Informing the insurance company about mods

[MTRL]

Iv'e been planning a conversion from 8p1 to 8p2 s-line.

I already have the rear bumper and rear spoiler done.
I phoned my insurance company to see how far I could go without an increase in my premium. I didn't tell them my plans.
I was allowed my spoiler and splitter without an increase.

The rest of the mods iv'e done I doubt I need to tell them about.
(blacking out the grill, RS4 alloys, painted brakes, wrapped trim, LED upgrade, aluminium pedals, Lamin-x rear lights, parking sensors, s-line rear bumper, pressed plates & an ASN sticker of course).

Im sure as the conversion is a very noticable change to the appearance of the car, I wont get away with not telling them if it comes to a claim for theft or damage on my part.

With pouring so much time, effort and money into the car I want to be sure im covered. But I dont want to have my pants pulled down by chirchill the nodding dog.
As this is an issue for all of us who have modified their car in some way, I would like to know how others have dealt with it.

My insurance for example, playing around on confused.com:

MOD	Annual	Monthly (total)	Providor
Standard	£730	£796	AXA
Exterior decorative Changes	£858	£1,608	Admiral
Rear Spoiler	£858	£1,608	Admiral
Front Splitter	£898	£1,619	Admiral
Lowered <5cm	£920	£1,728	Admiral
Tints - rear >30%	£924	£1,000	Quote me happy
Alloys	£898	£1,691	Admiral
All together	£1,064	£1,219	Flux Direct

The annual premium is not as big as I would have expected from a bunch of crooks, but the monthly is sky high. And I prefer to pay monthly.
Admiral seem to be the best for insuring modifications as long as you pay a lump sum.

So......

Do you tell them?
If so, how much do you tell them?
Could I get away with a facelift conversion as "exterior decorative change"?

What do you do?

 

[BBlackburn]

I told admiral my changes which included alloys front bumper conversion and spoiler only charged me £67 If I remember correctly the stereo didn't affect it (rns-e) nor did the steering wheel (fbmfsw) so don't be that worried and you need them insured because like you said don't want to waste all your hard earned money.

 

[MTRL]

Do you pay annually or monthly if you dont mind me asking, I ask because the annual premium from admiral seems to be the best.
I wonder if they would charge a bigger increase if you were monthly.

 

[Ste_Nova]

monthly is just throwing money away, do you buy your tax in 6 month chunks too?

 

[MTRL]

No, but after spending almost 6 grand in one go on the car, wheels and other bits and bobs, I couldn't afford another grand to go out as 1 sum.
The difference between annual and monthly total was only £80 so id rather take the hit and be able to drive the car.

 

[BBlackburn]

Do you pay annually or monthly if you dont mind me asking, I ask because the annual premium from admiral seems to be the best.
I wonder if they would charge a bigger increase if you were monthly.

I pay annually they are the cheapest for me on 99% of quotes I do on different cars, i believe all insurance companies charge interest for monthly instalments.

 

[S3Alex]

The thing is,that on one hand,you don't want to be robbed for modifications,but the other side of it is that if you don't tell them,and someone runs into you,or you hit someone,they may well turn round and say that you didn't inform them,and your insurance is invalid.

Find out exactly what you have to tell them about,and go from there.

My experience of insurance companies is that anything can and will be used to try and reduce the amount paid out on a claim.

 

[Viking]

Anything which is a change from the factory build specification should be notified (in writing) to your insurers. An old age pensioner bought a car with a stainless steel exhaust system and a K&N air filter fitted which he didn't know about. He was involved in an accident, insurance found the modifications, and cancelled his insurance policy. No insurance payout, and 6 points for driving without insurance.

 

[wez3570]

Anything which is a change from the factory build specification should be notified (in writing) to your insurers. An old age pensioner bought a car with a stainless steel exhaust system and a K&N air filter fitted which he didn't know about. He was involved in an accident, insurance found the modifications, and cancelled his insurance policy. No insurance payout, and 6 points for driving without insurance.

Sounds harsh, where'd you hear this?

 

[Viking]

Sounds harsh, where'd you hear this?

From my insurance broker. He had to tell his customer the bad news.

 

[hades-]

if its not out the factory tell them
our lass had a crash inspector came out and told insurance about a spoiler wheels and tints
he missed it was a stage 3 running over 400hp converted to all wheel drive
i had to call them stright away and pay £372.63 or police was cancelled

 

[hades-]

From my insurance broker. He had to tell his customer the bad news.

i very much belive it was cancelled
but they cant do him with no insurance as he was insured at the time of the crash
they cant back cancell even if he had turned his car into a bus

 

[Viking]

The policy and premium was taken out using false information (basically he lied). The insurance ask "Has the car been modified from standard?" and the answer should've been yes. He said no, so in effect he gained insurance through falsifying his details. When the false statements came to light, they cancelled the policy and returned his premium to him. He had in fact been driving without insurance since he took out the policy.

The fact that he didn't know about the mods was not an issue with the insurance company. They just work on figures and risk.

 

[MTRL]

if its not out the factory tell them/QUOTE]

What about blacking out the chrome grill or changing my black trim to brushed aluminium?
How far do you go? LED sidelights and LED interior aswell?

