Just wondering how much people fork out for their insurance, as mine is still sky high. On a R56 cooper s, with two years no claims age 19, best quote is £1800 with admiral/ elephant! Thats without declaring any mods. Was also wondering where people stand on declaring modification on their car.. I know people who have spent thousands on mods and not declared any of them and also also people who have declared minor things like de-badging etc.. I know everything should be declared, but its tempting not to having already payed 2K!
Sorry to hear, was that uninsured altogether or they had void insurance ? On a side note i have noticed a fairly large general decrease in the recent months as women's insurance has gone up
No admittedly, he hadn't modified his car. He was a middle aged black guy who just didn't bother with insurance. The outcome however would have be the same as a null and void policy due to modding. Insurance companies are becoming very cheeky, at least the cheap ones are. A company called Bell (part or the Admiral group) was being awkward when our previous car, a Golf, had been in a non fault claim. They said it had been modified. They were talking about the factory fitted options - winter pack, comfort pack etc.
I work for an insurance company, ok not the vehicle side, but we do hear the stories.
Any modification to the car, ie it was not as it originally left the factory, will be considered as something the owners done or is aware of and thus has not declared it.
Even fitting after market black window tint is considered by the industry as a mod and as such in the event of a claim where the car needs to be inspected can result in your policy being declared void or it the very least payout reduced.
You really do need to tell them EVERYTHING to be sure nothing will come back and bite you on the bum should the worst occur.
Nun, you say 'as it originally left the factory' - how does that work with factory fitted options like Chili pack,heated screen, heated seats,media pack, black wheels etc??
Don't the insurers know this from the VIN (do they even know the VIN, thinking about it)
Chilli pack etc is ordered as part of the factory build and so classed as factory.
You tell the insurers what options were fitted as it left the factory.
What I mean is the car as it leaves the factory with whatever the factory options were fitted would be classed a unmodified, its things fitted and and done after then you should declare.
I was going to go with bell last year after getting a good quote, never realised they fit a tracker. After a 20 min phone call confirming all the detail he asked when would it be convenient to fit the tracker, I was like
No personal experience, but I read it on the tinterweb so must be true seriously though, it's been mentioned lots over the years on various forums (although granted, doesn't make it absolutely true).
Best I could find was this alcohol related, but still WITH an insurance policy, but has been made VOID...
When buying a secondhand vehicle which is a few years old and has had a number of different owners, how is the new owner supposed to know which parts are not original? I'm very new to minis and find that there have been so many variations and options I wouldn't know what to say to a prospective insurer when they ask the question about it being modified!! I would be honest if I had modified it. Then, if I were to be in an accident and the vehicle was inspected they might find mods done by previous owners which could easily void my insurance as they might say I wasn't being honest about modifications.
What's the situation as there must be loads of others like me.
My wife's car was hit from behind at very low speed but still damaged the rear bumper. Insurance details were exchanged and all seemed well at first but after many weeks nothing was happening with our insurance company getting payment from the other drivers insurance. Finally we found out that the other drivers insurance had been cancelled back to inception. We believe that he had not declared relevant facts about himself or his car. As a result we were now dealing with an uninsured driver. So be aware.
With regard to buying second hand and not being sure what is standard equipment and what is after market mods, this is down to the driver to know or find out and declare all mods on his insurance. As has already been said, if you have an accident and the specification on your car is found to be other than standard, (or as declared), you risk a rejection of your claim. If the car is a write-off you are unlikely to receive any payment.
I can't help thinking there's a lot of mini owners out there who haven't got a clue that their pride and joy has been modded and is therefore not insured.
How right you are. It is so easy to overlook or convince yourself that it won't matter but it does. I had an Audi A1 and fitted a TMC tuning box. I declared this to my insurance company as the car was worth 16k and did not want to take the risk. It cost me £200 in additional premium so I can see why people take the chance.
Last edited by RobbieA; Jan 15th, 2013 at 09:39 AM.
Reason: typo
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seriously though, it's been mentioned lots over the years on various forums (although granted, doesn't make it absolutely true).
