M options on Sport models - inform insurance?

mmm-five said:
However, if Doris was thick enough to not realise her 1.0L Micra had an LS1 fitted then they'd likely tell her to get lost, and may cancel her policy from inception (if they were not willing to modify the policy for the engine change). Which in turn 'could' lead to a charge of driving without insurance.

Not sure if you mean this, but Insurers can't cancel a policy from inception, except at inception. You can cancel it immediately, but if doris hit something else in her LS1 engined micra, the insurance would pay the Third Party out, but not her. They can then seek to recover the costs from her as she had delberately misled. She would have been insured Third Party and would therefore be legal.
 
maybe an interesting read about this subject...

for those that can't be bothered... this is a court ruling that an insurance company is NOT responsible for ensuring your car is 'correct'... and because the insurance database couldn't pick up the spec of the car via the reg plate, they got out of paying when the car was stolen.....

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/A119_11.html


:thumbsup:
 
Well that certainly busts the myth that an insurance company has to pay out in all circumstances. Good find


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the cueball said:
this is a court ruling that an insurance company is NOT responsible for ensuring your car is 'correct'... and because the insurance database couldn't pick up the spec of the car via the reg plate, they got out of paying when the car was stolen.....
Interesting read, thanks. This ruling was under Scottish law - would you know whether it's the same in England/Wales?

Looks like the real issue was that the Audi owner neglected to mention a "material fact" - i.e. that his car was not a bog standard 2.0 litre. I like the Sheriff's wording:
"I did not find him to be an impressive witness. I did not believe crucial aspects of his evidence. I did not believe the pursuer when he claimed that he had put full details of his vehicle into Quotezone.co.uk, a comparison website."
 
ZedFourM said:
Interesting read, thanks. This ruling was under Scottish law - would you know whether it's the same in England/Wales?

Looks like the real issue was that the Audi owner neglected to mention a "material fact" - i.e. that his car was not a bog standard 2.0 litre. I like the Sheriff's wording: [/color]"I did not find him to be an impressive witness. I did not believe crucial aspects of his evidence. I did not believe the pursuer when he claimed that he had put full details of his vehicle into Quotezone.co.uk, a comparison website."

Not sure TBH....

I agree, the Audi driver never helped himself... but I think most people would expect their reg to pick up the correct car, spec, engine etc...

Perhaps the VIN number would have been a better source of quoting!?!?!

:thumbsup:
 
Great read thanks.

My cherished reg plate on the comparisons sites still picks up that its a celica! That was 5 years ago :lol:


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Hmm - contrasting views here...

The word modifications comes up - are options available from manufacturers modifications?

Even the Insurance Companies seem uncertain about this - when I mentioned that my car had M seats M steering Wheel and M wheels together with M badges my insurance were unclear about whether this counted as standard or not. I did say I would see what this Forum had to say about the options on my car.

Conversly my mate had £80 added to his policy once he stated that his car had a rear spoiler (Skoda Octavia option fitted from new) when asked if it had any modifications.

I remain confused but thanks to everyone for their comments! :) :thumbsup:
 
As long as your car is a "sport" The sport options are standard (m seats, m suspension etc)

Then you have factory fitted aero kit options (rear spoiler, skirts, bumper)

Those would need to be declared, as would metallic paint, alloys etc.

Not sure where factory fitted nav and xenons would fit in though!


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When i switched cars in January I called direct line and asked the question as this debate was raging then. Their answer was they wanted all option and modifications that I was aware of stated. So nav, PDC, DSP, the boot spoiler etc. cost to add was zero but they'll cover any losses in the event of a claim. When I asked about the Alpina, because it was a Lux pack variant and stated as such on the insurance, all the options included within the lux pack were covered.
 
Final answer...

After all your comments I got back in contact with my insurance company about whether M seats, steering wheel, wheels and suspension, were options or modifications they asked me to check with BMW...

