Simple question really, although I imagine it depends on the insurer...

What mods, if any, will the insurance companies not be bothered about - I'm thinking small stuff like clear indicators or decals, I know it's not a lot but you know what insurance companies are like for not paying out for petty reasons...

Anything that was not intended for the car in the factory (even dealer options) is classed as a modification. Most companies are bothered about engine mods rather than body (not to extreme body mods though), tell them for peace of mind.

simb

Unless your with Norwich Union Direct...

Ive just paid out £117 quid increase in premium just for changing the backbox...steep i know but i though worth it. Then i asked how much for changing from the standard MY98 low spoiler to the spolier which is standard on MY99 spec cars. I was told in a robotic type voice...a spolier change that will be another £117 pounds sir...........WHAT THE FCUK?!!!

Tell them about everything that is not std, or the WILL find a way of not paying up .
NU, 10% of premium for EVERY mod, still that's better than MORETHAN who wouldn't insure me because I have non std alloys !?!?!..

gotta go with l and v, tescos just take the piss with prices, they try to charge me 300quid for not having standard wheels! l and v said i can do what i want just take pics, and let them know as long as i dont change the engine, its ok

I second what jason said. I pay £200 LESS this year (with 280 bhp) with L&V than I did last year (standard) with Churchill

By this logic a halfords battery, bulbs, brake discs, wiper blades and cheapo tyres would invalidate your cover.

I wonder if you have to declare running on optimax. :)

No way would i pay £117 for a back box,they are relying on you to tell them,picture this if you do have a claim, the insurance inspector who has to view countless cars every day wouldnt have a clue as to what a standard and non standard back box would look like.
I've seen an STI 5 with every bell and whistle fitted and not declared, with a damaged wing and front N/S wheel,the guy didnt even know it was a Subaru and didnt question anything.

Stop lining their pockets, large mods i agree with declaring but as somebody has pointed out would you decalre non standard wiper blades and such like.

As far as insurance companies are concerned, anything that was not factory fitted at time of purchase is a mod. Sometimes even dealership extra's are classed as mods. They will try ANYTHING not to pay if you have a claim.

You've got to be very careful these days. Many insurers regard anything which is not 'standard specification' as mods. For example, dipping into the options list is a mod with people like Admiral. On German cars it is impossible not to add extras whereas for Jap cars they all come off the line the same. With Admiral, choosing metallic paint on my Audi was an 'exterior modification'.

It is all going daft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with Zippy on this one - Worked in a body shop for 2 years and not once was a modified car turned away by the assesor (the body shops mainly use digital cameras now and send the pics through to the insurance company). For example an Astra with a K&N57i that was mounted with a shelf bracket and nice home made back box - repaired, we even had a Vectra in and its front bumper had disapeared in a crash - the bloke claimed it had, had an Irmischer front bumper with the foglights. The insurance company authorised the bumper and foglights to keep the customer happy (funnily as the car was a base model it had no wiring or switch for the fogs even though it had so called had all this fitted and working before the crash) I would recommend a Vectra to anyone though as when this one crashed all the screws undid themselves to save damaging the wings or clips and his fancy front plate was undamaged - the car was repaired. Basically lots of modified cars came in without their mods declared - they were all repaired unless write offs. This was a reputable body shop aswell not a small back street job.

Oh, I better declare my mats as they were extra!

Ridiculous.

I can only offer a generalised opinion on this as it very much depends on the insurance company involved and a0 whether they consider it worth "inspecting" the car and b0 if so whether they use one of their own engineers or contract an independent firm.

General rule of thumb though is if the "modifications" are not "factory options" and produce, or result in, a decernable increase in performance and/or (as in the case of body mods & graphics) an increased "attractiveness" to vandalism or theft, insurers see this as an increase risk of accident / theft etc and increase the premium accordingly.

Having said that, some insurers bother more than others and in today's competitive environment some insurers may "overlook" the addition of less extravigent modifications........