6 replies to this topic

[Mini-Dave]

Hi there

cough"insurance"cough

before you start moaning, i spent 2 hours searching insurance posts this morning and didnt find anything like this...

People always say that you must declear every single mod on your car, which i completly agree with, and have done on my previous cars.

theres also alot of people that say you should declare the obvious mods, but things like bored engines, uprated cams, ect they think theres no need to.

ive always agrued that if you have a big accident, the insurance company will send someone round and check the car over.

however the other week, i was talking about it, and this guy made a point, that it must cost the insurer a fair bit to get someone to go and check your car, let alone, to strip the engine, count teeth, check cam timing and all the rest of it.

so basically im asking people that have been in a big accident or small what ever, AND HAVE HAD SOMEONE COME AND CHECK THERE CAR....

im not tryin to start an arguement or anything, im just intrested to know how far insurers will stick to there rules if you like.



Another point, have YOU delclared all your ENGINE mods ? cause i know that ALOT of people i know, dont.

Thanks

(ps. i also noticed that jammy and miniboo apeared in every insurance topic , lets see how long it takes.)

[Guess-Works.com]

On mine, I declare what they ask for, so if you say the engines been modified, they will usually ask you for a CC and BHP figure... even things like up rated shocks, hilo's, alloy wheels, disk brakes... anything which is mechanically different from std.

The thing is, yes they will inspect your car, and anything which is non-standard and not on your policy, will reduce their valuation of the vehicle..

eg.. I had a mazda323 which was side swiped, apart from the alloy wheels ( which were on the policy ) the only non std item was the head unit and speakers ( had a speaker board instead of the rear parcel shelf ) because these were not declared ( they weren’t worth insuring in my mind ) when they valued the car, they valued it @ 50% market value because of the mods. However still having the std items, they were *cough* persuaded to re value the car with the std steelies, head unit and parcel shelf, at which point it got repaired instead of being written off.

So the moral of the story is... what you don't declare, don't expect any compensation for, and don't attempt to hide anything as that will make them even more thorough in their inspection.

[Jammy]

Plus, if you have a crash due to a mechanical failure of something, for example, your engine blows up, you crash, and perhaps injure someone (or worse kill), at which point it could potentially become VERY expensive for the insurance company. There fore they may wish to take your engine and thoroughly inspect it, and if they were to find a non-standard item that wasn't declared on the policy, they would happily use this as an excuse to void your insurance policy, landing you with the bill for any accident claim, along with the injury claim.

[300bhp/ton]

Sadly insurance is a grey area, and in short if they can screw you over, they will.

Now remember if you don't have an assured value for your car then an insurance company will not pay out for any mods, even ones that have been declared.

So for regular fully comprehensive insurance on a Mini with say a stage 4 head, race cam, balanced bottom end, twin carbs, suspension, brakes, wheels and interior mods all declared. All the insurance company will do is payout for the book price of a regular Mini to the same model and condition.

And by declaring the mods they simply increase your premium for no reason other than profitering, or basically legalised robbery.

If you have a gauranteed valuation (many classic polices offer this) then no matter what you are guaranteed to get that amount if written off. Mods that have been declared will become part of the agreed valuation.

Personally I would be more vague than specific when getting insurance. So if it's modified say yes, but when they ask, simply state it in the most generic terms.

Example, sports exhaust - this covers the entire exhaust system and manifold. If they wanted specific details they should ask for specific details.

Same goes with engine or wheels. Proving cc of an engine is not quick or easy. And at the end of the day the insurance company has indured the car as is, if it has a bigger engine, who's to say the previous owner didn't fit it, and you knew nothing about it.

NEVER lie, but only give as much information as required, else all you are doing is shooting yourself in the foot.

[Mini-Dave]

Thanks for you replys.

Can i just verify, im not planning on tryin to trick them

300bhp/ton - You say only give them what they ask for, but what if they come to check the car over, and find something like an adj rear cambre bracket, that you hadent specifide, cause they hadnt asked...yeah you can tell them well they didnt ask, but they can just deny it?

i still find it hard to belive tho, insurance companys must deal with SO many claims every single day, that it must cost them a hell of a lot to pay someone to strip your engine.... and then for them to find that the person had actualy declared everything, so then theyve got to pay out for the claim aswell...

still no answers to my original question tho, has anyone actualy had there car / cars inspected..

also, has anyone had a big acident and not had there car inspected, but the insurance company paid out?

Dave

[minislapper]

Now remember if you don't have an assured value for your car then an insurance company will not pay out for any mods, even ones that have been declared.

Another reason for paying the pitiful amount and insuring your car properly on an agreed value policy.

also, has anyone had a big acident and not had there car inspected, but the insurance company paid out?

I doubt very much any insurance company would pay out without having a car inspected. Otherwise, they only have your word for it about the accident and any damage.

[Jammy]

It is upto you to declare ALL modifications that deviate from standard. I very much suspect you'll find a similarly worded clause in the Terms and Conditions of your insurance policy.