Cars with mods that are not declared

I was under the impression that if a mod added value or more power to the car then it had to be declared. I.E a backbox that makes a bit more noise but no extra power didn't need to be declared, tinted windows won't add any value to the car so didn't need to be declared.

It's about risk, if you're the sort of car owner who wants to fit a fart can exhaust and tint the windows, you're more likely to be the sort to drive like a tool and crash sort of thing.
 
If the car is smashed up, not much chance of doing that though.

Depends how badly really doesn't it?

As far as I know, for example with my car, the mapping is done through the OBD2 port in the dash - you'd have to seriously smash the **** out of the car to render that inoperable.
 
Depends how badly really doesn't it?

As far as I know, for example with my car, the mapping is done through the OBD2 port in the dash - you'd have to seriously smash the **** out of the car to render that inoperable.

My thoughts exactly. With a shattered leg and a broken pelvis you aren't going to be fiddling with the bluefin flashing back to stock :p.
 
I've got a number of mods on my car that aren't declared (not intentional, I simply forgot), but looking online the increase in premium is going to be about £40 a year, so hardly worth worrying about. Gonna email them now actually to get them added.

Strictly you should declare all factory options, but does anyone actually know what the factory spec of their car is? Especially if bought second hand? I expect that if you examine the exact letter of the wording of the insurance well over 80% of people would 'technically' have not declared all the mods on their car.
 
I read it as:

Aftermarket alterations which change the car from the original specification which it left the factory or dealership with.
 
I've got a number of mods on my car that aren't declared (not intentional, I simply forgot), but looking online the increase in premium is going to be about £40 a year, so hardly worth worrying about. Gonna email them now actually to get them added.

Strictly you should declare all factory options, but does anyone actually know what the factory spec of their car is? Especially if bought second hand? I expect that if you examine the exact letter of the wording of the insurance well over 80% of people would 'technically' have not declared all the mods on their car.

Who are you insured with? I tried Adrian Flux but at the age of 24 years old they weren't giving me a good price.
 
I read it as:

Aftermarket alterations which change the car from the original specification which it left the factory or dealership with.

Depends entirely on the particular insurer and their wording really doesn't it?

I'm fairly sure Admiral for example, explicitly ask for factory fitted options as well as after market modifications.
 
Even though my insurance was quite a hefty figure when I did it at 21, all 15 of my mods (including manifold and exhaust work) were declared as that is what is required to be isured.
Anything that isn't standard on the car as factory trim should be declared.
 
I'm fairly sure Admiral for example, explicitly ask for factory fitted options as well as after market modifications.

If true then that's stupid, 80% of the car owning population will have no idea what options are fitted, for example i'd love to see them not pay out due to you having optional heated seats fitted.
 
If true then that's stupid, 80% of the car owning population will have no idea what options are fitted, for example i'd love to see them not pay out due to you having optional heated seats fitted.

Stupid it may be, but they still ask it, whereas some other insurers will not even class small after market mods as noteworthy. How they would fair denying a claim on the basis of it I don't know but it highlights the point that there is no single blanket answer - you need to check your policy documents to see what they want declared.
 
My car has had a good few previous owners and at some point in it's life has a SS 4-2-1,or whatever it's called, manifold fitted and possibly lowered.

I'm not 100% sure so wouldn't declare them as mods. How would that go on a newer car for instance?
 
I get infuriated when i see ebay adds of a car which was originally a 1.4 and it now has a 2 litre turbo conversion (take a mg zr for example)

The advert usually states, 220 bhp 2 litre turbo conversion, car still registered as a 1.4 so cheap insurance....

Er no its not cheap insurance, its breaking the law in the most possible stupid way, your car used to have 105 bhp it now has around 220, and because your obviously doing things on the cheap you still have 1.4 brakes and suspension and will no doubt crash your car and will then be uninsured!

Im all mods declared on my car which is some list, 300bhp engine conversion, cage, big brakes, bucket seats, camber kits, coilovers, exhaust etc etc...

Ross
 
Hmm i told my insurance about being lowered but i never mentioned my adjustable arms. Dunno why i thought it would just all come under lowering the car. Ill mention it next time.
 
In general the insurers care most about visible after-market gear. The reason given to me was: (for example), better wheels mean the vehicle is more likely to be stolen. For factory fit gear, I can't imagine that they care so much if you bought it with that stuff fitted, and it's not obviously a retro-fit. Particularly in the case of something like heated seats, which aren't obvious. I would also assume that there's a big difference between cars you bought new and cars you bought second-hand. If a reasonable person could not guess that something in the car had been factory-chosen or added by a previous owner, then the ombudsman would be on your side if the insurers refused to pay. But an obviously top-of-the-range stereo in a (say) Focus would be a different matter. If in doubt, mention it.

As for me, I've got a few thousand quid's worth (well, it cost that) of very obvious gear on mine, so the mods are declared, and actually insured in their own right. In theory (I don't plan to test it) a payout would include the replacement costs for the mods. They added about £50 to the cost of the insurance, but I'm an old man with a specialist insurer.


M
 
What worries me is dealers who sell cars with no idea of modifications on them. When I bought mine I could clearly see from the pics it had been modded (Lowered, painted wheels), so I phoned up to ask what else and they said it just had a K&N 57i. I got to the dealership and it also had a strut brace in the engine bay which the dealer didn't think to mention.

It didn't put me off owning the car as they were all things I liked, but it made me wonder how many other owners are driving round in cars bought like mine without knowing the modifications.
 
It didn't put me off owning the car as they were all things I liked, but it made me wonder how many other owners are driving round in cars bought like mine without knowing the modifications.

That is what I meant regarding a remap.
Say I flashed it today and then crashed tomorrow, the insurance company checks the map and sees it was flashed just a day before the crash, I could still play the idiot, "a remap, what is one of those?".
 
in my 306 gti-6 ive installed the same mirror tweeter speakers as a 306 hdi would have in 2002 (end of life).
Should i declare that?
 
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