Insurance companies for modified cars

[minininjarob]

Yes I know Google is my friend but I've tried it and you get loads of results but nothing that I haven't seen already - mainly comparison sites.

Want to do some mods to my Volvo but current insurance won't let me. Nothing drastic this year but I need a sympathetic insurance company which won't cost millions.

Who do you use?

Thanks very much.

[dbizzle]

I'd recommend Brentacre. When I had my 205 GTI recently, they gave me a policy that allowed unlimited non-performance mods without additional cost - you just ring them up and say 'I've lowered it' or 'It's a different colour now' or whatever and they make a note of it on the policy, easy-peasy.
I believe for performance mods, you just call them up and they quote how much extra it'll be. I never quite got to that point.

Best thing was that the people I spoke to there seemed to be enthusiasts themselves - they weren't just box-ticking on a screen, they understood what I was talking about and were genuinely interested.

[Nathan]

Another vote for Brentacre, the GT with the engine conversion plus other mods was silly cheap with them.
I have heard their pricing structure is not as competitive though, time will tell when I come renew the policy.

Cheers.

[flynn1]

As well as Brentacre, Adrian Flux, Greenlight, Chris Knott, Footman James all do modified insurance. Also it depends what the mods are whether it is worth switching to "modified" insurance or not.

If it is just things like lowering and braided brake hoses then you don't really need to tell them, it will just give the fuckers an excuse to charge you extra.

I had a modified car on normal insurance for four years before I did some more mods which made modified insurance worthwhile and actually cheaper than insuring it as standard with a normal insurance company. If it wasn't for that I would probably have stayed with normal insurance despite my mods.

Don't give the CNTS any excuses to charge you extra!

Also don't fall for the common insurance company myth that if you have a crash and your car is modded they won't pay out, utter self serving Bullplop!

Another thing, look into classic insurance, I believe fairly modern cars like MK2 MR2s are qualifying for it now.

[minininjarob]

Just asked for a quote from Brentacre, thanks. Hopefully it won't be as crazy as the £1200 quoted from a price comparison place. :/

[minininjarob]

I was going to lower car 40mm, put a different grill on and clear indicators from another Volvo and maybe another Arb front and back.

[mylittletony]

Jan 22, 2016 9:33:36 GMT flynn1 said:

If it is just things like lowering and braided brake hoses then you don't really need to tell them, it will just give the fuckers an excuse to charge you extra.

...

Also don't fall for the common insurance company myth that if you have a crash and your car is modded they won't pay out, utter self serving Bullplop!

Firstly, you're really angry! No need, calm down.

Secondly, not declaring modifications IS a reason to render your insurance invalid, which brings a lot of possible ramifications.

Thirdly, in my experience, lowering has always been of interest to my insurers, but some other things (e.g. interior mods, 5-speed conversion) have not affected the policy.

The question I always ask myself is whether I'd be happy to be disqualified for not declaring a mod. For me, having a license is too important.

People who drive uninsured are the reason policies are expensive. People who drive modified cars without declaring them are the reason modified cars are considered a risk - it's irresponsible.

[alex]

I have used Brentacre in the past and they were a very decent price and used them for a couple of years. However Adrian Flux then started coming considerably cheaper than them again so been using them for quite some time now and no-one else has beaten their price. I have used Performance Direct in the past as well when they could beat other quotes.

Barter, barter, and barter some more! Get a quote from one, tell the other company they have been beaten and go back and forth until they bottom out.

Also if you are thinking about adding a fair few modifications throughout the year you might want to if whichever policy you are considering charges for updating the modifications. I know Brentacre didn't really seem to mind as long as it didn't affect the BHP as long as you told them about it - with no charge. Others are not like that at all.

[roccoguy]

Sky insurance have been good for me in the past

Fynn1, most of what is wrong with your post has already been pointed out above, but something I found was that insuring a modified car through a specialist insurer was actually cheaper for me than insuring a standard car on a standard policy. It seems to be a common misconception that modifations automatically make insurance more expensive. While it is true for some companies it certainly ly isn't true for all.

[Ebejeebies]

Ive just had a good experience with aviva, asked how much my insurance would be affected if i did a round headlight conversion on my scirocco, and got the fantastic response of 'there wouldnt be an affect on my premium' I'm well chuffed as usually insurance companies try and bleed me dry for mods. (young driver and all that stuff)

[minininjarob]

Where does the line stand with mods? When I was doing the price comparison site quote one of the mods listed was a roof rack! Surely that's an accessory - not a mod? There was a couple of other daft ones too but can't remember them off the top of my head - I think one may have been an OEM cd player added!!

Although I wouldn't NOT declare a mod, I wonder how much investigation a company does if you have a crash and they come and look at the car? Obviously a V8 in a car or massive wheels or crazy paints/flared arches are going to be obvious, but has anyone ever been pulled up for minor things?

It's certainly a minefield sometimes.

Just got a call back but they haven't got me a price yet!!

