stilover

I have a MY05 STi uk PPP. Was wanting to add Prodrive spring kit & PFF7 Alloys. My brokers has just informed me that my current insurance company won't cover for these mods. They don't cover Scoobs at all now.
He's phoned around and got me a quote of £1900 with these mods. Up from £1236 that I'm paying now. Obviously I'm not going with this silly price.
My question is, should I have the mods done in any case and hope it's not nicked. If I crash it, I can always change the alloys back, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able to tell if it's been lowered just by looking at it either crashed or recovered.
Don't know what to do. What would you do?

I don't want to start phoning around for new insurance as I'm just 3 months in on this policy, and I'd get hammered with the settlement figure if I cancel.

Focusbird

I'd still phone around hun, £1,236 up to £1,900 is a hell of a hike, would the penalties really be that bad if you cancelled? Might be worth finding out the exact charge.

I found Greenlight insurance very reasonable in Essex, may be worth giving them a try.

Scooby-Doo

In most circumstances they won't notice the springs being done but in the event you lost control mounted the pavement and killed some people at a bus stop the car will be stripped and they would invalidate the policy as you have non standard parts.

Take the risk but you have a lot to loose.

T4molie

I have to say that it's not a risk that I would take (ie putting them on and hoping for the best).

Who are you insured with? I've just been quoted 1049 with A-Plan for the above car with the same mods (32 with 8 NCB no accidents / convictions)

I suppose it depends on how badly you want the mods really - now or could you wait until insurance renewal time?

Andy

homerjay

i'll 2nd that shout for greenlight, PPP'd STI for me (26ys, 9NCB) is £999 and direct line want around £1300

although thats without the mentioned mods...

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Insurers never check these kind of items, unless its a serious / fatal accident. Or its blindingly obvious theres been a mod. I know because I've been unfortunate enough (due to no fault of my own) to have 2 cars written off in the last 10yrs, both had undeclared mild mods externally and internally, and both insured with different insurers. One had a backbox that wasn't even allowed, but it made no difference.

I don't condone this at all, yes it is risky, but only if you get a very **** engineer / assessor doing the work.

p1doc

try aplan or even subaru insured
martin

Elmer Fudpucker

I have the same car with exacto the same mods

£650 with A- Plan

however,I am older than dirt

Jon

highlander68k

Keith Michaels is worth a call (or they used to be)

TonyFlow

A-plan quoted me today - 25, 8 Yrs NCB Version 5 Type R, with different alloys, springs, exhaust, induction kit and remap - £825 protected - to say I am chuffed is an understatement (although it is on a 6k limited mileage policy - but I only ever cover about 4k max!)

FirebirdUK

You might not get the chance...

When I wrote my car off, I was taken to hospital and the car was taken away. I didn't get to see the car again until after the insurance assessors had visited the car... Luckily, the car was all standard, but if not I might have been in trouble...

Dracoro

How? and when? You crash car, recovery/insurance takes car away etc. Many crashed involve the wheels so quite likely you won't be able to remove a wheel that's wedged into the front wing. Besides it'd look rather suss when the assessor comes to look at a damaged car where the wheels and tyres don't show any sign of skidding/being involved in an accident.


At the end of the day, don't chance not being covered. You've little to gain and EVERYTHING to lose. Just ring around or forget the mods.

dmc1980

Are PFF7's not a dealer optional extra? What way does this work on insurance? I have just declared mine as an optional extra

Elmer Fudpucker

As far as Insurance companies are concerned,wheel upgrades make the vehicle more desirable to potential car thieves,I think.

and thats regardless of the fact that most aftermarket wheels are more often than not cheaper to replace than OEM wheels

MattW

The fact is most General Insurance is underwritten at the point of claim. Basically they agree to insure you but when you claim they will look for a reason to not pay out. This is not a new phenomenon, I was on the receiving end of a refusal over 10 years ago, for a set of weller wheels on a £300 mini.

stilover

Slept on it last night.
Going to get quotes from other insurance companies. If all quotes turn out to be too much, or my rebate from cancelling my current policy is too low, then I'll forget about the mods. Your all right, it's not worth the risk. Tried to tell my current insurer that all mods are dealer options covered by manufacturer warranty but this cut little ice with them. Everyone who slightly mods a car is obviously a boy racing chav who is going to crash.
Makes me so angry. Any excuse to extract more money from you. £1900 a year for a 31 year old with 11 years no claims bonus who's car is kept in a secure residential compound overnight is just a joke.