 

[Viking]

It's up to you how far you go. Someone on another forum started off a "build thread" and detailed all his mods to the world wide web. A couple of weeks later he got a letter from his insurers asking for an increase in premium due to the rear spoiler, 18" alloys, and a few other undeclared mods.

Insurers don't sit in their offices all day paying out money for claims, they have teams of staff whose job it is to look for their clients on forums and see what they're doing. Usually they don't say anything and continue taking your premium, safe in the knowledge that if you do have a crash they can refuse to pay out.

 

[BBlackburn]

Agreed I just say mention everything I was surprised what they said didn't matter and what was chargeable in the end was really happy with what I had to pay to be safe, insured and legal and not have to worry about a crash.

 

[MTRL]

Jesus I need to let them know about a couple of things.
The spoiler and the splitter they agreed would not be charged for but I have a bad feeling about the wheels and tints.

Can the wheels be classed as an optional extra as they are RS4 alloys? They have gone from 17" sport alloys to 18"
Also, the tints were on the car when I brought it 2nd hand. Can I claim this as a factory optional extra?

 

[Viking]

There was no factory tint film available. There was tinted glass, so you won't get that one past them. Wheels, if they make the vehicle more attractive to thieves then they'll apply a loading on the premium. I asked about changing my wheels from 17" to 16", gave them part numbers for both sets and costings, even what tyres were fitted. They wanted to know how much the new wheels were worth, and when I said they were worth about £200 as they were second hand then they were fine and didn't raise my premium at all.

 

[MTRL]

That might be alright then because its not a film, its darkend glass.

 

[MartayMcFly]

Jesus I need to let them know about a couple of things.
The spoiler and the splitter they agreed would not be charged for but I have a bad feeling about the wheels and tints.

Can the wheels be classed as an optional extra as they are RS4 alloys? They have gone from 17" sport alloys to 18"
Also, the tints were on the car when I brought it 2nd hand. Can I claim this as a factory optional extra?

It's not as simple as "if it could be a factory mod you'll get away with it"; they can quite easily check what mods the car was built with so even optional extra wheels can catch you out (if fitted afterwards). Tints you definitely can get called up on, since Audi do tinted glass and not tinted film. Interior mods other than roll cage and maybe harnesses won't affect your premium, but something like an RNS-E you should check is OK.

Bottom line = declare everything. If you're going to be paying a premium, make sure any claim will be paid too or you're just throwing away money (and increasing everyone else's premium by adding to 'uninsured' statistics!).

 

[hades-]

as for tints audi do sometimes use tint film as do bmw and ford etc
when i was in the tinting game i did at lot of cars at the dealers (new cars) on the request of the buyer
and always billed the dealer
but you still have to tell the insurance

 

[hades-]

That might be alright then because its not a film, its darkend glass.

did it come from the factory like that ?

 

[MTRL]

did it come from the factory like that ?

They have the audi mark embossed in the corner so it looks that way to me

 

[hades-]

They have the audi mark embossed in the corner so it looks that way to me

from factory or film will have the audi mark on the glass

 

[MTRL]

But the mark hasnt been covered with film. Its a bit scratchy.

 

[hades-]

best thing to do is check the codes on the sticker in the boot or in the service book
what year and car is it

 

[MTRL]

Its a 2005
Cheers, ill have a check in the morning.

 

[mechanic69]

You should get a quote from a mod specialist broker like Adrian Flux, I declared everything on a vehicle modification report which they hold, each mod just update it. I found they were no more expensive than the main stream insurers.

 

[MTRL]

Thanks, ill give them a try.
I might hold off doing anything else untill my renewal.

 

[skyinsurance]

Specialist insurers are what you need, give the club insurers a try, cosmetic changes only rarely mean increased premiums. As above though ALL changes from when the car left the factory need declaring. Declare everything, let your insurers do the rest. Price comparison sites are set up for standard UK car insurance, whilst they can cater for modified cars, you'd be better off with a company who specialise in modified cars.

Ollie
Sky Insurance

Car Club Insurance Scheme from Sky Insurance

 

[S3Alex]

Greenlight here.

Very good service and prices.

 

[Goner]

From my own experiences, green light & sky were dog ****, brentacre were very good and they don't charge any extra for VISUAL mods.

 

[S3Alex]

From my own experiences, green light & sky were dog ****, brentacre were very good and they don't charge any extra for VISUAL mods.

Strange.

I've had nothing but good service from Greenlight and good prices.

 

[skyinsurance]

Strange.

I've had nothing but good service from Greenlight and good prices.

Greenlight, like ourselves will most likely be unable to insure him due to underwriting postcode restrictions, that is why we are both being classed as 'dog ****'. We cannot help everyone though, and no other insurer can either.

 

[S3Alex]

Greenlight, like ourselves will most likely be unable to insure him due to underwriting postcode restrictions, that is why we are both being classed as 'dog ****'. We cannot help everyone though, and no other insurer can either.

I understand.

Thankfully,I'm very happy with the service I've had.

 

[skyinsurance]

I understand.

Thankfully,I'm very happy with the service I've had.

They're a good company and I have a lot of respect for both Tony and Neil who work there. Always happy to recommend them for a few reasons.

 

[S3Alex]

They're a good company and I have a lot of respect for both Tony and Neil who work there. Always happy to recommend them for a few reasons.

Very nice to find one company able to do this as opposed to the usual "my company is better" sort of approach.

Does both companies a credit overall.