Which mods/changes to declare for insurance

[mmm-five]

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.

Never experienced a voiding of the policy due to missing out material facts, but I suppose if it were to come to it you'd have to go to the ombudsman to get a ruling.

In my experience, they only reduce the cover to exclude the modification, so if you had £20k of mods on your £5k car you'd only get £5k back.

 

[pvr]

Which to me is fair enough.

You hear a lot of stories about "not declaring your exhaust" would invalidate your insurance, and I am just wondering if that is actually a fact or just a perpetuated rumour that the insurance companies would never deny as it provides them with additional income from people declaring chargeable changes.

 

[mmm-five]

It would depend on what the mods are, and how they were fitted, especially on safety related items.

For example, if you were to fit new brakelines & brakes yourself and there was an accident where your brakes were found to be at fault, then I'm sure they'd move heaven & earth to void your policy. However, with the same mods, if your car was stolen/vandalised/torched, then I can't see they'd have any way to avoid paying out the 'unmodified' value.

Ultimately it may be down to the small print in your policy documents. If it says you have to inform them of everything, then there's your answer. But I bet most will leave it vague - which is strange considering how important it seems to be to them.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

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.

Interestingly, on separate occasions, both Elephant and Admiral have told me that I must declare my mods else my insurance policy will be void. However, they stated that they will not cover the additional cost of the mods declared, just the cost of the factory standard. Has anyone else encountered this?

 

[jonnyfive]

Cheers guys thanks for the input , not to sure if iam any further forward , i think i will declare every thing that's wasn't a factory option , i mean how many people actually would know what was a option on a second hand car especially one that may have had several owners and 8 years old .For eg i wouldnt have known that M -sports seats and the extended leather was a option before i joined this forum, not everyone is clued up on cars as us .
My worry is you phone these companys up and get some numpty who doesnt know there ars from there elbow , then you spend a hour of your time trying to explain every thing to them . :roll:

 

[doofus4000]

thats exactly what happens jonnyfive, majority of people ive ever dealt with wouldnt even know what a z4 is if you mentioned it to them. Just use common sense mate! good luck :driving:

 

[pvr]

Are you with an insurance company that has UK call centres? I find it easier to talk to people that actually live in the country and know that there are other cars than Tata on the road.

 

[doofus4000]

me pvr?.. yea admiral at the mo. lol tata.

O nice motor by the way jonnyfive, nice profile pic.

 

[jonnyfive]

Cheers doofus iam due for some new pics soon but just never seem to get around to it.....

pvr iam with swift cover at the moment .