What effect does modifying your car have on insurance premiums?

[StateOfPlay]

Every time I talk to insurance companies they ask if the car has been modified in any way.

I recently had a small accident and that's the question they asked first, has it been modified.

For those of you who have modified your cars, what effect did it have on premiums?

Is there a mod that insurance companies do not like?

 

[skyinsurance]

Every time I talk to insurance companies they ask if the car has been modified in any way.

I recently had a small accident and that's the question they asked first, has it been modified.

For those of you who have modified your cars, what effect did it have on premiums?

Is there a mod that insurance companies do not like?

How modifications are catered for will vary wildly from insurer to insurer. For modified car insurance you are best off looking for modified insurance specialists.

 

[sportstractor]

Think mine went up £50 or so when declaring map and lowering springs. Not alot on the grand scale of things, gives you that piece of mind that if you did have to claim, that the mods wouldn't be an issue.

I remember when I was 18 it would of been alot more to declare mods.

 

[Westy]

Greenlight are a modification specialist insurer and they wanted £499 with all mods declared. Now compare that with Admiral who wanted £470 just for a standard car. I didn't bother to find out how much Admiral wanted for all mods declared as it wasn't going to be less than the £30 difference.

 

[EAndy]

SKY Insurance charged me £70 on the M3 for declaring, a list of 20+ modifications which would be replaced like for like in an accident. Considering just a modified backbox on an M3 is £1,400 was a good £70 to spend.

RS4 is bog standard now unless the rear windows were tinted after it left the dealership but as I've no original spec listing I've not declared them as it was a factory upgrade option.

SKY insurance and as the chap above mentioned Greenlight are very good for modified cars and import ones if you ever go that route.

 

[audigex]

As mentioned, the car is only one part of your insurance. If you're young and in a high risk postcode, then it probably won't be much compared to your premium anyway. If you're 45, 9 years NCB and living in rural Cumbria, it'll be a bigger increase.

The type of mod matters, too. Aesthetic stuff tends not to make much difference, although it does increase premiums if a young male adds a spoiler to a corsa because they figure it's a laddy type who's more likely to crash. Performance mods tend to add more - exhausts, maps, suspension changes, bigger turbos etc. Tinted windows can occasionally decrease premiums, as it's harder to see what to nick out of the back. Expensive stereo systems again increase it, not because you're higher risk for a crash, but because it's more expensive to replace and is more likely to be stolen.

Then again, I'm convinced insurance companies make it up as they go along.