[steveg]

Footman James and Chris Knott are listed as the owners club official insurers but all this actually means is that the club get something out of it not you who is paying out the money !

Out of all the insurance companies the only one I have spoken to recently who seems to have a sensible approach to mods is Footman James.
One thing I have done with my car is to improve the brakes. Rather then just put that on the list of money adding mods they commented on that being the sort of thing they like to see. Whether or not it actually helped is another thing but the overall price was pretty good for the level of cover being offered.

[minininjarob]

Jan 22, 2016 12:36:53 GMT steveg said:

Footman James and Chris Knott are listed as the owners club official insurers but all this actually means is that the club get something out of it not you who is paying out the money !

Out of all the insurance companies the only one I have spoken to recently who seems to have a sensible approach to mods is Footman James.
One thing I have done with my car is to improve the brakes. Rather then just put that on the list of money adding mods they commented on that being the sort of thing they like to see. Whether or not it actually helped is another thing but the overall price was pretty good for the level of cover being offered.

I think FJ got a bit of slating on the forum, not sure Chris Knott are amazing either...

[speedy88]

Jan 22, 2016 12:09:32 GMT minininjarob said:

Where does the line stand with mods? When I was doing the price comparison site quote one of the mods listed was a roof rack! Surely that's an accessory - not a mod? There was a couple of other daft ones too but can't remember them off the top of my head - I think one may have been an OEM cd player added!!

Mention everything you can think of, don't stress and be honest. Once you finish and they ask you if it's modified in any other way respond with "Not to my knowledge". I believe this covers you legally if you end up in court (very very unlikely if you've declared the obvious things). Because you've not KNOWINGLY committed fraud.

[minininjarob]

Well just got a quote of £730 which I can't afford. :-(

Very disappointed as I got a quote from them about 3 months ago with virtually identical details for £430, which would have been fine.

No mods for me then!

[minininjarob]

Oddly enough my current insurance which I only started a week ago would only charge me £40 to cancel, so I would get a refund of £365 from my premium of £405 I paid upfront - quite a surprise really.

[flynn1]

Jan 22, 2016 11:11:30 GMT mylittletony said:

Secondly, not declaring modifications IS a reason to render your insurance invalid, which brings a lot of possible ramifications.

Thirdly, in my experience, lowering has always been of interest to my insurers, but some other things (e.g. interior mods, 5-speed conversion) have not affected the policy.

The question I always ask myself is whether I'd be happy to be disqualified for not declaring a mod. For me, having a license is too important.

People who drive uninsured are the reason policies are expensive. People who drive modified cars without declaring them are the reason modified cars are considered a risk - it's irresponsible.

I don't need to calm down, insurance companies need to calm down. Driving without declaring mods is NOT driving uninsured, how DARE YOU accuse me of such you cretin. You are resighting the industry Bullplop. They are obliged to pay out, lowering a car and improving the brakes WILL NOT make you more likely to crash, I would like to see the PHUCKERS try to explain that one. One day I am gonna hit the whole insurance industry...hard. Just wait.

Jan 22, 2016 11:40:09 GMT roccoguy said:

Sky insurance have been good for me in the past



Fynn1, most of what is wrong with your post has already been pointed out above, but something I found was that insuring a modified car through a specialist insurer was actually cheaper for me than insuring a standard car on a standard policy. It seems to be a common misconception that modifations automatically make insurance more expensive. While it is true for some companies it certainly ly isn't true for all.

Did you even read my post you utter moron!? You've just resighted word for word the exact thing I already said in my post.

[Anthony]

Jan 22, 2016 12:09:32 GMT minininjarob said:

Although I wouldn't NOT declare a mod, I wonder how much investigation a company does if you have a crash and they come and look at the car? Obviously a V8 in a car or massive wheels or crazy paints/flared arches are going to be obvious, but has anyone ever been pulled up for minor things?

I suspect it would depend what the claim was and how clued up the assessor is.

A minor shunt with no injuries then they aren't going to bother checking, but wipe out a bus stop queue full of school children and faced with paying out millions you can bet that they're going to be investigating pretty damned thoroughly!

[minininjarob]

Adrian flux - £600. :-(

[minininjarob]

A minor shunt with no injuries then they aren't going to bother checking, but wipe out a bus stop queue full of school children and faced with paying out millions you can bet that they're going to be investigating pretty damned thoroughly!
"I don't need to calm down, insurance companies need to calm down. Driving without declaring mods is NOT driving uninsured, how DARE YOU accuse me of such you cretin. You are resighting the industry Bullplop. They are obliged to pay out, lowering a car and improving the brakes WILL NOT make you more likely to crash, I would like to see the PHUCKERS try to explain that one. One day I am gonna hit the whole insurance industry...hard. Just wait.

But they have every right to cancel your insurance if you lie to them - if it's in their T+C that you declare any mods and you don't you've broken the terms you signed up to. You'd be able to challenge them if they broke the terms they said they would stick to, works both ways.