Insurance question

I used to work for an insurer until October last year, one of a few things used to often happen.

1. If they think it was reasonable you couldn't tell it was modified they MAY just charge you the additional amount in the event of a claim on top of your excess then refuse you cover at renewal.

2. If you are stopped at the roadside and the police ring your insurer to check then again you get a the additional charge + admin fee then they refuse to cover you from renewal, again only applicable if they think it's a genuine mistake.

3. If they think you lied to them and you get stopped then it gets fun, your policy gets voided and they refund your premium minus an admin/cancellation fee, you get an IN10 for driving with no insurance and as you are a new driver this means you lose your licence and have to re-take your test, the police confiscate your vehicle there and then at the roadside, you also get billed for this plus storage and they won't let you take it until someone can produce a valid certificate allowing them to drive it. You then face massively inflated insurance premiums for 5 years upon getting your licence back until the IN10 is over 5 years old.

4. You crash and they think you lied, you get all of the above in point 3, arrested for no insurance, lose licence etc plus your car is not repaired. They pay out to the third party and if medical costs are included or you write of a 70k Mercedes the sums can be huge which they then sue you for.

5. your car is nicked and found with loads of tat stuck to it smashed up or burned out, you get your insurance refunded again, get charged recovery/storage fees and get the burned out shell left on your driveway.

In short, if you can't afford to insure it properly don't buy it. I have seen MANY policys voided in my 2.5 years there.
 
Haggisman said:
Translation:

Hello good sirs of Overclockers, I have gone against all advice given in my previous thread, and bought (no R) a terrible car that I can't afford.

The car in question is a "limited edition", which appears to have a non-standard body kit and exhaust. Now although the "limited edition" car has a body kit as standard, the car I have purchased has a different body kit, and I am unsure if I should commit insurance fraud by not declaring this.

If I decide not to declare it, and I get stopped by the police, could I get arrested, or would I be able to get away with it by pretending I was unaware of the fact it had a non-standard body kit, despite the fact I've just admitted on a public forum that I'm fully aware of this? If I do decide to lie to my insurance company, but they find out and void my insurance, what happens?

Am I allowed to drive the car home after giving the insurance company false information, and then give the correct information afterwards?
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LMAO :p
 
Iamzod said:
I used to work for an insurer until October last year, one of a few things used to often happen.

3. If they think you lied to them and you get stopped then it gets fun, your policy gets voided and they refund your premium minus an admin/cancellation fee, you get an IN10 for driving with no insurance and as you are a new driver this means you lose your licence and have to re-take your test, the police confiscate your vehicle there and then at the roadside, you also get billed for this plus storage and they won't let you take it until someone can produce a valid certificate allowing them to drive it. You then face massively inflated insurance premiums for 5 years upon getting your licence back until the IN10 is over 5 years old..
.
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This is totally incorrect is it not? I have never understood the above to be the case at all....

If you have an active insurance policy on a certain VRM, then you are covered to the extent which the law requires no matter what. If the policy has some technicalities in it which come to light then this will result in a civil dispute between the policy holder and the insurance company. This is nothing to do with the police.

Whats confusing is that you say you have actually seen the above happen, but that isnt the way the law of this land works!?
 
Jez said:
This is totally incorrect is it not? I have never understood the above to be the case at all....

If you have an active insurance policy on a certain VRM, then you are covered to the extent which the law requires no matter what. If the policy has some technicalities in it which come to light then this will result in a civil dispute between the policy holder and the insurance company. This is nothing to do with the police.

Whats confusing is that you say you have actually seen the above happen, but that isnt the way the law of this land works!?
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I've seen policies voided, plenty, some of what I put may not be 100% as it's been 13 months and I forget a lot. It clearly states in the T&C's that your policy may be void if stuff is undeclared or declared wrong and you agree to that on signing up.

You may be correct on obtaining points/police though, my fussy memory may be mixing things up with people I had calling up at the roadside who forgot to renew.

I did get calls from the police though on occasions asking if modifications had been declared.
 
Its certainly a "special" edition. I hope you haven't bought that overpriced Ned wagon.

Traffic plod and your insurer aren't daft. You might just about have gotten away with the daft bodykit bit they will not believe you thought that combination of tat was on the car as standard. Consider that you will also be a prime target to be stopped for insurance or other checks and that if you wrap it your insurance company could become very interested very quickly.
 
Sadly, I think this well be the case. On the plus side, judging by the location of the car, I have a very slim chance of meeting him on the road :p
 
jaackla said:
Theres no need to say chav this and that because i do like the look of it but then everyone has different tastes but i cant get it anyway cos if i add the mods insurance is 3k for me :S
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It is a chav chariot though, and that is coming from someone who drives a chavy car.
 
jaackla said:
Just so you can all relax im 100% not buying the car xD the "Chaved up one" lol
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Fancy risking a link to the car you are now thinking of getting? Also young boys insurance is ridiculous my friend when he passed at 17 two years ago, paid £3000 for a 1.6 206 that was a good few years old.
 
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As a person involved in cutting down fraud at work for the benefit of the millions of motorists' insurance premiums, then you worry me, really do. Even coming onto a public forum no matter how exclusive and asking people if it would be ok to lie to your insurer gets me quite fustrated.

