Do you declare your mods?

[Staz]

So I am thinking of changing my car so have been doing some insurance quotes to weigh up my options. I have a Stage 1 remap and CAI and have been declaring the mods since day 1.

I normally get a reasonable price from Chris Knott but for the sake of comparison I used one single comparison site and the only variable I changed was the car:

• Standard '08 S3 - £260
• Modded S3 - £525

I'm really shocked that I would be paying twice as much for about 40 horses and a bit of noise!!! Not really reasonable IMHO.

So, be honest, do you declare your mods?

 

[sliced]

some people do some people dont, most people my age don't.

Depends what it is tbh, if its like oem upgrades then i personally wouldnt.

Declaring tints for me was £154 extra, so decided against tints.

Mate wrote off his mk5 with a gti bodykit,lowered, and a remap, insurance didn't even say anything and paid out, all depends tbh.

 

[Dave-S3]

When i get round to modding my car, yes i will be declaring mods. I went down the route of the specialist insurers when i started buying hot hatches and absolutly none of them could complete with the prices off the comparison sites.

Elephant for me are the cheapest with some mods declared on my S3. Exhaust, filters, engine chip to + 25% of total BHP power comes in at about £850 and i will be 24 when i redo my policy.

I dont think its worth not declaring nowadays, if you have a smash or need to make a claim, im sure most insurance companies will see these sorts of cars and check imminetly for something that isnt standard spec, might be a little different if you had remapped your repomobile A6 but on a performance hatch, most definatley!!

 

[S3Alex]

Always have,even when the Cosworth was costing me over £2k a year to insure.

There's no point not doing it,as the insurance would be invalid otherwise.


Luckily,I'm pretty ancient now,so it costs me around £600/yr now,with everything declared.

 

[Staz]

Always have,even when the Cosworth was costing me over £2k a year to insure.

There's no point not doing it,as the insurance would be invalid otherwise.


Luckily,I'm pretty ancient now,so it costs me around £600/yr now,with everything declared.

Yeah I'm 33 so I'm paying less than I could be but I still feel robbed paying TWICE as much. To put it into a bit of perspective, one of the cars I'm looking at is a Cayman S, that comes in at £387

 

[S3Alex]

Yeah I'm 33 so I'm paying less than I could be but I still feel robbed paying TWICE as much. To put it into a bit of perspective, one of the cars I'm looking at is a Cayman S, that comes in at £387

Greenlight are usually very good to me,so if you haven't already,they're worth a call.

But I know what you mean.....opening the renewal notice on the Sierra and finding it had gone up to £2200 was a bit of a shock at the time.

 

[SteveMcB]

I don't think it's worth the risk if, god forbid, you were involved in a serious accident and you hadn't declared a remap or something you could be left facing a massive civil claim from the other party. I'm 'lucky' enough to be pretty ancient as well now but have also found Elephant to be pretty good, I'm paying less than £300 fully comp protected on my 3.0tdi with shark map.

 

[S3_Mat]

Quote me happy gave me £550 a year for standard car. I'm 29, 1year NCB. QMH, wont insure modified or at least not for me, I did a bit of exploring however and with stage 2+ mods declared including coilovers and upgraded brakes and aftermarket wheels i got a quote of £800 from admiral which is impressive given the low NCB.

Tip: Use a comparison site find your best/most appropriate quote, then go to that insurers website and re-quote. It is almost always cheaper. Mate was trying to get insured on a 350z at 24 with 5 years NCB best was £1100 quid from Bell/Admiral on compare the market. Re-quoted on Bell's website.. £600. There were no differences in values input, mental really.

To the OP, I haven't declared mods on previous cars but i do intend to do this one by the book, as i had a lucky escape one time and dont with to put myself through the stress of wondering if you will get a pay out or not! Its just not worth it. Shopping around for the best deal before you modify is usually the answer.

 

[smurfworth]

Could have been remapped before you bought it, I know a few that have gone to remap cars that have already been remapped. How do you really honestly know it's not been mapped before you had it.

 

[sliced]

Could have been remapped before you bought it, I know a few that have gone to remap cars that have already been remapped. How do you really honestly know it's not been mapped before you had it.

I've heard that it records the date the ECU was flashed.... although this could be complete BS.

 

[Staz]

I've heard that it records the date the ECU was flashed.... although this could be complete BS.

That in itself isn't any proof though, however I wouldn't want to get into an argument with an insurance company over the matter!

