effect of remaps on insurance premiums

[julians]

Been thinking about getting the s3 remapped for a while now, so I thought I'd get some insurance quotes with and without the remap, unsurprisingly, quite a lot of companies wont cover a car with any modifications, but a few will. but it puts my premium up from ~£300 to ~£600. Quite a jump.

Just wondering what other people have found, and who you are insured with?

 

[S3 Big Andy]

Mine is with Audi ins, with business use so high anyway, + I just came out of a company car scheme after 23 years sp only got 3 yrs no claims mine went up 200 squidd

 

[jamiekip]

Nowhere near that kind of leap, though difficult for me this year as oints came of my licence. Try Bell insurance. There was another one I called too..... I'll have to try and find my notes. Adrian Flux were pretty good too.

J

 

[block]

Mines with elephant.

with the remap and intake declared, it went up about £60-70.

 

[RobinA3]

i got charged an extra £50 for my bluefin remap with adrian flux.

 

[NHN]

Swiftcover, unreal service, all docs can be printed from online perfectly legal & changing cars so easy, online system best I've used & I'm in IT, others have far to go to catch them up with speed, convenience & price & thats with 8 points declared at time, but 3 years no claims all for £400, now no points aswell so should go down.

 

[julians]

Just had a look at swiftcover, their price for a standard car was about £100 more than my best price so far, and I couldnt see any option to tell them about a modified car.

Edited to add : Dont want this to turn into a flaming session , but I wouldnt touch adrian flux with a barge pole, I've heard too many stories about poor claims handling service to make it worthwhile.

 

[NHN]

Well I'm guessing there are alot of variables but I tried lots of places & they came out on top, but thats insurance companies for you, moneysupermarket.com & the other comparison sites helped me find swiftcover then I went direct anyway.

 

[Kontraband]

when you tell the insurance company about the remap, do you just have to give them the BHP? If you do, where do you get that info from?


And swiftcover here say they cant cover modified cars?

 

[block]

elephants online site is good as you can just swap mods around online and see the price change, certain combos of mods only add one price jump too such as suspension would be £50 extra or wheels and suspension would also only be £50 extra.

does that make sense?

 

[NHN]

well they covered mine no problem, so they will be 1st on my list next year.

 

[diarmuid]

so are yous saying swiftcover cover remaps. I'm with Swiftcover but was put off getting a remap as I didn't think they covered it. How much did your insurance go up?
Thanks

 

[kaz219]

Mine went up £400 - I'm 19, 1 yr no claim, A3 2.0 TDI S-Line. LOL

Not declared it yet as I'm driving with the ST3 "On standard A3 map" but insurance is up for renewal end of this month so going to hunt and got votex kit, wheels, 345mm calipers, remap, ice install, coilies, tints and god knows what else to declare...

Gonna get raped big time...

 

[jcs356]

Definitely worth getting a quote from Elephant and Admiral - same company but they offer different premiums. They both have the same website as described earlier - you can pick and choose all sorts of mods and see how they effect the premium.

 

[PaulAr]

Just been through this couple of weeks back.

I spent hours and hours on the phone and online and ended up with Greenlight.
My car has Stage 1 REVO and no other mods.

Mine went from £400 last year (AutoDirect) for a std S3 to £580 with Greenlight.
Give them a try.
http://www.greenlightinsurance.co.uk/
Adrian Flux came in at £650 which was the next most competative.

The cheapest std car quotes were coming in at £450 so expect to pay around £100-120 extra for declaring a remap.

Good luck!
Paul

 

[MattW]

Guys, word of warning, be very careful with the main internet companies. for example Bell Direct (Elephant and Admiral) will NOT and I repeat WILL NOT replace any modifications you specified on the car, and that includes factory fitted options. This was the reason I cancelled my insurance with them when I bought my S3.

Greenlight, and A-plan are very well respected, and if you head over to Scoobynet, Gary Moulson at Keith Michaels can do very good quotes on modified cars.

Matt

 

[Dandle]

Definitely worth getting a quote from Elephant and Admiral - same company but they offer different premiums. They both have the same website as described earlier - you can pick and choose all sorts of mods and see how they effect the premium.

The problem with the Admiral group of insurance companies is that anything away from the base spec of the car is classed as a mod inc. all factory fitted options like leather, uprated stereo, nav, xenons etc etc. Then they have in the small print that anything declared a mod wont be paid out for and will be replaced with a standard item(as said above).

 

[klauster]

Swiftcover, unreal service, all docs can be printed from online perfectly legal & changing cars so easy, online system best I've used & I'm in IT, others have far to go to catch them up with speed, convenience & price & thats with 8 points declared at time, but 3 years no claims all for £400, now no points aswell so should go down.

they don't do modifications

 

[klauster]

I always found Adrian Flux very good, Greenlight are also very good.

