Insurance + Declaring mods ?

[phil mcglassup]

What if granny buys herself a mini to do her shopping in without realising that the guy who owned it before her has changed the alloys, put on a sports exhaust system and an aero kit. Granny would have no idea until she pranged it and her insurance company told her that the insurance was void. I appreciate that ignorance is no defence - so does that mean that everytime we buy a secondhand car we have to take it to the local dealership to get written proof that the car is unmodified? I have googled this and there are some nightmare stories out there!!!

[Tigercub]

I had a 2008 Mini cooper S which i got from a mini dealer when it was only 4 months old it was an Ex Demo. The cooper S had been fitted with the JCW Aero body kit . Think you all know which one I am talking about side skirts and front and rear bumper. Only thing was the mini dealer had fitted these after they took delivery of the car from the factory. These parts now become a MOD as they were not fitted at the factory. I informed my insurance as if i did not inform them then my car insurance would have been void in the event of a claim. This then added almost £190.00 per year to my insurance. After about 2 years of paying this insurance I sold the car I can now Insure a Mini JCW for less per year. So beware but always imform the insurance of anything not factory fitted as you might find yourself with no insurance ...

[Tigercub]

Quote: Originally Posted by phil mcglassup (original)

What if granny buys herself a mini to do her shopping in without realising that the guy who owned it before her has changed the alloys, put on a sports exhaust system and an aero kit. Granny would have no idea until she pranged it and her insurance company told her that the insurance was void. I appreciate that ignorance is no defence - so does that mean that everytime we buy a secondhand car we have to take it to the local dealership to get written proof that the car is unmodified? I have googled this and there are some nightmare stories out there!!!

I contacted the Mini dealer and they checked the factory spec for my mini so that i could check what was factory fitted and what was not then i could make sure i was fully insured Although some insurance services look at modifications differently when some say its a mod some say it makes no odds but you need to ask them if they class certain things as a mod or not