from me v soon.

Colin.... you get any further with this?

Which insurers are others going with now?

C

OK, I'm going to add to this madness now.

Been an LV customer for 3 car (My Favorit, my old Saab, and now the Celica GT4 that I'm currently driving).

I phoned up LV today to add a dump valve, and Simota cone filter onto the car as modifications.

The Conversation basically went like this

Got told "We've been to a meeting and been told we can only cover certain modifications".

Then got given a list.

"Car Audio, Alloy wheels, Sunroof, Towbar, Child seats, Tyres" + a couple of other things".

I asked "Does that mean I can't add any engine modifications to the policy"?

The reply was "Yes you can add them, I will make a record on your account and policy, nothing will be sent in writing, but it is permanently recorded while you are with us, but in the event of a claim they are declared and recorded but aren't covered for replacement".

Seems there have been too many heavily modified cars that have been tuned to buggery with full engine builds getting smacked up, and the engines claimed for along with everything else.

Seems as long as you tell them, they will record them, but only pay out for a standard car, not the extra apart from the categories they have approved.

BTW, no "Admin charge" for adding them like a lot of firms do, even when they don't cover them.

Anyone know where I can get my hands on a Carbon Fibre and titanium Towbar?

Are the mists clearing at last....

Sounds like they're adopting the same attitude as a lot of insurers, i.e. you ARE insured, but they won't pay out for additional mods, just standard stuff.

Not ideal, but i'll live with it until renewal time as it's only really an issue in the event of a total loss.

Yep, and like I said in a car news group.

If I've just lost

Are the mists clearing at last....

Sounds like they're adopting the same attitude as a lot of insurers' date=' i.e. you ARE insured, but they won't pay out for additional mods, just standard stuff.

Not ideal, but i'll live with it until renewal time as it's only really an issue in the event of a total loss.[/quote']

I'm with you on that Geoff.

It just may be that the confusion is over.

There's a thread on 5ive-o about this very thing.

Basically, it looks like LV will not accept new business from owners of modified cars.

Existing customers with declared modifications are still insured, and can renew, but new modifications won't be accepted unless they are on an "approved" list (in effect, no performance mods).

One of 5ive-o's members works in insurance; he is trying to get the definitive answer from LV.

See that is weird because I had all sorts of little bits declared on the old Favvy.

And never batted an eye lid.

Interesting stuff this insurance malarchy ...

So as I see it at the moment ..........LV will continue to insure me , but in the event of a claim will only replace with standard parts .........Hmmm...........well as their level of cover is better than DL , and the excess is

I spoke to LV today. My car is insured with the current mods, but if I have Jabba's boost controller fitted - which will allow me to reduce the performance - then they will no longer insure me since it isn't on their list of permissible mods, ie alloys, sunroof, towbar and any relating to disability.

I spoke to LV today. My car is insured with the current mods, but if I have Jabba's boost controller fitted - which will allow me to reduce[/b'] the performance - then they will no longer insure me since it isn't on their list of permissible mods, ie alloys, sunroof, towbar and any relating to disability.

is a remap on their list though?

is a remap on their list though?

.................No....!

But if you had the remap done a while back and never told them at the time (as you were told you didn't need to) then you would be covered?!!?!?!

This is still nearly as confusing as it was.

I spoke to LV today. My car is insured with the current mods, but if I have Jabba's boost controller fitted - which will allow me to reduce[/b'] the performance - then they will no longer insure me since it isn't on their list of permissible mods, ie alloys, sunroof, towbar and any relating to disability.

They will insure you. They just won't replace the boost controller in the event of a bump that totals the car. As long as they know it is there the car is covered but they treat it as a standard car (i.e. no boost controller).

They will insure you. They just won't replace the boost controller in the event of a bump that totals the car. As long as they know it is there the car is covered but they treat it as a standard car (i.e. no boost controller).

That's not the way I read it Meatball - i read it that if you mod your car with any mods outside their 'allowed' list then they cannot insure you.

I'm confused... When I changed to LV in August, I asked about mods and they said, take photos and keep receipts and it would be sorted at the time if worst came to the worst. I don't recall having to list what had been done or what power the engine was putting out now over standard.

Does the insurance document say whether the car has been modified? I haven't looked at my schedule to see what's actually recorded (Direct Line was good in this respect but expensive).

Given their apparent recent change of T & C, we need someone with mods to drive their car into a wall and see what they get!!! Volunteers?

Lee

Given their apparent recent change of T & C' date=' we need someone with mods to drive their car into a wall and see what they get!!! Volunteers?

[/quote']

Where's Jason when we need him