I wonder how many of us are actually covered 100% by the book. I have declared all of my performance enhancing (power mods) and brakes, wheels and suspension and still feel like an assessor could still scrutineer my car and deem it uncovered. Anybody any experience or possibly been caught out for not declaring mods and anybody willing to admit to not declaring??

You declare everything, performance or cosmetic, if you do your bit by doing that then no assessor could deem it uncovered. 

Quite a few threads cover exactly this in Briskoda if you just do a little search.

In this section and in the Legal & Insurance section.

 

No point buying insurance cover that can be invalid for paying out on your vehicle because everything is not declared.

The insurer will cover 3rd parties but might pursue you for the costs they paid out.

Also they may encourage you to withdraw claims as you never declared mods.

Not internet myths it happens.

Loss adjusters are known to check Enthusiast Websites & Posts, Project Builds etc.

Edited 12 June, 201610 yr by GoneOffSKi

Quite a few threads cover exactly this in Briskoda if you just do a little search.

In this section and in the Legal & Insurance section.

 

No point buying insurance cover that can be invalid for paying out on your vehicle because everything is not declared.

The insurer will cover 3rd parties but might purse you for the costs they paid out.

Also they may encourage you to withdraw claims as you never declared mods.

Not internet myths it happens.

Loss adjusters are known to check Enthusiast Websites & Posts, Project Builds etc.

Great comments. Common sense needs to be applied a little. I even heard of insurers not paying out due to a different set of 6 x 9 speakers!!!

I wonder how many of us are actually covered 100% by the book. I have declared all of my performance enhancing (power mods) and brakes, wheels and suspension and still feel like an assessor could still scrutineer my car and deem it uncovered. Anybody any experience or possibly been caught out for not declaring mods and anybody willing to admit to not declaring??

 

Going through one of the goandcomparethemeerkat sites, it asks if the vehicle has any stickers or decals applied. I suspect that 90% of cars on the road still have the dealer sticker in the back window, which no-one will have mentioned. In theory that could be sufficient reason to decline paying out.

 

Removing the sticker could also be considered a modification, as the vehicle would no longer be in the condition that it was originally purchased.

 

 

I think also there needs to be a much clearer definition of "modification"......

Is using Night-breakers a modification? After all, they are an improvement on the original equipment.

Better tyres? (Let's keep it normal not performance though) Better grip in the wet.....that changes the car's behaviour.

Halfords sell (or at least used to) quicker bulbs for brake lights (not as quick as LED, but quicker than the normal ones)

Chrome indicators (still flashes orange, but chrome coloured to remove the fried egg effect)......not standard.

Have you notified your insurer about your Briskoda sticker in the window. LED interior lights - what about those?

Does a hard-wired DVR count as a modification? And what it it's not actually spliced into any wiring? (The redundant fuse option)

 

 

.....so many innocent things could be a show-stopper.

 

 

.....and then what of any modifications a previous owner made and hasn't told you about?

 

 

 

 

I had a run-in with an insurer because I wanted to put locking nuts on the Fun Truck. Skoda didn't supply or fit them in those days. I was told it would have to be declared as a modification and that would bring a price-hike - if it wasn't declared, it would invalidate the insurance. The rationale was that locking nuts meant you *must* have fitted alloys as well. The stupid thing was, I was screwed either way......my excess was £250 and buying new wheels and tyres would have been around £200.

Edited 13 June, 201610 yr by RainbowFire

Great comments. Common sense needs to be applied a little. I even heard of insurers not paying out due to a different set of 6 x 9 speakers!!!

 

Depends on the claim. Say the 6x9s are sat on a parcel shelf, car got broken into, speakers and head unit nicked. If I was the insurer I'd be loathed to pay out on it. 

If I was a motor insurer I'd refuse to cover drivers with 6x9s and not pay out if they were undeclared lol. It's a well known fact the presence of 6x9s indicates the driver is a total tool/chav and far more likely to be involved in an accident haha ;-)

It's interesting you posted this as I asked my insurer about potential modifications.  Hypothetically I wanted to know if I would be able to change the wheels, the exhaust, have a remap and lower the car.  They said the increase would be about £36 onto my premium which was a nice surprise.  Then they said that they wouldn't cover the alterations if there was a claim.

 

This doesn't worry me too much but I asked what would happen if the aftermarket wheels were stolen.  They said they wouldn't cover them and I'd have to source my own OEM spec set or simply replace the stolen items myself.  I'd not come across this before.

Who were 'they' ?

