Insurance

[Anonymous]

I hear what you say jassy and totally agree with you. However I know from my own experience that on that occasion they DIDclass my optional extras as modifications and initially cancelled my policy accordingly. The first I knew of it was a letter to say that I was not insured and they were not paying for the repairs. These are FACTS They will use any scam to extract extra money when they have a tight hold of your ****** :thumbdown:

 

[Anonymous]

Depends on your options. Modifications to the exterior generally do have to be declared although you make a good point regarding paint. However, having queried this with a number of insurers, I know that there are some that you DO have to declare. Non standard alloys are one of these.

 

[Anonymous]

No company has ever added any extra after I have told them at renewal time. Just those robbing ***** when they knew they had a winning hand. So all I'm saying is be prepared. Tell em up front and they can't get ya when they have a claim in front of em :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

I think we're being a bit harsh here on the insurance companies. Insurance is a risk based assessment. You tell the insurance company details of you, your health, previous driving history, the car etc etc and they assess the risk to them of what it might cost in the event of a claim. Then they provide you a premium.

If you put in a claim and any of the above is different, well then that's not the risk they agreed to take on, is it...so they may choose to argue that the contract is null and void. Some people find this out the hard way.

Safest bet is to tell them everything. Even if you're not sure it matters. Holding back information because you're worried it'll cost you more is folly, if there's a reason it'd cost you more then the insurance company need to know, clearly, and withholding it is a big risk to you.

Think about it, it's quite cheap really. They're insuring a £20-30,000 car plus potential medical and loss of earnings bills for other claimants if the accident was your fault, these can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I'll say it again, insurance is cheap in reality (even though I'll complain about the cost as much as the next man...:wink

And a pox on all those uninsured drivers who bump our costs up...grr...

Sent from my wireless telephonic device using Tapatalk 2

 

[Anonymous]

Do you consider optional extras to be modifications? I didn't. A modification by definition is to modify the car. If you buy a car with extras than it ain't modified. So to be told your insurance is invalid unless you stomp up some cash is immoral

 

[Anonymous]

I see where your coming from Steve but I'm with RON on the optional extras. Any non manufacturer modifications is what they should really be asking IMO.

 

[Evil Derboy]

I've had a fair amount if experience I this. Last conversation I had with a lady in Admiral's call centre saw her trying to add modified mirrors to the policy when they're actually factory-fit folding mirrors. Eventually I asked her to define "Modifications" and she couldn't. Had to talk to her supervisor who advised Modifications were anything carried out by the dealer or otherwise after the car had left the factory.

The moral of the story is that insurance is a contract and no two contracts are the same. The policy wording will define what language means what. So check with each insurer. But as a rule of thumb I'd agree with Jassy and what I was told above, optional extras are not modifications.

 

[Anonymous]

I've had a fair amount if experience I this. Last conversation I had with a lady in Admiral's call centre saw her trying to add modified mirrors to the policy when they're actually factory-fit folding mirrors. Eventually I asked her to define "Modifications" and she couldn't. Had to talk to her supervisor who advised Modifications were anything carried out by the dealer or otherwise after the car had left the factory.

The moral of the story is that insurance is a contract and no two contracts are the same. The policy wording will define what language means what. So check with each insurer. But as a rule of thumb I'd agree with Jassy and what I was told above, optional extras are not modifications.

How strange, because in the case that I refer all my extras were factory fit and the insurer that cancelled my policy until I coughed up more money was Admiral. I hadn't considered that extra were mods and answered no to "any mods to car?" Strange that informing insurance companies at renewal time doesn't increase the premium

 

[hanswuk]

I noticed this comment in Which? magazine. It was in response to someone who had had insurance refused because she had had parking sensors fitted! :wtf:

'When insuring a car, disclose any modifications. Not doing so can invalidate cover. Some insurers class factory fitted extras as modifications so it is a good idea to check.'

When you're insuring a new car you'll obviously know what was an extra but with a second hand car I would guess most people wouldn't know exactly what was standard and what was an extra. An absolute minefield..... :?

 

[Anonymous]

I Went with Aviva am 59 and the charged me £275 so was a good cover to for me and Mrs

 

[Anonymous]

Very tricky subject the old "Modifications" Zing has the black alloys, and as far as I am aware that is all. I have always understood modifications for things like having the quad exhaust, spoilers etc etc. You just have to be super careful with what your insurer has down in their notes. I used to have insurance with QuotemeHappy as they were the cheapest and here is something I plucked off their website from the FAQ section:

The question

What's a modification?