 

[smurfworth]

I've heard that it records the date the ECU was flashed.... although this could be complete BS.

it is indeed bs, most big tuners lock the maps anyway after so anyone other than them cannot access it

 

[sliced]

it is indeed bs, most big tuners lock the maps anyway after so anyone other than them cannot access it

not sure as a lot of people when taking their audis for service and get their firmware updated lose their Ecu maps

 

[smurfworth]

not sure as a lot of people when taking their audis for service and get their firmware updated lose their Ecu maps

yea, that's because Audi can write over a map but they cannot read the map off the Ecu and open it up to see what data is inside it

 

[sliced]

yea, that's because Audi can write over a map but they cannot read the map off the Ecu and open it up to see what data is inside it

Lol just imagine they dyno your car to check😂😂😂

 

[T8DPR]

ALWAYS declare your mods, otherwise your insurance is void if an accident happens and you're at fault, because if I was your insurer, I wouldn't pay out, and its possible you could be charged under the same conditions as having no insurance, IE 6 points + fine

the insurance isn't altered purely on the basis of what extras your car has, everything else on the side is taken into account, usually statistically and relative to your postcode, do modified car drivers drive like they would on a race track??

My car is cosmetically modified, and has NO power increasing engine upgrades at all

all show no go cheap insurance

 

[gilberto]

Yeah I'm 33 so I'm paying less than I could be but I still feel robbed paying TWICE as much. To put it into a bit of perspective, one of the cars I'm looking at is a Cayman S, that comes in at £387

I was surprised how much the S3 was to insure, i'm paying double over my Z4M.

 

[davc]

All mods whether cosmetic or performance related should always be declared.

Never mind the insurers not paying out on a claim, one may find it difficult to get insurance in future.

 

[bigluke]

i have traders so i dont have to tell declair them i did ask when i dropped a skyline engine in my 200sx and they wasnt bothered

 

[JJ.Foulds]

some people do some people dont, most people my age don't.

Depends what it is tbh, if its like oem upgrades then i personally wouldnt.

Declaring tints for me was £154 extra, so decided against tints.

Mate wrote off his mk5 with a gti bodykit,lowered, and a remap, insurance didn't even say anything and paid out, all depends tbh.

YOU HAVE TO DECLARE TINTS? £154 more? it should go down as break in will be less popular surely?!

This is MADNESS...

JJ.

 

[sliced]

YOU HAVE TO DECLARE TINTS? £154 more? it should go down as break in will be less popular surely?!

This is MADNESS...

JJ.

loool I was like that does include you tinting them for me

 

[SteveMcB]

It wouldn't matter when it was mapped, only that it had been. In the eyes of the law when an offence has been committed 'ignorance is not a defence' (not my terminology btw) ie if you are stopped doing 60 on a road that was a 40 and you genuinely didn't realise you would still get donged. Your insurers are still obliged to cover your third party risk, so you likely wouldn't be prosecuted for driving without insurance, but you could well kiss your own loss goodbye and be the subject of a civil claim, without the legal assistance your insurers would usually stump up for. I suspect that in less expensive incidents loss adjusters wouldn't go to the trouble of giving your car such a thorough going over but when investigating claims which can run to 100s of thousands you can bet they will leave no stone unturned if it will save them some money. Taking out the ecu of a wrecked car and hooking it up to a laptop would be the first thing I would do and I'm not even that devious!
Definately get a quote before you so the mod and for a whole year as opposed to extending to the end of your current cover. I was caught out by Admiral who quoted an extra £40 for my scooby remap and then, come renewal, doubled the premium. That's when I went to Elephant.

 

[Broken Byzan]

mods not declared potentially = no insurance. No brainer seeing insurance companies will weasel out of any claim if they can find a way

 

[Kelza]

Declared my mods with adrian flux and was still a great price for the rs3

 

[voorhees]

Another memberhere who declared mods and also with Adrian Flux who have a company who are modification friendly :thumbsup:

As said no declaration no insurance = no brainer

 

[SPARTAN91]

Declared my mods with adrian flux and was still a great price for the rs3

Same here declared all with AF got the best price went to see them for a face to face chat as there HQ is only a 30min ride away from me.

 

[Staz]

A lot of people sharing similar thoughts but the poll results so far are pretty interesting!

 

[leeds2592]

Declare them. Insurance companies definitely don't need an excuse to wriggle out of paying out!

 

[screechmr2]

I've alway declared. Once on my Toyota mr2 because it was so heavily modified only 1 company would even quote! My current car has mods declared and i'm with Admiral

 

[S3_Mat]

Admiral seem a good bet, as do adrian flux always best to get quote directly from these companies websites for best results! Also one thing to point out that one mod may increase your premium significantly higher than standard, but subsequent mods on top of that have a negligible difference, unless its significant power gains.

