ECU remapping and insurance

[BiggusDickus]

Hi Folks,

I'm sure this has been covered before on this forum, but I'm new and can't find the info. I have been contemplating having an ecu remap on my Oct II VRS petrol as what is offered seems to be staggering considering the relatively small cost of the upgrade. My question is not directly related to which remap, who with and to what stage, but more about the implications after it has been done. Obviously this should be something that you inform the insurance companies when getting quotes and taking out policies etc... my question is what is the difference in premium costs between standard and remapped models?

Is anyone able to let us on the forum know if they have any examples or experience on the issue.

Cheers, Richard.

[Thirdtimeluck]

Hi Folks,

I'm sure this has been covered before on this forum, but I'm new and can't find the info. I have been contemplating having an ecu remap on my Oct II VRS petrol as what is offered seems to be staggering considering the relatively small cost of the upgrade. My question is not directly related to which remap, who with and to what stage, but more about the implications after it has been done. Obviously this should be something that you inform the insurance companies when getting quotes and taking out policies etc... my question is what is the difference in premium costs between standard and remapped models?

Is anyone able to let us on the forum know if they have any examples or experience on the issue.

Cheers, Richard.

Its gonna vary with different companys - call em up for a quote.

[Mr Mul]

yup.. phone around for best quote .. making sure you tell them of mods

[Jigger72]

It's roughly between £50-£100 on top of the standard insurance but probably best to seek out a specialist insurer as the mainstream companies don't seem to understand

Adrian Flux worked for me, and Brentacre got pretty close too. There is info on here if you have another search

[Raglits]

All you can do is shop around...

My current insurer wanted another £400 if I had my CR vRS remapped, so I'm waiting until the insurance is due for renewal and I'll shop around and try some of the "specialist" insurers who don't tend to be on the comparison web sites...

[psycholist]

Te remap cost me nothing - all I had to do was get the remapper to write a two line letter saying what had been done and that the car remained in roadworthy condition following the changes.

[Jigger72]

Te remap cost me nothing - all I had to do was get the remapper to write a two line letter saying what had been done and that the car remained in roadworthy condition following the changes.

Which insurer was that?

[GoneToBeemer]

Te remap cost me nothing - all I had to do was get the remapper to write a two line letter saying what had been done and that the car remained in roadworthy condition following the changes.

Who are you insured with?

I had to change insurance companies as they would not even cover it!

[Jigger72]

Which insurer was that?

Who are you insured with?

I had to change insurance companies as they would not even cover it!

[Guest]

Mine cost me an extra £60 - £70 and I am with Tesco.

[psycholist]

It's a broker called Glennons in Ireland (They operate in Northern Ireland too AFAIK - the person I talked to about it before the remap said they had a lot of customers in NI with this done, so may have operations in England too). The policy is with Allianz I think. I'm guessing if you have a 300 bhp monster they probably won't want to know, but given the remap figures for my car are still well within the power the chassis has been designed for, the driver rather than the car is where the risk lies for them as insurers anyway.

[Stuart_J]

If you want to be crafty get the tuner to do a dyno run with the BHP at the wheels, this figure is always less.

When they ask the bhp you could always quote that

[martziniuk]

Moneysupermarket.com was the cheapest I found for a remap, Flux and knott were much more.

Edited 6 August, 2010 by vRSMart

[Timmyboy]

Definitely shop around - massive variation I found when looking around.

Most of them don't seem to charge much if anything for induction kits and even exhaust mods to a degree, but it's the power hikes that put the premiums up, with good reason really.

Most of the companies deal with it on a percentage basis i.e. up to 20% (which realistically, or arguably (!) covers a stage 1 remap) will cost you a bit, up to 30% a bit more etc.

Just remember that insurance companies will do anything they can to get out of paying out - a generalisation I know, but by and large the truth.

My own experience wasn't brilliant - I shopped around *everywhere* and my original £270 premium went up by about £200 i.e. more than an equivalent BHP car would be (S3 for example) but not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

Wouldn't like to do it without being in my thirties however

[firestormwest]

Im with the Rac GOT THEIR QUOTE FROM gO cOMPARE WHICH HAS REMAP OPTION..... Price is same as standard just excess is now £400.00

Chris Knott my previous insurer etc could not get close...... though 2 years ago they were the cheapest!.

[BiggusDickus]

Thanks for the info guys, very useful. Gives me something to get my teeth into. Age isn't such a problem (34), but I do about 16K miles per year and need business class insurance as I get a car allowance through work. I just need to be careful not to put myself in a corner where I can only pick from one or two insurance companies as this will reduce the competition and limit my savings ont he premium.

I'm off to try and find out what FL stands for. Seems to be in almost every thread on here. I'll probably kick myself when I find out, but its starting to bug me as I can't work it out!!! No laughing at me please!

[shark_90]

FaceLift

[vRS Carl]

I have been insured for the past couple of years with Adrian Flux.

They were the cheapest by far and i currently pay £430 fully comp for me and the wife on a Heavily modified Stage 2+ Octy vRS

Best bet as others have said is just shop around but a lot of the mainstream companies won't touch you once you start remapping and you need specialist insurance.

[BiggusDickus]

FaceLift - Got it. i don't feel as silly as I thought I might have done now - cheers :-)

[Stuart_J]

FaceLift - Got it. i don't feel as silly as I thought I might have done now - cheers :-)

These lot are doing a 10% off offer at the moment

http://www.111harleystreet.com/facial-procedures/face-lift-surgery-in-london.html?gclid=CMnE1ZXqrqMCFYiX2Aod5TIG5w

[slider955i]

chris knott for me £12 cheaper than my renewal with a remap

[bluevrs3]

I have been insured for the past couple of years with Adrian Flux.

They were the cheapest by far and i currently pay £430 fully comp for me and the wife on a Heavily modified Stage 2+ Octy vRS

Best bet as others have said is just shop around but a lot of the mainstream companies won't touch you once you start remapping and you need specialist insurance.

Some of the bigger mainstreams are now starting to offer modified car insurance if your over a certain age, though I'd still prefer to go with a broker who understands modified cars a bit better. Another to look at is Brentacre, very competitive policy for myself with free reign to modify 'upto' a power limit.

[Stuart_J]

Some of the bigger mainstreams are now starting to offer modified car insurance if your over a certain age, though I'd still prefer to go with a broker who understands modified cars a bit better. Another to look at is Brentacre, very competitive policy for myself with free reign to modify 'upto' a power limit.

Ive found Pace ward very good once the car gets somewhat non std

http://www.pw-f.co.uk/content/view/29/35/

[vRS Carl]

Some of the bigger mainstreams are now starting to offer modified car insurance if your over a certain age, though I'd still prefer to go with a broker who understands modified cars a bit better. Another to look at is Brentacre, very competitive policy for myself with free reign to modify 'upto' a power limit.

The problem usually comes when you mention the word remap. Majority of the main ones (that i checked with) won't insure power increases.

Things like suspension etc they will but not stuff that increases power (in my experience anyway).