 

[PaulAr]

I always found Adrian Flux very good, Greenlight are also very good.

Here here, I was hoping Flux would be competative this year as I have always found their service excellent in the past.

Having said that, when I was dicussing mods with Greenlight there were very accomodating and the advisor was familar with remaps etc..

In fact they are considering approaching AS.net in the future as a potential site sponsor.
Seem like a decent outfit.

cheers
Paul

 

[Matt]

Whats the chances of them finding out you have a remap? Right or wrong I think I'd chance it if I were to have it done

 

[PaulAr]

Whats the chances of them finding out you have a remap? Right or wrong I think I'd chance it if I were to have it done

Very very small IMO.
This is the first time I have ever declared any mods.
Its more of a moral decision really.
Not sure if i will declare on the next car after the hassle getting covered this time around.

Ive had to claim before when I stuffed a modded G60 Corrado, the assessor either dint notice or didnt care but I was paid out anyway.

cheers
Paul

 

[a_sagad]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with declaring a re-map, as they would never be able to tell.
How can they check if it has been re-mapped if you wrap it around a lamp post?

So if its just a re-map, I say don't bother.

 

[MattW]

Unless you were involved in a pedestrian fatality, where an allegation of dangerous driving was made, and the Police took your car away to be inspected and it was found. You were then prosecuted and found guilty, and the family of the deceased sued you and you lost everything.

Again, chances it would n't happen, but for £100 a year is it really worth it?

 

[Matt]

Very very small IMO.
This is the first time I have ever declared any mods.
Its more of a moral decision really.
Not sure if i will declare on the next car after the hassle getting covered this time around.

Ive had to claim before when I stuffed a modded G60 Corrado, the assessor either dint notice or didnt care but I was paid out anyway.

cheers
Paul

Thats what would put me off if it was the only mod on the car, the hassle of only certain companies covering you.

I used to have a modified car and everything was insured on it but that was all visible stuff like alloys, lowered suspension, exhaust etc. It was a pain to get quotes for compared to a standard car.

 

[a_sagad]

Ultimately its your personal choice about declaring this mod.
I'm just wondering, how would they pay you out for this mod?

 

[MattW]

Ultimately its your personal choice about declaring this mod.
I'm just wondering, how would they pay you out for this mod?

Depends on the insurance company, some only cover the mod but won't replace, others do actually replace. If you declared a Revo map for example, then I would imagine they would either refund you the invoiced amount or the current selling price if it is an off the shelf product.

 

[hutchybee]

I wrapped a remapped Bora 130tdi around a lamp post. They paid out without issue....

 

[Paul_c]

Whats the chances of them finding out you have a remap? Right or wrong I think I'd chance it if I were to have it done

I agree with Matt, you'll not be able to tell just by looking at the car.... especially if you've used a BlueFinn or equivalent device!

 

[Esox Mark]

Whats the chances of them finding out you have a remap? Right or wrong I think I'd chance it if I were to have it done

It's just not worth it. I've recently had to claim on my car insurance (£25,000 paid out) and if they'd found any reason not to pay out - I'd be up **** creek without a paddle and probably be driving a 15 year old Lada! Honesty is the best policy. I'm insured with Direct Line, who do cover all factory fitted options, but not dealer fitted options. They also insure modified vehicles. I had a ABT modded TT with 270bhp, ABT body kit and so on, the extra premium for all the mods was another 25% on top the original premium.

 

[jcs356]

The problem with the Admiral group of insurance companies is that anything away from the base spec of the car is classed as a mod inc. all factory fitted options like leather, uprated stereo, nav, xenons etc etc. Then they have in the small print that anything declared a mod wont be paid out for and will be replaced with a standard item(as said above).

Fair point, and I'm fully aware of that restriction. That hasn't stopped me insuring both my S3 and my Ibiza on a multi-car policy - I appreciate it is a risk.

However as far as I'm aware, Admiral group companies are the only ones which give you an on-line quote tool where you can play around and see exactly what the effect is of a mod or of combining mods. The only other way would be to spend half an hour on the phone with sales agent from someone like Greenlight who may not be quite so keen on you going through umpteen combinations of mods with them when they could be earning their £20 commission with a 'simpler' quote.

One other thing is that some of the brokers who specialise in modified cars use Highway at Lloyds as the underwriter. I've heard a few horror stories about them over the years which made me move away from them a couple of years ago over to Elephant and then last year Admiral. (I had Ibiza covered with them for a couple of years).