Which mods/changes to declare for insurance

jonnyfive

Senior member
Berkshire
OK Renewal due next month and i have modded the car some what .

So which mods/changes from how it came from the factory should i declare and which ones i dont need to.

Here's a list of every change done to car some trival ones but may be relevant

MFSW
ZHP gear knob
M-sport seats
Extended leather door cards
Wheels
falken non run flat tyres
Bradded brake hoses
slotted and drilled brake discs
Lowered springs
Carbon fibre Badges
Clear head lights
Clear repeaters
M-sport front bumper
quad exaust
Stubby :D
 
You should declare anything you want the insurance company to cover in the event of an accident/theft - otherwise they will only pay market value for a standard car. So in your case the MFSW, ZHP gear knob, M-Sport seats, door cards, wheels, headlights, bumper, etc. - which I assume cost a good wedge in themselves.

If you're not worried about losing value in a payout, then I'd say any performance mod (i.e. anything that might increase the car's risk profile) would need to be declared - so brake hoses, 'performance' brake discs, lowered springs, exhaust.
 
or they can refuse to pay out at all if you don't declare something.

modifications improve the "appeal" of a car to thieves and so if your car is more likely to be stolen, you should have a higher premium, if your not declaring and therefore not paying a premium to cover your more appealing car, your not covered...

aslong as you haven't had the car from new then you could argue they came on the car and you thought they where standard...

MFSW (dont declare)
ZHP gear knob (dont declare)
M-sport seats
Extended leather door cards (dont declare)
Wheels
falken non run flat tyres (dont declare)
Bradded brake hoses (dont declare)
slotted and drilled brake discs (dont declare)
Lowered springs (dont declare)
Carbon fibre Badges
Clear head lights (dont declare)
Clear repeaters (dont declare)
M-sport front bumper
quad exaust
Stubby (dont declare)

However, by they time you have declared the m seats and bumper, the quad exhaust etc. the other things probably wont increase the premium at all... some insurers will actually give you better deal on modified cars. Adrian Flux said they would half my premium if my car was modified...
 
mmm-five said:
You should declare anything you want the insurance company to cover in the event of an accident/theft - otherwise they will only pay market value for a standard car...

My experience of standard high street insurance companies is that they will not cover the mods anyway. Admiral currently and last year Elephant (same company) cover / covered my car with mods declared, but have made it clear that they would not replace damaged or stolen CSLs, aeroskirts, etc, just the original wheels, skirts, etc. The only point of declaring the mods is to ensure that they don't try to wriggle out of any claim!
 
I think i will declare anything that couldn't of been added as a factory option , so wheels ,suspension , bumper,brakes etc.
Like others have said not to bothered about insuring the mods just dont want to give them any excuse not to pay out even if its for a standard car.Hopefully this will never happen :)

So as far as the insurance company needs to know is , to the best of my knowledge that's how it came from the factory and these the items i have added.
 
Liam-O said:
or they can refuse to pay out at all if you don't declare something.

modifications improve the "appeal" of a car to thieves and so if your car is more likely to be stolen, you should have a higher premium, if your not declaring and therefore not paying a premium to cover your more appealing car, your not covered...

aslong as you haven't had the car from new then you could argue they came on the car and you thought they where standard...

MFSW (dont declare)
ZHP gear knob (dont declare)
M-sport seats
Extended leather door cards (dont declare)
Wheels
falken non run flat tyres (dont declare)
Bradded brake hoses (dont declare)
slotted and drilled brake discs (dont declare)
Lowered springs (dont declare)
Carbon fibre Badges
Clear head lights (dont declare)
Clear repeaters (dont declare)
M-sport front bumper
quad exaust
Stubby (dont declare)

However, by they time you have declared the m seats and bumper, the quad exhaust etc. the other things probably wont increase the premium at all... some insurers will actually give you better deal on modified cars. Adrian Flux said they would half my premium if my car was modified...