 

[Dannykn9]

Definately best to declare all mods. But to those guys who don't, word of advice, do not openly admit it here or any other forum as insurance companies do randomly patrol these sites.
So stay safe, and declare ;-)

 

[skyinsurance]

mods not declared potentially = no insurance. No brainer seeing insurance companies will weasel out of any claim if they can find a way

If you were in the business of gambling on risks, would you pay out if one of your customers fraudulently represented the risk to you?

 

[pwilliamson1991]

I think peoples reluctance to declare mods is related to their age. Its probably going to be a lot more expensive for a younger driver to declare mods ( I would have thought ).

 

[S3_Mat]

I think peoples reluctance to declare mods is related to their age. Its probably going to be a lot more expensive for a younger driver to declare mods ( I would have thought ).

Also there may be belief at a younger age that you can somehow get away with it, and some do. I dont think the comprehension is fully there as to what the full consequences could be if a really large claim was to be made. Especially where people may have been injured and persue compensation. With no valid insurance you are personally liable which could possibly mean a huge amount of debt to repay for a considerable part of your young life, along with the loss of your car.

Its a fact of life that you cant always have your cake and eat it, if you shop around and still cant insure the motor you want, with the mods you want, for the price you can afford, you need to consider a change of vehicle. Not risk financial ruin because you didn't declare an intake or whatever.

 

[sliced]

The worst is when you see adverts for like massively modified cars, ie corsa with c20let conversions and on the advert it says cheap insurance - only registered as a 1.4. That really grinds my gears lol, its not cheap its insurance, its expensive NO insurance.

Also some people who have imports ie, have an imported wrx sti as a GL on the logbook, so they think they are covered with a "150bhp model" when infact their cars are like double/triple the power, not even registered correctly!

 

[_Zerocool_]

+1 for Greenlight insurance. When I had my Golf I was with elephant. Remapped it, lowered it, put 18s on it and it ended up being cheaper when I changed to Greenlight (Elephant wouldn't insure me with the Mods)
Or if you or your partner work for any Civil service or government dept check out CSMA insurance for decent discounts...

 

[Tomplumb]

Prestige Keep Moving we're pretty good for me. £1200 with 4yrs ncb. Not cheap but consider that its parked on an east London street and over 340bhp. Also 3 points and 2 previous (non-fault) claims.

 

[JJ.Foulds]

+1 for prestige. they gave me a near lowest quote equivalent to the comparison sites. but with these i can add MOD's and remaps for no added price? sounds like a win to me.

Also the fact i can ring them, and i get the same 2 or 3 people that work there. great service from all. I spent months on phone to them quoting and discussing things before i even bought in!

JJ.

 

[boost-addict]

I dont have any mods ........

 

[S3_Jacko]

Hey guys.... I was reading this thread and decided to do a bit of experimenting with a well known comparison site, for talks sake we'll call it 'Brian' and in my opinion judging from this, insurance companies (Most, not all) dont know their backsides from their elbows and generalise their quotes far too much!

I was as honest as humanly possible in all quotes... I'm 33 next week, been driving for 15yrs (No accidents or claims)(Drive about 40k a yr in my works van with no accidents), currently got 4yrs no claims due to a fk up by performance direct on my Mr2 GT (would have had 8 but thats another story).. Got a clean license except from 7 points that are still within the 5yr previous (Never been banned).... I drive a 2008 pre-facelift S3, standard car with rear light smoked tints and 8p3 18" 5-arm rotors (factory option wheel)... (Basically looks the exact same as a s3 black edition) anyway heres my results as follows.... All quotes are on fully comp basis.. and all are the cheapest quote offered

Standard car £388.22
Standard car (With rear tints + Factory option wheels... basically a black edition)(All factory mods) £649.37
Got a quote for a black edition.. exact same details £375.19... thats a difference of £274.18 because of the title of the car, even though they are identical in every way....
Standard car (With factory wheels, rear tints and a stage 1 remap) £974.14
Black edition S3 (With stage 1 remap) £697.48 a difference of £276.66 because of the title of the car...

So basically insurance companies will rip your personal details to shreds instead of looking at the cars that they are covering in more detail... How can it be way cheaper to cover the exact same car with different styling details a lot cheaper... you would think that these details as standard are just as appealing to any potential thief as they are modded by the factory afterwards!

This just must be purely down to the title of the car being different, with not as much stats or whatever??.... but this is what upsets me about most insurance companies... they havent got a clue! Maybe if they got their act together then there wouldnt be so many undeclared mods...
And what i've learned from this... When I sell my car, the next 1 I buy will definitely be a Black edition whatever it is!

If any insurance companies reading this post have an opinion on this, i'd like to see it!