At any rate, get something you can afford. You have to look at running costs; MOT, costs if something goes wrong, tax, servicing, costs of tyres (bigger alloys means thinner more expensive tyres with quicker wear). If too you have an accident and I know you'll be confident you won't...your insurance premium will likely inflate. Long end short, there are too many cons about buying a car at £8000 on your current income. Aside from the fact this car isn't cheap by any standards, look at autotrader for SRi Corsas of this age and mileage from dealerships. Modifications REDUCE the value not increase.

I'd expect most people on here replying to your thread have a car, I personally am on my second car my first one being a 2000 Clio 1.2, I now have a 1.4i 2009 Astra; a bigger car and bigger engine...reasonable step up and it falls well within my wage, and seriously that's how it should be.

My advice to you as most on here will not fit right with what you want, but there are other reasonable options out there. I'd personally opt into recommending something French; Renault, Peugeot, Citreon...they generally don't hold their value that well which is beneficial in your case and you get plenty of bang for your buck. I'd make sure it has full service history, this is mainly to tell you the person selling it cared to keep it in good nick and gives you high chances it's all in good working order.
 
The engine in that corsa isn't even that great, its pretty thirsty for the relatively small amount of power it produces, you could probably get a bigger older and quicker car that costs less to insure.

Edit: and yes it would be stupid not to declare the mods on that car, it stands out and if the police do pull you over for any reason they could well question whether the mods are declared as you are a young driver after all and likely cant afford to insure mods.
 
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I havent yet seen seen a car to buy, im still looking around everyday for a car thats had no mods done to it, most cars for me that are 1.3 / 1.4 mayb some 1.6 are in between 2k and 2.4k insurance but when i get 1 yr ncb it drops soooo mad like under a grand so all i no is im going to drive like a slug :L and do the guy who says he frustrated on lieing to insurance lemme clear this up

1. loads of people do it
2. i wasent going to do it i wanted to no what happens if u dont declare it as i thought it was a limited edition and all limited editions have body kits so i didnt think i would have to
so for you saying ur getting frustrated its quite stupid when its something i was never going to do because i care to much about getting my licence more than most people as its going to benefit my life!!
 
Jez said:
I dread to think what an Insignia 2.8 V6 would cost for a 17 year old now (equivalent car).
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Slightly OT but they're actually quite cheap, Admiral quote me £903 a year FC on an Insignia VXR. Must be because hardly any young people drive them and write them off....
 
No at 19, but at 18 with only a year experience they were still only ~£1700 which isn't too far off most other quotes and was coming in much under 330/530i costs, surprising considering the 325BHP/5.5s level of power. Pretty sure there's an 18 year old on PH with one too.
 
I guess £1700 inflation adjusted isnt really any different to 2002 then :) Is this all just more media hype rubbish, surely not ;):D
 
jaackla said:
I havent yet seen seen a car to buy, im still looking around everyday for a car thats had no mods done to it, most cars for me that are 1.3 / 1.4 mayb some 1.6 are in between 2k and 2.4k insurance but when i get 1 yr ncb it drops soooo mad like under a grand so all i no is im going to drive like a slug :L and do the guy who says he frustrated on lieing to insurance lemme clear this up

1. loads of people do it
2. i wasent going to do it i wanted to no what happens if u dont declare it as i thought it was a limited edition and all limited editions have body kits so i didnt think i would have to
so for you saying ur getting frustrated its quite stupid when its something i was never going to do because i care to much about getting my licence more than most people as its going to benefit my life!!
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When you turn 18 the premium drops nicely too, but a hefty part of your premium is also based on your occupation. If you're for example an apprentice plumber, you'll be a higher risk than a college student, these things never change regardless of driving experience or car so make sure you're taking that into account too on what you plan for next year.

Also just to clear this up IF this car has a FACTORY fitted Vauxhall body kit, no matter it it's a limited edition or not...this is NOT a modification, as long as you clarify the correct car model and value the insurer will know it's insurance grouping. You would only need to tell them if you get something either aftermarket, or something fitted that was not a manufacturers optional extra.

What I gathered you were saying, it wasn't entirely clear, was that if this car's bodykit wasn't the one that it came with, would I need to tell the insurer? The answer is yes, because this is obviously a modification and some insurers; particulary for young drivers would normally decline giving you the insurance in the first place. I cannot tell if the spec of the car you showed was correct, the rear exhausts look aftermarket but I'm not sure with it being a limited edition, that is something you'd have to clear with the seller/dealership.

If you then had an accident that insurer would have to pay out third party damages regardless of whether you told them the truth or not and try to recover them from you at court which doesn't happen unless you have thousands or millions resting somewhere, hence why everyone elses premium gets inflated. They wouldn't pay out for your vehicle unless you had a fully valid comprehensive policy. You wouldn't get arrested unless you had caused a serious driving offense such as drink driving, causing injury or death by dangerous driving etc. You don't actually get arrested for driving without insurance in most circumstances; the car would be impounded until you got valid cover and you'd have to pay all the impound fees and you'd be slapped with a minumum 6 point penalty. When doing quotes you may be familiar with a question that asks if you've had a policy cancelled, renewal refused or special terms imposed, when you say yes to this, most insurers will refuse cover.

I hope this clears it all up for you, I've been working in the motor insurance sector for nearly 5 years and fraud is dropping. I admit peoples failure to disclose modifications is a very very tiny percentage but just pick a sensible stock car. We don't mean get something that's boring, get a sports trim etc, there are plenty of options I'm just trying to be helpful by being harsh.
 
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