Do you tell your insurance company of mods?

[BTB 500]

spam posts reported.

 

[duncanh]

What is the panel's opinion about the EGR shunt?

If someone fits the EGR shunt to their car (as outlined in the Dieselman post on the other forum), would this need to be notified to your insurance?

The shunt involves a wiring modification and the addition of a diode and a couple of resistors. It is fitted inside the fuse box/ECU enclosure and connected to the wires that come out of the ECU.

What would an insurance assessor think of this if he saw the wiring and components?

Some modifiers claim performance and mpg improvement, which could make an insurance company claim that the car has a performance modification.

Would you notify your insurer if you fitted the shunt?

 

[sinewave]

It's just a temporary fix to keep the car mobile until a new EGR can be sourced!

It costs enough for mods as it is, I pay £250 more than I could insure an E63 for after declaring a map, uprated suspension, uprated brakes and 19" rims yet I can have a car with all these things and more plus 514 BHP for £250 less than a 320 Diesel!

 

[artyman]

Just asked my insurer Churchills, about a Brabus box on a C200CDI to improve mpg, quote is an extra £108 that's £47 more than a C220 which is what the output is reputed to increase to, Ridiculous !!

 

[mxs]

I always declare any modifications, the most I have ever had to pay extra is £15 for replacing stock 17" wheels with 20" ones.

 

[BTB 500]

Just asked my insurer Churchills, about a Brabus box on a C200CDI to improve mpg, quote is an extra £108 that's £47 more than a C220 which is what the output is reputed to increase to, Ridiculous !!

The power output is largely academic - it's the fact that the car is now 'modified' which affects the premium. Statistically that makes you a higher risk, just as certain occupations etc. do.

 

[whitenemesis]

The power output is largely academic - it's the fact that the car is now 'modified' which affects the premium. Statistically that makes you a higher risk, just as certain occupations etc. do.

Quite..

My 270CDI (170bhp) was classed as modified because of the lowered suspension . My "stock" CLS (470bhp) is an AMG with a supercharged V8 and all the toys but costs me £80 a year less to insure!!

 

[Paul/]

I guess the insurers view the risk as higher both in terms of probability of an accident (non-cosmetic mods might be regarded as more likely to contribute to an accident, either through failure or compromised handling/safety, and anyone interested in performance mods is probably regarded as a less safe driver)...and in potential cost of repair/replacement if non-standard bits involved.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Only mainstream insurance companies. There are times where mods will make insurance cheaper. My B200 Turbo as standard is £430 with the cheapest insurer (gocompare) with the Mercedes sport styling pack it moves upto £520 being the cheapest quote, but I then appeal to the specialist companies such as Adrian Flux. My insurance went down to £420 with mods and I am getting a remap done next week for an extra £75. If I went with a mainstream company my premium would have gone up to £740!

I mention all mods as it makes little difference to the premium but could make a big difference in the event of a claim. However I am concerned about mods that previous owners may have fitted that I would have no idea about, e.g. remaps, uprated shocks etc.

 

[artyman]

Well after some hunting around Adrian Flux sorted me for only £24 more than I was paying before, so happy with that. Still don't think I'll stick the Brabus badges on though as well past the boy racer age, more plodding pensioner

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Ive declared uprated badges on mine. I havent yet but am contemplating putting 'B25' when it receives its remap.

 

[BTB 500]

There are times where mods will make insurance cheaper. My B200 Turbo as standard is £430 with the cheapest insurer (gocompare) with the Mercedes sport styling pack it moves upto £520 being the cheapest quote, but I then appeal to the specialist companies such as Adrian Flux. My insurance went down to £420 with mods and I am getting a remap done next week for an extra £75. If I went with a mainstream company my premium would have gone up to £740!

Are you comparing exact like-for-like (excess, European cover, access to hire car, etc.)?

What did Adrian Flux quote for the standard car?

Even with specialist companies mods generally put the premium (and/or excess) up, rather than down.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Ive been told that it depends on the mods. If they are cosmetic based the right companies can reduce your premium in the same way that stating you are a member of a forum such as this can knock 10% off - you're an enthusiast and will take care of your car. You will be more clued up on the upkeep of the car, brakes, fluids and generally maintain it to a higher and thus safer standard.

The Adrian Flux quote was much better than the standard companies quote. Not only was it around £100 less but I got 90 days EU cover, the standard one was 72 hours. My excess went from £700 down to £350 and I got legal fees included which was not in the standard quote. It depends on how much those are worth to you but the overall value is actually better than £100.

Performance quotes do increase though. Mine go up by a like for like %, i.e. if a remap increases the BHP by 15% my premium increases by 15%.

 

[Dieselman]

Only mainstream insurance companies. There are times where mods will make insurance cheaper. My B200 Turbo as standard is £430 with the cheapest insurer (gocompare) with the Mercedes sport styling pack it moves upto £520 being the cheapest quote, but I then appeal to the specialist companies such as Adrian Flux. My insurance went down to £420 with mods and I am getting a remap done next week for an extra £75. If I went with a mainstream company my premium would have gone up to £740!

Sooo....Two different companies quote different prices.


And...??

Surely , the price rise from £520 to £740 means that the mods increase the premium.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Overall the standard, no mod quote from a regular insurance co. was £10 more expensive than the cosmetically modded quote from a specialist company. It was not simply 2 different quotes from 2 different companies. The mainstream quote was the lowest taken from many others.

The cosmetically modded quote from a mainstream insurance co. was around £100 more (£520) moving up to £750 with a performance mod.

I hope that makes it easier to understand.

 

[BTB 500]

The Adrian Flux quote was much better than the standard companies quote. Not only was it around £100 less but I got 90 days EU cover, the standard one was 72 hours. My excess went from £700 down to £350 and I got legal fees included which was not in the standard quote. It depends on how much those are worth to you but the overall value is actually better than £100.

But unless you have a quote from them for the standard car to compare with you can't claim "There are times where mods will make insurance cheaper."

Insuring my SL this year I had like-for-like quotes from different companies ranging from just over £300 to almost £2000!

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Adrian Flux are brokers in the same way that gocompare are. They do cover non modded cars but my mods meant that I was insured under a modded department of LV. LV standard insurance didnt even feature in the top 5 when searching non mod quotes. I look at the insurance as a whole rather than individual companies, that is why I said that with mods I was able to get a cheaper quote.

 

[steeplejack]

do you need to inform them if you fit winter tyres with non standard wheels, alloy or other?

 

[MB-BTurbo]

Who knows? The ombudsman has ruled against insurance companies wriggling out of claims for trivial matters such as winter tyres but itchy stop them trying it on.

 

[MB-BTurbo]

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