The answer

We say a car's modified when it has internal or external alterations that weren't part of the manufacturer's original specification, or were not fitted as an optional extra to the car when it was new.

To me that should include alloys, sat nav, black wing mirrors, black arches etc etc, though it is only one company. And no, I don't work for them before anyone asks ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

The bottom line here is that it's the insurance company taking on the risk so they have to know what they're taking on which means you're obliged to tell them anything you know. Our opinions of what they should be doing/thinking/considering don't come into it I'm afraid.

If we don't like the terms one company offers to insure our car under we can go elsewhere before we commit to a contact, but if we do commit to a contract then we're binding ourselves to those terms and have to declare everything.

I agree it is a bloody minefield that they don't all use the same criteria for a modification, or when we buy 2nd hand cars and we can't always distinguish what's a modification or not. This is particularly hard if you buy a car that's been chipped for better performance by a previous owner. It's one thing to be able to browse the internet/look at brochures for basic stuff but we wouldn't be expected to be electronics experts

So if you can honestly say that a car hasn't been modified to the best of your knowledge then you at least have grounds to claim you entered into a contact in good faith and can argue a good case in any unfortunate eventuality.

Sent from my wireless telephonic device using Tapatalk 2

 

[Anonymous]

I hear what you say and totally agree with the sentiments. However I do believe that they attempt to con the unsuspecting by not actually asking the correct questions in the first place, which leave them with a get out clause in the unlikely event of a claim. They could simply ask has your car got any factory or dealer supplied optional extras? That is quite clear as to what is being asked.
I insured my brand new £22k car for a value of £30K (when asked for cars valuation) I paid the premium for a £30K risk. What did they think the extra £8k was for if not optional extras?

They are stinking robbing scum of the earth and one must exercise extreme caution when dealing with them :thumbdown:

 

[Anonymous]

Well just phoned admiral to see if they will better their quote. They were already about 180 bucks more than the quote from direct line qnd that was without Jen on the policy. (I removed her from it after she was involved in an accident and, despite the other driver being at fault and the claim being made on their policy it saw a 200 quid rise in the premium for her being on it.) Anyway, the direct line quote has her as a named driver and after a few checks and changes by admiral and adding her back as with my cheapest quote, the renewal quote by admiral actually went UP to over 690 bucks :-o...erm...no thanks! So looks like I'll be going with Direct Line for £387.96 That's fully comp for me and Jen SDP, car valued at 16.5k (I have a gap insurance policy), annual mileage of 10000 miles, parked overnight on the driveway, voluntary excess of £250. Seems ok to me.

 

[Anonymous]

My cheapest insurance for this year was just over £700. No claims or anything.

 

[Anonymous]

Elephant quoted me £383 with £150 excess and i'm 23 with 1 years no claims, seems like a lot of you guys are getting quoted a huge amount more than that, not sure why :\

 

[Anonymous]

Elephant quoted me £383 with £150 excess and i'm 23 with 1 years no claims, seems like a lot of you guys are getting quoted a huge amount more than that, not sure why :\

Tell me your secret! Maybe it's where you live. Maybe your mileage.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I wonder what your annual mileage is? Aside from that being markedly different I can't understand the disparity in quotes. What's even more ridiculous is that Admiral and Elephant often won't be able to match one another's quotes and they're the same bl**dy company!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Well just phoned admiral to see if they will better their quote. They were already about 180 bucks more than the quote from direct line qnd that was without Jen on the policy. (I removed her from it after she was involved in an accident and, despite the other driver being at fault and the claim being made on their policy it saw a 200 quid rise in the premium for her being on it.) Anyway, the direct line quote has her as a named driver and after a few checks and changes by admiral and adding her back as with my cheapest quote, the renewal quote by admiral actually went UP to over 690 bucks :-o...erm...no thanks! So looks like I'll be going with Direct Line for £387.96 That's fully comp for me and Jen SDP, car valued at 16.5k (I have a gap insurance policy), annual mileage of 10000 miles, parked overnight on the driveway, voluntary excess of £250. Seems ok to me.

Did you try Sainsburys Matt?

 

[Anonymous]

I did Donna. They weren't even close to being competitive and that's even after they applied a discount for being a nectar card user.