It's interesting you posted this as I asked my insurer about potential modifications.  Hypothetically I wanted to know if I would be able to change the wheels, the exhaust, have a remap and lower the car.  They said the increase would be about £36 onto my premium which was a nice surprise.  Then they said that they wouldn't cover the alterations if there was a claim.

 

This doesn't worry me too much but I asked what would happen if the aftermarket wheels were stolen.  They said they wouldn't cover them and I'd have to source my own OEM spec set or simply replace the stolen items myself.  I'd not come across this before.

 

Yeah I've found a few like that, they tend to be more mainstream insurers rather than specialists. 

 

I was surprised when I phoned the motorcycle insurers up they gave me the same story, although they didnt charge anything for any modification as long as it didnt increase power significantly. Suits me on the bike, nothing I'll do will be loads of money and it'll be in my garage most of the time anyway. 

I was very happy with my insurance company who covered all of my mods for a very reasonable cost and in the event of a claim will replace those on a like for like basis or repay the value of them, one of the two.

When dealing with Modified Vehicles and Policies with a Schedule saying things like that i want a 'Agreed Valuation' on the Vehicle'.

You provide pictures, cost of modifications and copies of invoices, then get that 'Valuation Certificate'.

Once you have that it saves lots of argument once a Loss Adjuster is involved if there is a Total Loss of the vehicle by theft or accident 

or even need for repairs paid for by the insurer.

Insurers are getting better now I think at mods.... I reckon they are less expensive than they used to be when modding cars, i was quite surprised to get the premium I did with all my mods declared

Adrian Flux wanted to know about all my modifications when I started my policy with them and I mean everything, the Briskoda sticker, the suspension, the radio change from a Citigo one to an Up! like, every single little tiny weeny mod they wanted to know about, I'm fine with that, but not at the same time, being they close at 5:30 I never find the time to phone them, as it is I'm technically driving uninsured at the moment as I've not had the time to ring them and inform them of a couple of changes I've made. There's Pro's & Con's with this, Pro's is they don't care about my modifications, only if it increases the cars Horsepower, the Con is needing to tell them of everything and just simply not finding the time to phone them before finishing work and getting home.

Adrian Flux wanted to know about all my modifications when I started my policy with them and I mean everything, the Briskoda sticker, the suspension, the radio change from a Citigo one to an Up! like, every single little tiny weeny mod they wanted to know about, I'm fine with that, but not at the same time, being they close at 5:30 I never find the time to phone them, as it is I'm technically driving uninsured at the moment as I've not had the time to ring them and inform them of a couple of changes I've made. There's Pro's & Con's with this, Pro's is they don't care about my modifications, only if it increases the cars Horsepower, the Con is needing to tell them of everything and just simply not finding the time to phone them before finishing work and getting home.

 

 

 

Open 09:00-16:00 Saturdays (if you don't get a lunch break during the entire working week and are off at weekends), you also have their online contact form, fax (whatever that is) and their email option for all changes. https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/contact/  Heck even have Dan in here who at worst could take the info if stuck lol. 

Edited 16 June, 201610 yr by FUBAR

Insurers are getting better now I think at mods.... I reckon they are less expensive than they used to be when modding cars, i was quite surprised to get the premium I did with all my mods declared

 

That's what I was thinking too, but then realised that we are old now :( 

Open 09:00-16:00 Saturdays (if you don't get a lunch break during the entire working week and are off at weekends), you also have their online contact form, fax (whatever that is) and their email option for all changes. https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/contact/ Heck even have Dan in here who at worst could take the info if stuck lol.

I didn't know they were open on Saturdays! I emailed in the past to make a change but they replied asking me to phone them so they can put the changes into effect.. so that's why it'd be better to phone I think, I'll give the number a try on Saturday but I'm certain it's only a certain number available on Saturday

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Declarations in writing with a pen and then accepted as received is still totally acceptable with the Insurers i use.

A phone call or Email asking for a declaration sheet by Slow Mail can be rather good as you know for certain what is then on 

your Schedule & Policy.

Don't panic everyone, I've declared the recent changes, on a plus note Adrian flux don't want to charge me for changing the exhaust, winning :clap:

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Don't panic everyone, I've declared the recent changes, on a plus note Adrian flux don't want to charge me for changing the exhaust, winning :clap:

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Well there is only 3 inches of it from front to back, I wouldn't have thought the manufacturer would have wanted to charge you for it either.

Edited 16 June, 201610 yr by Outofthi5world

Don't panic everyone, I've declared the recent changes, on a plus note Adrian flux don't want to charge me for changing the exhaust, winning :clap:

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swmbo wasn't charged extra for the ragazzon exhaust on her Abarth either. Declared... no charge.... all good