What is classed as a modification insurance wise?

interstellaflyer

Strider590 wrote: »

But OP seems to be changing to the system used in the higher spec cars of that model (AND quite possibly available from the manufacturer as an optional upgrade when the car was originally sold) not changing to something that would be blindingly obvious as a "modification".

The problem is, my car was never available with the upgrade I want, it was either the Vauxhall CD30 and standard basic screen or CD70 Nav system with full colour screen, I have the CD30 head unit and I'm after the screen they fitted to the non Nav SRi spec models.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

many insurers are quite stuck when you call them about manufacturers modifacations.

goes something along the lines of.

"hi my car has manufacturer alloys"

"are they aftermarket alloys"

"no their a standard VX alloy wheel"

"sorry but my system doesnt have manufacturers items as a modifaction, i cant update your records without a specifaction"

colour coded bumpers are not a modifaction, they are the same bumper fitted to the car from factory just painted to suit the car.

interior mods, unless its F'ucket seats or a aftermarket retrim i wouldnt bother even trying to explaint that you swapped your inerterior for the same vehicle interior but in leather or different colour, when i was going to swap out my rover 214sli interior for the 220 GTI leather i spent 50mins on the phone explaining waiting for the person to consult their manager and underwriters then getting a response of all our underwriters dont class interior from one manufacturers spec to another higher spec as a modifaction of interior as its made by the same manufacturer only non manufacturer parts are classed as mods as far as our insurers and us are concerned.

Strider590

Paradigm wrote: »

A few years ago my son heavily modded a VW polo.

Bodykit, suspension, alloys...you name it. I convinced him to contact his insurers & inform them about what he'd done, which he did, eventually!

Because he hadn't made any changes to the engine performance they weren't particularly interested saying that as long as the vehicle was roadworthy, they would cover any claim in the event of an accident but would only pay out for standard parts.... all the add ons wouldn't be covered. No change in his premium.

This was confirmed in a letter some days later.

Yeah that's another story though, a nice trick to use

Insurance companies don't like to give away how much they ramp up your insurance for non-performance related mods.
You phone up, get a quote for a standard car, then afterwards do a "oh, I forgot, I've got XYZ on the car too!!", they'll say "that's ok, it won't affect your premium"...... But do it the other way around and you could end up with a quote several hundred pound higher.

Paradigm

Strider590 wrote: »

Yeah that's another story though, a nice trick to use

Insurance companies don't like to give away how much they ramp up your insurance for non-performance related mods.
You phone up, get a quote for a standard car, then afterwards do a "oh, I forgot, I've got XYZ on the car too!!", they'll say "that's ok, it won't affect your premium"...... But do it the other way around and you could end up with a quote several hundred pound higher.

To be fair they did say they would cover the mods but they would have to "review" his policy to do so.... he never got round to asking how much extra that would be.

scotsbob

A member of our car club was refused an insurance payout because he had a car club membership sticker on his windscreen.

The insurance company argued that membership of the car club was a material fact that should have been disclosed.

Crabman

Look at the last two case studies here:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/79/79-motor-insurance.htm#cs10

The Ombudsman differentiates between "deliberate/reckless" and "innocent/inadvertent" non-disclosure.

Crabman

scotsbob wrote: »

A member of our car club was refused an insurance payout because he had a car club membership sticker on his windscreen.

The insurance company argued that membership of the car club was a material fact that should have been disclosed.

Did he escalate this to the Financial Ombudsman Service?

I find it difficult to believe that an insurer would be able to successfully deny a claim on the basis of a window sticker/membership of a club.

waynedance

I would not worry too much, how the hell is an insurance company going to know your clock has changed, it will still look standard fit.

It was there when you bought it right.

interstellaflyer

scotsbob wrote: »

A member of our car club was refused an insurance payout because he had a car club membership sticker on his windscreen.

The insurance company argued that membership of the car club was a material fact that should have been disclosed.

Is that for real? i have a Vectra C .com member sticker on my windscreen, along with a PAC (Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain) sticker, I fail to see the reasining for refusing a claim due to a membership sticker in the windscreen.

Anyways, back on topic, I've called my insurers and they have said If I was to fit the CD70 Nav system there would be no additional premium and it would be covered, if I was to do just the upgraed screen mod then they would note it on the policy, but damage to the screen would not be covered, which to be honest is no biggie as, should the car be written off they would pay out based on the standard car anyway.

Strider590

scotsbob wrote: »

A member of our car club was refused an insurance payout because he had a car club membership sticker on his windscreen.

The insurance company argued that membership of the car club was a material fact that should have been disclosed.

Often club membership can reduce your premiums (especially in the custom/kitcar crowds). Because of this affecting the premium (for better or worse) the insurer seems (in your example) to have followed some dumb a55 tick box approach when it came to assessing the claim.