A friends 19 year old son has just written off his car. A clio he paid nearly £8K for ,a year ago.

He'd lowered the suspension and fitted a Coke can exhaust ,without telling them.

They have refused to pay up..........

Whoops.

No great surprise though.

A friends 19 year old son has just wrtten off his car .A clio he paid nearly £8K for a year ago.

He'd lowered the suspension and fitted a Coke can exhaust ,without telling them.

They have refused to pay up..........

Thats what they do for undeclared mods, anything they can get off paying they will, perfect example of this! Even for practicality mods like on a disco 2 swoping rear air suspension for springs !

mileage you state should also be accurate, I know a guy who hit a deer, when the insurance inspected the car they asked for the mot certificates, they recorded the mileage between the most recent and as the stated mileage was 12,000 on the policy but the car had done nearly 13,000 in the year he was also refused his claim.

mileage you state should also be accurate, I know a guy who hit a deer, when the insurance inspected the car they asked for the mot certificates, they recorded the mileage between the most recent and as the stated mileage was 12,000 on the policy but the car had done nearly 13,000 in the year he was also refused his claim.

That sounds fishy to me. You need to give an estimated mileage to the best of your knowledge, but that doesn't mean your cover just stops when you go one mile over. If he was only a third of the way through the policy at the time of the accident they may have had grounds to refuse a claim but not if it was close to the end.

That sounds fishy to me. You need to give an estimated mileage to the best of your knowledge, but that doesn't mean your cover just stops when you go one mile over. If he was only a third of the way through the policy at the time of the accident they may have had grounds to refuse a claim but not if it was close to the end.

He should have claimed some one else's had been driving it on there own policy?

Pretty sure somewhere in my policy it states if modifcations not declared are found they will deduct the extra premium for having these mods from your claim...I will dig it out!

Pretty sure somewhere in my policy it states if modifcations not declared are found they will deduct the extra premium for having these mods from your claim...I will dig it out!

Thanks,that sounds hopeful.

I'll pass that info onto them.

A friends 19 year old son has just written off his car. A clio he paid nearly £8K for ,a year ago.

He'd lowered the suspension and fitted a Coke can exhaust ,without telling them.

They have refused to pay up..........

Being blunt and probably not popular good.

The only option I'd think he might have would be to offer the increased premium they'd have wanted for those upgrades and see if that gets him anywhere. Can't see it doing so, but if you make changes you need to tell them.

Yeah not declaring mods will not have a good outcome, but as already said, not really all that surprising given the age of the driver.

That said, I know through my previous jobs that the insurance companies don't just refuse to pay up in all situations, they can and often do offer the policyholder to pay the additional premium required for having said mods on from when they were put on the car... seen them go back as far as 3 years and charge a small fortune!

Being blunt and probably not popular good.

The only option I'd think he might have would be to offer the increased premium they'd have wanted for those upgrades and see if that gets him anywhere. Can't see it doing so, but if you make changes you need to tell them.

Exactly

If they state mods must be declared, why give someone the option to pay the increased premium if they get caught?

What incentive would that be to anyone to declare anything?

As above, tough ****. I might have some sympathy if it was a mis-declared mod, or something, but just point blank not declaring them and knowing full well they are on it is just stupid, hopefully it'll teach him a lesson.

The mileage one is certainly iffy, especially as its such a small amount over the 'estimate'

A friends 19 year old son has just written off his car. A clio he paid nearly £8K for ,a year ago.

He'd lowered the suspension and fitted a Coke can exhaust ,without telling them.

They have refused to pay up..........

I'm interested to hear his thoughts on this.

If I paid £8,000 pounds for something and then modified it further, it strikes me as odd let alone stupid to not notify the guys who are insuring you?! What's a few £££'s more for knowing in this event that they will pay out and get your money back rather than £0.

I'm interested to hear his thoughts on this.

If I paid £8,000 pounds for something and then modified it further, it strikes me as odd let alone stupid to not notify the guys who are insuring you?! What's a few £££'s more for knowing in this event that they will pay out and get your money back rather than £0.

I suppose at 19 it might have been the difference between being offered insurance and not being offered insurance?

I should imagine premiums for a 19-year old would be pretty huge even for a bog standard Clio

I suppose at 19 it might have been the difference between being offered insurance and not being offered insurance?

I should imagine premiums for a 19-year old would be pretty huge even for a bog standard Clio

So, I guess it really boils down to the question - Was lowering the car and adding a coke can exhaust really worth it?

So, I guess it really boils down to the question - Was lowering the car and adding a coke can exhaust really worth it?

Depends whether or not you've got the funds to blow £8000

Would they also not pay out a penny if you got a brand new Octavia with the Sports Suspension option factory fitted but not declared?

i always thought if you modded a car and that part of the car got damaged in a crash they just wouldn't pay out for replacement as it wasn't declared

anyway, ive always declared every single mod ive ever done lol just not worth the hassle hiding it from them

why spend £8000 on a clio

Thats what they do for undeclared mods, anything they can get off paying they will, perfect example of this! Even for practicality mods like on a disco 2 swoping rear air suspension for springs !

Out of interest. If you were in the business of gambling on risks and one of those risks was fraudulently misrepresented, would you be happy to pay out?

I suppose at 19 it might have been the difference between being offered insurance and not being offered insurance?

I should imagine premiums for a 19-year old would be pretty huge even for a bog standard Clio

A fair point Brian,

Premiums for youngsters these days are rridiculous and massivly over egged compared to the risk - they are an easy target for the insurers and get stung.

No excuse at all for not declaring mods but some of the reasoning behind not declaring is bound to be associated with the costs incurred as a result of declaring...

That sounds fishy to me. You need to give an estimated mileage to the best of your knowledge, but that doesn't mean your cover just stops when you go one mile over. If he was only a third of the way through the policy at the time of the accident they may have had grounds to refuse a claim but not if it was close to the end.

Yes, but he was 1,300 miles over the limit, not just a couple of hundred. It's up to you to keep an eye on these things and inform the broker if you go over. I agree, it sounds tight but we all know what insurance companies are like and unfortunately have to play their game or this kind of 5hite happens.

I got stung after driving through France for a last-minute holiday. I got back and realised I was over my 5,000 mile limit so informed Adrian Flux and just had to pay the difference for the next mileage level up.

As above, tough ****. I might have some sympathy if it was a mis-declared mod, or something, but just point blank not declaring them and knowing full well they are on it is just stupid, hopefully it'll teach him a lesson.

The mileage one is certainly iffy, especially as its such a small amount over the 'estimate'

Haven't we all been stupid when we were in our teens? I wouldn't have even known to declare mods when I was 19 because I didn't know anything about anything, although I thought I knew everything about everything.

It's a lesson learned alright - £8,000 worth of lesson.

As for mileage, it's the same as the mods, if you don't declare you're over the limit, you'll get stung. Very unfair, but that's insurance companies for you

Being a teenager shouldn't come into it

With driving comes responsibility, and if you're old enough to drive and get your own insurance, you should also know the pitfalls

Premiums for youngsters these days are rridiculous and massivly over egged compared to the risk - they are an easy target for the insurers and get stung.

I wouldn't say it's entirely over egged in this case. Pretty bang on why they're expensive. Sporty mini car, chavved up and then smashed.

Though if he had his insurance voided by this, he's going to be pretty much priced off the road for many years. That to me is an unfair outcome from this.