Think you would struggle in not declaring

falken non run flat tyres
Bradded brake hoses
slotted and drilled brake discs
Lowered springs
 
Non run flat tyres shouldn't be an issue, especially if you are declaring non-standard wheels. After all, the insurance does not dictate tyre brand or quality, just that they meet the legal specification. As for the rest of srhutch's list, I agree (even though going through these things with several companies at quote time is a PITA).
 
To be correct you should declare anything that was not original when the car was supplied new. That would include options added by the original purchaser.

That said a degree of sense and concur with Liam's list as a reasonable one to work to, but I would declare the non RFT's.

Make sure you do it in writing too, so there's no 'oh we didn't have that listed so your policy is not valid...'
 
srhutch said:
Think you would struggle in not declaring

falken non run flat tyres (i think the average driver couldn't tell what tyres they have on there car)
Bradded brake hoses (i've never checked my brake hoses)
slotted and drilled brake discs (again, your average driver would say disks are disks...)
Lowered springs (its a low sports car, any difference is minimal and again, would your average driver know... so if you bought the car 2nd hand, it could have came like that and how where you to know...)
 
Liam-O said:
srhutch said:
Think you would struggle in not declaring

falken non run flat tyres (i think the average driver couldn't tell what tyres they have on there car)
Bradded brake hoses (i've never checked my brake hoses)
slotted and drilled brake discs (again, your average driver would say disks are disks...)
Lowered springs (its a low sports car, any difference is minimal and again, would your average driver know... so if you bought the car 2nd hand, it could have came like that and how where you to know...)

On that basis the owner would not know about any of the other items from the original list so wouldn't declare any of them.

Doubt the insurance company would see it that way though, ignorance is not bliss.
 
All mods should be declared,cause in the event of a claim,the insurance will riggle out of paying up.Be very carefull i lowered my Z3, 2 months later told the insurers who cancelled the policy immediately,so i was in fact running uninsured for two months,dread to think of what may have happened in the event of an accident.
 
This is a tricky one as would you have to declare every factory option on a BMW? A fully loaded SE could have a mods list as long as your arm compared to a bog standard SE.

I would declare...

Wheels if not standard size.
Bradded brake hoses & slotted and drilled brake discs, upgraded brakes
Lowered springs, suspension mod
M-sport front bumper, body kit as not standard
quad exaust, possible performance mod.
 
If a mod was a factor in whatever sort of accident occured, the company will use that against you. Its a grey area in my opinion and I only declare if I know they will be guaranteed to use it and you cant defend your case in the case of an accident.
 
doofus4000 said:
If a mod was a factor in whatever sort of accident occured, the company will use that against you. Its a grey area in my opinion and I only declare if I know they will be guaranteed to use it and you cant defend your case in the case of an accident.

It's not just about accidents thought, as somebody pointed out some of these mods make it more appealing to the thieves. Best to list them all then the insurance company have no room to wriggle.
 
Besides hearsay, has anyone actually had an issue after a claim with an insurance company when not declaring items?
 
pvr said:
Besides hearsay, has anyone actually had an issue after a claim with an insurance company when not declaring items?
Yes, me :headbang:

That's why I said declare everything and let them decide whether it's important or not. Some items will raise the premium, some won't. Some insurers will raise the premium, some won't.

Luckily mine was only for the Paintshield protection, but it was still £600 or so, which I'm still waiting to get back from the 3rd party (it's settled in my favour but I've not seen the cash yet).

When the insurer said it wasn't covered, I asked what else wouldn't be covered in the event of a total loss. Their reply was anything that wasn't standard on the base model would have to be declared, e.g. extended leather, special order paint, optional extras like sat-nav, etc. I gave them a list of all my optional/Individual extras and they put the details on file - didn't increase the premium though.
 
Ok, but I was actually referring to cases where they declined to pay out at all as you had fitted a different exhaust or something like that, not where there is just a shortfall in the payment.

If I was to change my alloys, I would expect to get standard value alloys back and not the upgraded ones in case I had not declared those.
 
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