I emailed my insurer (Admiral) yesterday to ask what impact adding either a tuning box or a remap would have on my insurance, if indeed they covered them. I listed the options I am thinking of, along with the expected increases in power over standard for each of them. All I got back was this less than helpful reply:

 

"Kindly confirm the reason why you are adding the modification on the vehicle.
Also let us know if you are getting a remapping done, if not how the modification would effect the engine performance."

 

So this morning I rang them up and eventually got through to the inevitable Indian call centre. Once I managed to get clear what I was after they said they don't cover an ECU remap. Then they quoted my email to them saying the tuning box gave a 32% increase (so they did look at it, just chose not to reply to the questions) and they only cover up to a maximum of 25% increase.

 

The policy runs out in June so I'm not that fussed, as I wouldn't be doing the remap/tuning box before the summer anyway. But it does leave me wondering how tricky it will be come renewal time to find out from the myriad of insurers if what I'm after will be covered.

 

I'm pretty sure I've read on here of people who have remapped cars with Admiral, so have I just been given bogus info, or do I just start looking at the more specialist insurers? I did try some of them on here before I got the Yeti, but those that gave a quote were quite a long way off pricewise, particularly as it was for stock vehicle with no mods.

 

What sort of premium increase do people get when adding a remap/tuning box? - I didn't get a price as none of my options would be covered, so I've no idea if the increase is just a low 10% or considerably higher.

 

I'll be asking for quotes from the sponsors here at some point, but as renewal is still four months off it probably isn't easy for them to give firm figures yet.

Hi,

When you're ready for insurance please feel free to give us a try. If you wanted to PM me your details nearer the time I'd be happy to arrange for one of my quote team to give you a call back.

Regards,

Dan.

Just renewed my insurance and got a few quotes online from current provider Elephant (Admiral group) about potential mods I would be considering during the year. They did quote me for a remap in the 10-25% (I think it was that...) bracket, but not competitively. Wouldnt quote on >25% though. IIRC was about a £200 increase for the map with uprated brakes and suspension added as well. Decided not to bother and only going ahead with the 312 brakes and that increased my quote by a grand sum of £0.00 for some reason . 

We normally say contact us when you're between 30 and 20 days before renewal. Be glad to help you with this when the time comes.

I tried a number of specialists ( some are on here) regarding chipping a Disco a few years ago, the quotes were silly so I didn't bother.

I tried a number of specialists ( some are on here) regarding chipping a Discona few years ago, the quotes were silly so I didn't bother.

 

I've found Sky insurance to be great, but of course it all depends on your personal circumstances.

last year when i was insured with admiral, i rang them about possible price increases if i made some mods to my car. I was quite surprised, as being only 20 at the time, i asked how much extra they'd charge for a remap and new/lower suspension. The guy seemed really interested in it all, and said that as long as it didn't increase the power by more than about 25bhp i think it was, and the car wasn't lowered by more than about 40mm, then the increase would be around £150 if i remember rightly. I thought that wasn't too bad. I also asked about a new/upgraded intercooler but he drew the line there and said unfortunately they wouldn't cover that.

25bhp seems quite low. Our scheme covers upto 100bhp over stock. Just saying.

25bhp seems quite low. Our scheme covers upto 100bhp over stock. Just saying.

I'm guessing that was 25%, which is what they quoted to me. I'm just puzzled why they would say they didn't cover a remap when others here are with Admiral and have a remap declared.

i think they meant that if it was more than 25bhp then they would charge more. or maybe at that age they wouldnt have insured me for more.

I had my modified Subaru insured with Admiral. I put some carbon fibre wing mirror covers on the car and some stick-on carbon fibre b-pillar covers on. Trying to be the good law abiding citizen I called them up to ask them if it made a difference to my insurance, as technically it was a modification. They said that as I now had more than 5 modifications to the car they could no longer insure me and were cancelling my insurance with immediate effect!!! The car was already running 350bhp at that time and I asked them to clarify why they were cancelling when all I was doing was sticking some glorified bits of plastic to the car which made absolutey no difference to the car's performance? All they said was that I was now a higher risk and I had more than the 5 modifications they allowed. The agent didn't even lnow what a b-pillar was when I asked. They then charged me a cancellation fee and left me with no time to sort out alternative insurance - I wrote a complaint letter and they refunded me the cancellation fee as it was them who cancelled and not me.

 

The problem is that the big generic named insurers want a slice of the modified car market but don't have the in-house knowledge and experience to understand it. My advice is therefore if you intend on modifying your car then stick to the modified car specialists such as A-Plan, Sky, Adrian Flux, Greenlight (all who I have used in the past) and any other specialists recommended on this forum such as Chris Knott Insurance.

25bhp seems quite low. Our scheme covers upto 100bhp over stock. Just saying.

 

My dealings with admiral have been 25%, not 25bhp.

So on a 550bhp car you can get away with quite an increase.

... I'm just puzzled why they would say they didn't cover a remap when others here are with Admiral and have a remap declared.

 

I think he said it was the intercooler they wouldn't cover. The remap was part of the £150 surcharge.

... I'm just puzzled why they would say they didn't cover a remap when others here are with Admiral and have a remap declared.

 

I think he said it was the intercooler they wouldn't cover. The remap was part of the £150 surcharge.

 

Sorry - I was referring back to my OP, where Admiral stated on the phone that they didn't cover remaps - only tuning boxes giving up to 25% increase.

 

 

As an aside do the specialist insurers here have foreign call centres, or do you get through to UK based operatives who are (hopefully) easier to understood/make yourself understood to? That would be a big plus to switching over. I've not made a claim for over 20 years, and it's 30 since having a claim against me, so paying £300+ a year is somewhat galling if the occasional phone call to clarify things is such a headache!

I'm insured with Brentacre, as the previous owner of my car recommended them. Their modification structure is based on bhp brackets, i.e. you specify a bhp limit and you can do whatever to the car up to that limit, including suspension, brakes, massive stoopid body kits etc., as long as you declare it, which is ideal for me. They are based in a small office in Wales, so you get a personal service and no foreign call centres to wade through. They seem to have petrol running through their veins too, which is always good to know.

 

(Yes, I know the bhp thing is not infallible as you can massage rolling road figures to read both higher and lower...)

As an aside do the specialist insurers here have foreign call centres, or do you get through to UK based operatives who are (hopefully) easier to understood/make yourself understood to?

 

We're UK only and based in one office in East Sussex. Please give us a call if we can help you at all.