Insurance Modification Question

Ghuraba

Ghuraba

Ghuraba

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Say you buy a car, Ford Focus, with 15” alloys, but the manufactuere offer an optional upgrade to 17”alloys. But you just stick with the standard 15” alloys but then at a later time you change them to an aftermarket reasonably priced set of 17” alloys this is considered a modification of the car and some insurance companies won’t insure you? But if the same car was fitted with the 17” alloys at the time of purchase it is not an issue?

It is not like the car is not built for 17” alloys or it makes it dangerous somehow. It is still within the wheel specification permitted by the manufactuere.

This happened to me recently and I was thinking if the car does actually accept 17" as an optional upgrade but it was sold with the standard 15" why are my insurance company being such a pain in the backside. They would not even insure me with this modification. So I put some 15" on the car.

Of course I am presuming that it is purely just a wheel change and nothing else had to be modified at the factory for the bigger wheels to function safely and correctly on the car and the after market alloys price is not an issue with the insurance company.

Thanks

Michael
 
The main issue from the insurance brokers point of veiw is someone nicking the wheels and the correct tyres are fitted (speed and load rating)
 
a) Yes, of course this is a modification. You have aftermarket wheels

b) 17" alloys were never an optional extra on the Mk1 Focus Zetec.
 
Seems some insurance companies even consider optional upgrades at the factory as modifications.

I thought 17" was an optional upgrade as a website has that size listed but it must be wrong.

Thanks

Michael
 
The Mk1.5 ST170 had 17 inch wheels as standard, the only wheel sizes on the Focus Zetec were 15" with 16" on the 2.0 Zetec ESP. A few special editions such as the MP3 had 17's as standard but again, they were not an option...
 
Ghuraba said:
Seems some insurance companies even consider optional upgrades at the factory as modifications.

I thought 17" was an optional upgrade as a website has that size listed but it must be wrong.

Thanks

Michael
Click to expand...

Some poor sod spent £300 getting rear electric windows as a factory option on my car... do I have to declare it? :p
 
A lot of mainstream insurers will only allow you to go 1" bigger when fitting alloys. I guess after that they think you're into the realms of ridiculous tyre profiles that look like they were applied with a butter knife, or hitting the arches causing tyre damage and increased risk.

rover416i: I know you're being sarcastic but if you're unsure it's always best to declare it. Common sense should say which mods are declarable, or if your insurer has a modifications section on their website (ie. tick each mod done) then anything that fits in that list is declarable.

I had fun with my first car back in 2001 when I rang them up to declare that I'd retrofitted central locking to my D reg Escort 1.3 Popular Plus. Call centre pleb didn't know what to do and had to go to a supervisor and then a manager who seemed put out that they'd had to speak to a customer, but said they wern't interested in retrofit central locking.

They had similar confusion when I went from 13" steel wheels to 14" steel wheels from a Sierra, they eventually put that down as "wide tyres" which I suppose was true. Went from 135 to 185.
 
rover416i said:
Some poor sod spent £300 getting rear electric windows as a factory option on my car... do I have to declare it? :p
Click to expand...

Yes you should do in theory. a lot of insurance companies class any optional extra as a modification. My 5 series BMW has a lot of options you would class as standard on this sort of car such as xenon lights, leather interior and the navigation system. Yet they will charge me extra for declaring them then at the same time tell me they arent covered in the case of replacement. Not knowing it was an option isnt a defence either. I ended up insuring with www.lv.com as they dont class any option as a modification unless it was added after the car was built.
 
[TW]Fox;15597825 said:
Actually the main issue is the increased risk of the profile of driver who would fit aftermarket wheels.
Click to expand...



I suspect this is the main factor. The insurers will tell you that it imcreases the chances of the car being stolen, and it increases the value if it is; but the main reason is that the kind of person (especially if young) who fits wheels that much bigger than spec, is the kind of person who is going to crash it. Not for certain, but the odds are higher than normal.


M
 
Even if 17" alloys were an option that doesn't mean you can fit any aftermarket alloys that happen to be 17".

17" alloys as prescribed by Ford as an option have been especially made for the specific vehicle, have a known fixed cost (important to insurer) and are likely to be discreet and common enough to not raise the profile of the car significantly.

17" gold coloured BBS wheels that fit plenty of cars and cost twice as much per alloy - on the other hand - would.
 
I've always wondered, what happens if you buy a car that's had engine work done to it and you've no idea about it. Obviously you don't tell your insurance company, end up writing the car off and they find out it had a remap or an induction kit or something else.

You would be in the crap no?
 
A guy i know had a mk2 cavalier on the v5 it was listed as a 1.3l it caught fire and when the loss adjuster inspected the car it was found to have a 1.6l engine the owner had no idea about this and the insurance paid out but he was middle aged and the car was stock apart from the engine. And somebody else i know had a ford escort 1.3popular plus converted into an rs turbo but still listed as a 1.3 on the v5.the police stopped him impounded the car and charged him for no insurance as well as contacting his broker
 
I ran a few new quotes for my van, done a set without alloys then with alloys. Policy came back a couple of pence cheaper when i added Alloy Wheels to the policy! :o
 
i would think it again comes down to the insurance company itself and what they say in there t's &c's for example swiftcover on my policy state they are only intrested if the value is over 1000 pounds

bullit
 
Years ago when I got a quote with Admiral they wanted extra for the 17" alloys and rear spoiler fitted to my car even though they were factory fitted options. With Churchill though these options weren't a problem.
 
Peerzy said:
I've always wondered, what happens if you buy a car that's had engine work done to it and you've no idea about it. Obviously you don't tell your insurance company, end up writing the car off and they find out it had a remap or an induction kit or something else.

You would be in the crap no?
Click to expand...


yes.

Ignorance is not a valid excuse for failing to declare modifications.

I know someone who was recently stopped by the police. He had a modified exhaust and lowered suspension. The police called his insurance company from the side of the road to confirm that he had insurance and also confirm that the modifications were declared....

Outcome: Vehicle towed away. Driver charged with driving without valid insurance.
 
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