Insurance and modifications

[XA04]

If you have a full standard car, with insurance, and decided to add some modifications - I believe you need to contact your insurance company. But if you didn't, would you be invalidating your policy or would you just not be covered for that part if it was damaged in an accident?

[Howard]

You'd be invalidating your policy. They wouldn't pay out if you stacked it. You'd probably also be liable for any compensation owed to a 3rd party, should the accident involve someone else.

[Shad]

Not actually true. When I stacked the Alfa I hadn't notified the company about my exhaust. When they asked (during the claim) if I'd modified it, I told them then.

Best way though is declare everything you do as you do it, then you know you will be covered.

[Ant]

As Howard said, you'd be invalidating your whole policy. And if you did have an accident, and your insurance gets invalidated, on top of being responsible for all costs, you could also get charged with driving without insurance. (What I've heard, so may not be fact)

Tell you insurance company everything, no matter how small... They will always look for ways to get out of paying, so don't give them a reason.

[Ant]

Not actually true. When I stacked the Alfa I hadn't notified the company about my exhaust. When they asked (during the claim) if I'd modified it, I told them then.

Best way though is declare everything you do as you do it, then you know you will be covered.

Sounds like you were lucky with that one. Insurance companies aren't known for being nice. I wouldn't take any chances.

[Howard]

Not actually true. When I stacked the Alfa I hadn't notified the company about my exhaust. When they asked (during the claim) if I'd modified it, I told them then.

That is unlikely to happen in most cases..!

[beanbandit]

Not actually true. When I stacked the Alfa I hadn't notified the company about my exhaust. When they asked (during the claim) if I'd modified it, I told them then.

Best way though is declare everything you do as you do it, then you know you will be covered.

Some insurance companies allow a minor mod or two, as long as it doesn't have a serious impact on your cars performance*. If your not sure about the modification then its best to ask your insurance company, the last thing you need is an accident and then find out your not covered.

*things may have changed, i used to know lots of people in the insurance business 10 years ago, and thats how some of their companies worked.

[Fox]

You'd be invalidating your policy. They wouldn't pay out if you stacked it. You'd probably also be liable for any compensation owed to a 3rd party, should the accident involve someone else.

This is not true.

The actual legal stance on this is as follows. Standard disclaimer applies - I am not a lawyer, this is simply my opinion based on interpretation of case law, etc.

Virtually all insurance policies include a clause that means you must inform them of any change to your vehicle - including modifications. If you do not, they can be entitled to invalidate the policy.

Now, what do we mean by invalidate the policy? Well, they can't totally avoid it - and you can't subsequently get done for driving without insurance. Insurers have obligations under law as well as we do - and an insurer will often state they reserve the right to restrict cover to that covered by the Road Traffic Act in the event of non-compliance of their conditions.

So, this means the third party you hit WILL get a payout, and infact will notice nothing different to what would have happened had you hit somebody with modifications declared. What you MIGHT find though is that they refuse to pay out for damage to your own car.

What they can also then do is recover the cost of meeting the claim from you through the courts - ie, sue you. This is a civil matter - it is not criminal.

Whether they'd go to this trouble is a matter of opinion - and certainly the courts would not see favourably on an insurance company who took a client to court after refusing to pay out for his vehicle to recover third party expenses becuase he forgot to mention he fitted a magic tree. The Insurance Ombudsman Service, of which there are a few case examples on their website, generally states refusal to honour the policy is only justifiable if the insurer would NOT have offered you insurance had they known about the modification.

There. Thats my opinion - don't take it is fact, etc..

[imroberts]

To sum things up simply, if you don't declare mods then your insurance is invalid.

And in my opinion you deserve what comes to you.

[imroberts]

To quote Direct Line's policy document, "we will cancel the policy, treat it as though it had never existed and we will not pay your claim" so they WILL NOT pay any part of the claim and you CAN subsequently be charged for driving without insurance

[Fox]

To quote Direct Line's policy document, "we will cancel the policy, treat it as though it had never existed and we will not pay your claim" so they WILL NOT pay any part of the claim and you CAN subsequently be charged for driving without insurance

Unfortunately it would appear the Road Traffic Act disagrees with this.

[Shad]

Indeed. However, unless you want to risk the possability of going to court or having other (potentially worse) problems when being involved with a claim, it's always best to declare any modifications.

Which is what I've always done since.

Although it was nice to insure the Ovlov as completely standard

[Barakka]

The Insurance Ombudsman Service, of which there are a few case examples on their website, generally states refusal to honour the policy is only justifiable if the insurer would NOT have offered you insurance had they known about the modification.

99% of insurance companies will not insure a vehicle with ANY modifications*, therefore this clause would be met and they can cancel the policy.

*I know this with all the fun I have every time I get a quote, if I phone 20 insurers I may, on a good day, get two that will quote.

[Butuz]

99% of insurance companies will not insure a vehicle with ANY modifications*.

Thats just not true. Plenty of companies are happy with mods - even companies i didnt expect such as admiral/elephant were fine about mods. Tesco was the only one i tried that completeley that didnt want to know, and they just didnt want to know the car full stop, nevermind the mods.

Butuz

[Konan555]

A few of them, such as elephant, will insure your car with certain modoifications but won't cover the modifications in a pay out.

E.G. £1000 of fiberglass bodykit gets wrecked in an accident, they'll only replace it with a standard item.

[Fox]

99% of insurance companies will not insure a vehicle with ANY modifications*, therefore this clause would be met and they can cancel the policy.

This is not true - almost all insurers *will* cover modifications but at varying costs - what a lot will not do is quote online for modified cars.

But, if they can say they would have refused the risk had you declared the modifications at the time, they are just in not paying out but this still doesn't free them of their obligation under the Road Traffic Act.