Will let you know how it pans out

Robocop

Please see my thread here http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=446568

Tony@Greenlight

Hi Stilover,

Having read your post I may be able to shed some light as to what would happen and hopefully suggest a course of action for you.

Firstly, you say that you've been with your Insurer for 3 months and your current underwriter will not cover the mods and are allergic to Scoobies.

This may sound like bad news, but from a refund perspective it's actually good news as if they are unable to assist you your Insurer should be able to provide you a 'pro-rata' cancellation, which basically means that you will only pay for the days that you've used without you incurring hefty cancellation charges.

I take your point that your broker could only find £1900 for your modded scoobie, but they may not be modified vehicle specialists.

DO NOT... non-disclose the modifications as if you do this with an Insurer that does not cover modified vehicles they WILL NOT pay your claim, Subaru's are not cheap and you will be seriously out of pocket.

My advice would be to find a performance & modified car specialist, get some decent quotes for the modified vehicle and when you want to modify the car take your current Insurers pro-rata refund and go with the best quote that you can get.

Kind regards

Tony Fehily
Senior Partner - Greenlight

Tony@Greenlight

Hi Elmer,

Most mainstream Insurers do see wheel upgrades as an increased theft risk, bizarrely regardless of the make or look of the wheel.

We are a modified vehicle specialist, owned and run by vehicle enthusiasts who have driven performance and modified vehicles most of their driving lives.

Our view is as you correctly identify based upon the replacement cost of the wheels, combined with potential theft exposure. Thus whether you have locking wheel nuts and the location of the vehicle (ie. on the road overnight) will impact upon risk assessment.

We view people that spend money to improve their vehicle as good moral risks, it demonstrates that you take pride in your vehicle, care for your vehicle, both how it looks and performs. Your vehicle will also be maintained to the highest condition and in very good order.

As drivers we aspire to own a prestige or perfomance vehicle and most Insurers totally miss this point, the intangeable rating factor that is an owners pride and genuine caring for their vehicle - We most certainly do not miss the point and rate risks accordingly.

At greenlight we have a good technical knowledge and understand the impact of pretty much all vehicle modifications, we take modifications on their combined merit and understand that enhancing our vehicles does not make us all burbery boy's or boy racers.

So... if you're vehicle is modified try us, im sure we can help!


Kind regards

Tony

Tony@Greenlight

Hi Matt,

Im afraid I have to disagree..

Insurers underwrite and assess each and every risk at quotation stage, they each have their respective acceptance criteria and will assess whether they wish to cover you prior to going on risk.

You will then be despatched a contract based upon what you have declared when obtaining your quotation - check this form carefully as this gives you another chance to let them know any material information.

If you inform the underwriter of details at the second stage (ie. after going on cover) your underwriter will re-assess the terms they provided and depending upon the extent of the changes in the details they may not be able to proceed.

Insurance contracts are based upon the fundamental principle of uppermost good faith, so should you declare incorrect information and then return their contract after checking it and knowing that the details are wrong you are in breach of policy conditions.

Which as in your case could result in your claim being repudiated or your policy void for non-disclosure.

The moral of the story is to make sure your Insurer knows everything, if they do you have nothing to fear and cannot throw a claim out.

If they don't like what you tell them (ie. extent of mods/convictions/claims) then shop around, find a specialist - believe me when I say they are out there.

Kind regards

Tony

dexter

Tony, I am not taking the p*ss when I say this.

Thanks for bothering to come on to the forum and offer an insight into the workings of Insurance Companies.

It is a privelege that most of us out there are not normally privvy to, and is a welcome change from the uninformed speculation that most of us have to go by (and I am not trying to disrespect anyone on here for offering advice/opinion).

But it is a fact that the majority on here (including myself) do not always fully understand the reasons for the seemingly excessive premiums we are quoted.

So thanks again Tony.

MattW

Used to work for a large insurer - more resources moving towards claim assessment than underwriting. This particular company are now moving that way on life business, which IMO is morally wrong. May not be the same for all I accept.