Just wondering if people actually tell their insurance company that they have the aero kit fitted.
I have put down on my quote (cooper) that the car is worth £15000. It will be picked up with it on, so as far as I'm concerned it hasn't been 'modified'. They should realise by the price of the car that it has options fitted and ask what they are if they want to make sure what exactly people have bought.
If I bought it and then fitted new wheels and the a/kit 2 months later then I would class that to be modified, as it wouldn't have been picked up new in that condition.
If you bought an Audi and fitted sat/nav & TV etc you wouldn't tell your insurance company, as it was factory fitted. If you crashed it though, it would have a massive impact on the repair costs.
dinger is right, this has been discussed many times on Mini2. When I told my insurance company about 17 inch wheels they said it made a difference as they were more attractive to thieves, simarlarly an aero kit enhances the car and costs more to repair.
It's up to you but IMHO it's better to be safe than sorry.
If you don't tell the insurance company, it means they could be totally within their rights to not pay out should anything happen to your car. And there's nothing an insurance company likes more than an excuse to not pay out.
If I were you, I'd tell them. It increases the premium for a reason.
You've just said it yourself. Your car is modified. The critical question is something like: "Is the vehicle modified from the manufacturers standard specification?" This would mean the bog standard £11,300 base price of a Cooper. It doesn't matter what figure you think the car is worth - it's more for the Insurer to get an idea of the maximum replacement value that they may need to budget for.
BIG WARNING:
A lot of Insurers have been stung in the past insuring cars worth £3-4k. They then accept an additional premium for say insuring a set of 18" wheels and tyres not realising until a claim that the set of replacement wheels and tyres for essentially a heap is going to be £2k.
A lot of Insurers have added a clause that says that in the event of a claim or total loss, they will only pay out to return the car to the manufacturers standard spec - so theoretically they could replace your £15k optioned to the max with a bog standard Cooper.
One of the worst Insurers indulging in this practice is Admiral who also own Bell Direct and Diamond amongst a few others. Therefore PLEASE PLEASE read the Policy Document online before accepting the quote.
Insurance is loaded against the customer, you need to minimise that and control the Insurers. I always give a full spec sheet to the insurers and include basic stuff like carpet mats, alloy tax disc holder, mini2.com sticker on rear window, first aid kit.
There is just one moon and one golden sun; And a smile mean friendship to ev'ryone; Through the mountains divide, and the oceans are wide; It's a small world after all.
I am still in the process of collecting quotes in Germany. One of the larger insurers here has given me a quote based on the basic car then there is a form to complete saying that EUR3000 (£2100 / US$3500) worth of 'extras' won't increase the premium
Although I just tip over this, it sounds pretty fair for factory fitted extras - maybe this is also an option in England?
If it is the case that insurance companies pay out on only the basic cooper, does everyone who buys one tell their insurance company exactly what options are fitted? I don't think so. Therefore I reckon that probably 95% of mini's on the road would technically not be paid out for if stolen/crashed as chilli packs, clear lights etc were not mentioned when buying the policy.
Telling them everything about your car is wise I suppose, but they will simply see it as an excuse to add £s onto the premium, when they already want £800+ anyway.
I believe that it should be the insurance company and not the policy holder who has to take the initative over added extras. For example, when you get a quote for a mini it should then list all the possible extras for you to chose from. The way they simply say 'cooper' or 'one', is simply inviting you to buy a policy, which they know will nine times out of ten, be void if and when a claim is made.
I will tell them, but if they then say they want another few hundred pounds for the aero kit, I will tell them that their quote system should be changed to take things like this into account. Hopefully they will see sense and not charge me anymore, although knowing insurance companies its not very likely is it?
If you want to protect your investment then you need to tell them what options you have had fitted otherwise you will give them the excuse of not paying out in the event of a claim.
Thats maybe the case,but if you dont who's going to get short changed if you ever have to put a claim in.
Direct Line load Chili Packs by 10%, so some companies are more aware than others.
I disagree Omega. The Policyholder should take the initiative over cover for the added extras. Otherwise this leads the insurance process open to abuse and I'd rather not have my premium increased to pay for those who don't want to pay a fair premium for a certain level of cover. If someone had paid £100 for £30K's worth of contents cover, then is it fair for them to receive £40K because they forgot to tell the insurance company of some new possessions?
I cannot see, even in this InfoTech age, of a computer system that could cover every possible option for every car on the market. If there were the costs would push up premiums.
Pigs are more likely to fly
There is just one moon and one golden sun; And a smile mean friendship to ev'ryone; Through the mountains divide, and the oceans are wide; It's a small world after all.
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