I rang BMWs customer helpline and got a very useful member of staff who checked the original specifications of my car - she told me that it had been built in Germany, and that it had been built with M seats, M steering wheel, M suspension and M wheels fitted at the factory and that was how the car was when it left the factory. Then she made my day by saying that it looked a beautiful car indeed - she was even able to tell me it cost £26456 when sold in 2006. She stated that the car had therefore not been modified - that was how it was built and even went on to call it an M version of the 2.0i sport - bet that has the //M owners hackles up! (I did explain about the engine size....!) :poke:

So I contacted the insurance company they made a note and they were happy to go ahead - we shall see....! :thumbsup: :driving:

PS I was given this number to use for a specification check of BMW vehicles 0906 209 001
 
doris ,... did'nt actually know her micra had an LS1 in,.... she paid a lot of hard saved pension money and gave up werthers originals to have a blown 454 cubic inch rat motor fitted , spoke to her today and she is kin jumpin !!! :rofl:
 
srhutch said:
The car is a standard Sport model, but you should advise them of the ///M badges on the sides and rear as they may ask you to remove them.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Surely insurance underwriters are only interested in if you are misleading them? eg mine is an Si Sport, if it left the factory an SE, and I retro fitted M wheels, M sport seats, dropped it, but still insured it as an SE I would be misleading them and probably end up effectively uninsured.

In the real world I'm pretty sure they will only try and get out of paying if you have deliberately misled them, as the guy with the Audi i.e. the premium would be significantly more if they knew the actual car. It materially affects the premium.

I wouldn't want to insure a standard car, it's stolen, and it is subsequently recovered, covered in ///M badges....
 
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/owners/accessories/electronic-parts-catalogue/electronic-parts-catalogue.html

Most may have this already, but the link can provide a printable original build sheet of your vehicle, plus other useful info.
 
paulgs1000 said:
Final answer...

After all your comments I got back in contact with my insurance company about whether M seats, steering wheel, wheels and suspension, were options or modifications they asked me to check with BMW...

I rang BMWs customer helpline and got a very useful member of staff who checked the original specifications of my car - she told me that it had been built in Germany, and that it had been built with M seats, M steering wheel, M suspension and M wheels fitted at the factory and that was how the car was when it left the factory. Then she made my day by saying that it looked a beautiful car indeed - she was even able to tell me it cost £26456 when sold in 2006. She stated that the car had therefore not been modified - that was how it was built and even went on to call it an M version of the 2.0i sport - bet that has the //M owners hackles up! (I did explain about the engine size....!) :poke:

So I contacted the insurance company they made a note and they were happy to go ahead - we shall see....! :thumbsup: :driving:

PS I was given this number to use for a specification check of BMW vehicles 0906 209 001

Shows you what the girl you spoke to knew. All E85/86 Z4's were built in the USA.
 
Montjeu said:
Surely insurance underwriters are only interested in if you are misleading them? eg mine is an Si Sport, if it left the factory an SE, and I retro fitted M wheels, M sport seats, dropped it, but still insured it as an SE I would be misleading them and probably end up effectively uninsured.

In the real world I'm pretty sure they will only try and get out of paying if you have deliberately misled them, as the guy with the Audi i.e. the premium would be significantly more if they knew the actual car. It materially affects the premium.

I wouldn't want to insure a standard car, it's stolen, and it is subsequently recovered, covered in ///M badges....

SE spec cars could also leave the factory with all those options, it would still be an SE though.
 
srhutch said:
Montjeu said:
Surely insurance underwriters are only interested in if you are misleading them? eg mine is an Si Sport, if it left the factory an SE, and I retro fitted M wheels, M sport seats, dropped it, but still insured it as an SE I would be misleading them and probably end up effectively uninsured.

In the real world I'm pretty sure they will only try and get out of paying if you have deliberately misled them, as the guy with the Audi i.e. the premium would be significantly more if they knew the actual car. It materially affects the premium.

I wouldn't want to insure a standard car, it's stolen, and it is subsequently recovered, covered in ///M badges....

SE spec cars could also leave the factory with all those options, it would still be an SE though.

Personally, I judge the risk if anything has been adjusted/modified to the spec leaving the factory. As long as the vehicle I drive is represented in the insurance documents. If I retro fitted those options I would more than likely declare them just in case the history of the car is investigated as part of a claim, for my piece of mind.

As we all know, options can significantly affect the value of a car. I know when I had a total loss a number of years ago, me informing the investigator the options that were on the car significantly increased the settlement value agreed. I wouldn't have wanted to be in a position of having fitted those options retrospectively.
 
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