8 replies to this topic

[gazza01]

Hi all.

 

Have upgraded my engine from a 1275 to 1330. Obiously i will need to contact my insurers, but do i need to go into the spec of the engine and if so has anyone found this to be a massive amount more in money terms. We are only talking internals here,

rather than superchargers, turbos etc.

[Orange-Phantom]

I'd say so.  Best to be honest with insurance companies, at the end of the day if something went wrong (accident etc) and they investigated you could find yourself without insurance, just when you need it.  Not worth the risk IMO.

 

I've not found it too bad with all of my declared mods £230 a year fully comp with milage restriced to 3,000 miles.  (it only comes out at weekends and / or in nice weather so I don't need any more miles than that).  I did find quotes varied quite a bit between insurance co's but found Richard Hoskins the best for me, so it still pays to shop around.

[Richey]

When I had a bit of work doing on my Mini (upgrade to stage 1 kit) the insurers were more bothered about how much more the car was worth with the upgrades, rather than how much more powerful it was. Didn't really put my premium up much.

[coopdog]

A certain amount of rebore is ok as it's seen as more as just a repair type of thing :L

[gazza01]

What about cams, lightened flywheels, staged heads etc?

[Cooperman]

A re-bore to 1293, 1310 and 1330 is classed as a service repair and is not a modification. A bore to 1380 would need to be declared.

Remember, BMC used to do a 'Gold Seal' replacement engine which had been re-bored to the next size up and these came without the new capacity being declared anywhere. So the BMC Dealer would just fit one as a repair.

It's when you do work which is clearly obvious, like fitting twin SU's or a supercharger that there is an issue. It could be said that any BMC camshaft is a standard option as they could be supplied new and were homologated as standard.

With classic cars an owner doesn't necessarily know what he has. I sold an Innocenti which was at 1330 cc after it's re-bore, but the V5 says it's 1275 cc and it is not a requirement to change it after re-boring so long as the engine number stays the same.

[gazza01]

Which it hasn't. As its a different engine altogether. With a mini specialists own engine number.

[AVV IT]

Anything that increases performance needs to be declared, as does any modification from standard spec, so declare everything!

Insurers calculate premiums according to risk, and as they tend to deem any increase in power as an increase in risk, they'll generally want to know about all of it. Whilst re-bores could well be considered as service repairs, as opposed to modifications, especially if they have been carried out in stages, I personally would still declare them (in writing) and let the insurer decide if they deem them relevant or not. Insurers will do just about anything to wriggle out of paying out in a claim, so don't play into their hands and give them any oppurtunity to do so, if you're in doubt, just declare it anyway!

In terms of effect on premium, different insurers calculate premiums differently. When I went from a low compression 1275, to an MG metro engine + stage 1 kit (an increase of around 20 BHP) my insurers only charged me an extra £36 per year (£20 of which was actually an admin fee.) Others increse premiums on a propotional power:premium ratio. (I.e if you increase BHP by 25 %, then they also increase your annual premium by 25% to reflect this)

EDIT: Moved to insurance area

[gazza01]

Yeah, sound advice. They will always riggle. Thanks