TRIGGER

At an Easytrack Airfield day recently and there was a guy wandering around asking people what mods they had on their cars and taking photos. I answered honestly, but was then warned he could be an Insurance inspector. All the Caterham boys were really suspicious. He seemed freindly enough with the Easytack guys so I doubt he was anything, but is this a common practice trying to catch people out ? Seems a bit underhand to me.

bros

These have been rumoured at bike trackdays for several years now. Standard practice is to take off your plates as soon as you're at the circuit, only put em back on as you leave.

I take the bike on a trailer now, so the plate comes off before it leaves home.

Paranoid? You never know!

Bros

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

So what's the worry? If you've already declared the mods then who cares?

F

Jerome

Nothing the insurance companies do suprises me. I heard of a girl who bought a VW Golf. She subsequently wrote it off and the insurance company refused to pay out because it had non-standard alloy wheels. This poor girl didn't even know what alloy wheels were, let alone know they weren't standard, so she could declare them.

bros

Depends on if you have a crash and claim that it happened on the road. I know of people who have done this. I don't condone it, but it happens.

Although I wouldn't do that - I have cheap tatty bikes for the track, so if I drop them the looks improve rather than deteriorate - I believe you're meant to declare ALL accidents (even non-fault, no-claim ones).

If you claimed to have a perfect, no-crash driving history and the insurance co have got a picture of you in the gravel trap in your road-plated car, you're going to look a bit stupid, aren't you?

Certainly any underwriter worth their salt would charge you more for insurance if they knew you habitually fell off corners at a circuit, even if you didn't make a claim for it. Why else do you think racing drivers get charged so much for road car insurance?

Bros

polarbearit

Right, all sounds a bit off to me, my limited mods are declared, but I really think the UK car insurance system need a complete overhaul, costs see vastly out of proportion.

Circuits are private and unless you are paying them to insure you on the circuit it really shouldn't be their business. I can understand that they might try to stop people claiming damage they did on track was actually cause on the road, but I haven't seen any inspectors in Tesco's car park lately, thats a private road too!!!

Jon

chiark

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by polarbearit:
<B>costs see vastly out of proportion.
[/quote]

But underwriters are losing money apparently. It doesn't seem that they're at fault...

...unless they're taking on too many risky people. Like people with fast cars in high insurance groupings.

hang on!

Shark

I think insurance companies are thieving B**tards who take your money and hate paying out. (No offence Rum ) It would not surprise me in the least that they sent someone to track days to find out what mods people have. The guy was probably there on behalf of a whole bunch of them.

Our insurance company told us last year that they would not pay the full amount if we claimed, I'll explain.

We have about £400k worth of cars on site, and we figured that £200k's worth of cover would be fine. We where prepared to take the risk should all cars be lost as this would be very unlikely. The up shot of it was, that if we made a claim for £200k or less they would only pay 1/2 of that claim, as we where 1/2 insured

We are paying the full premium for the level of cover we want - outrageous.

Rant over

David

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Yes it is unbelievably expensive and I hate paying so much, just like the next man. Unfortunatly, we are driving cars that gits like to steal more than others, certain young peckers save up for, buy, thrash and then crash Etc,etc,etc
England is going the way of the good old U.S of A with their'sue for the sake of it' society. Not a dig at america in any way at all, but the way that everyone has been brainwashed into sueing everyone else for the sheer sake of it really gets my goat. I don't remember things being nearly as bad as this 5-10 year's ago, even though I got taken to the cleaners for an incedent when I was 18, where my insurance had a £5000+ claim for whiplash against me for a sub 10mph rear-ending incedent.
With these damn adverts all over the place basically saying 'If you were stupid enough to ignore a wet floor sign, then slip and fall on your ar$e in a shopping centre in the last 5 years, then you can skank a whole load of cash' (My bad example, of course some/ a lot of claims really are justified) we are doomed....

It sure as hell is not going to get any better as far as I can see. People are just claiming for a whole lot more nowadays.......

Not car related, but here's an example of how people take the pi$$: "A Los Angeles jury has ordered the Philip Morris tobacco
company to compensate Richard Boeken, 56, more than $3bn, who said the tobacco giant did not warn him of the dangers of smoking until it was too late". HORSESH!T.

Anyway, back to it, their tactics may well seem underhand, but if claims are becoming more devious, then the insurers will do the same.....

Cheers,


Nick.

[This message has been edited by Mr Footlong (edited 07 June 2001).]

Tiggs

anyone ever known of an insurance mole at trackdays?

sounds a bit big brother paranoid to me, i`ve done loads of trackdays and have a mate who runds a trackday firm- heard the rumours but never,ever heard of anyone getting caught out by it. and i know plenty of bikes that crashed on their way home from tracks!!

tiggs

RonaldoH

Not so long ago, someone on scoobynet (i was told this by the legal people at the insurance co...the only thing they told me) wrote to my insurance company after I quoted what I was paying...with all mods declared and my offenses on my licence.

So guess who pops around to see uncle Ronnie? Mr Insurance Inspector to have a word and have a look....funnily enough the car was all declared (even the indicators)..the only thing they were not happy with was the back box (a HKS Super Drager) which was replaved by Anders scoobysport (which the accepted!) and Anders had the super drager..

So this poses the question....how many prying eyes are there on here? I know there is one or two deceiptful people that for whatever reason go out their way to attempt to make people meet there demise...

well, congratulations to the person that did this too me...it wasted a bit of my time...but I was in the right

Ps..if i ever find out who you actually are, then you will be exposed....on here to everyone, because frankly giving you a kicking is not what you require.

tw@t

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Ronnie,
If someone did do that to you, then what an absolute @rsehole! I can't believe that anybody on here could do that. Some people make me sick and they really must be twisted and seriously fupped up to do these sorts of things to people, let alone one of the 'nicer' blokes, such as yourself.

What the hell do people get out of doing this sort of thing to others?

Life, unfortunatly, is full of scum and weirdos.......

Nick

polarbearit

What I mean by out of proportion is that I know of someone who is 47, 2 drink driving convictions and several accidents drives a Pug 306 TD, paying £300 pa for insurance, yet I and many people I know are paying 4 figure sums when we have clean licenses, purely because of driving a fast car.

I think that the lower end premiums probably should be raised, whereas it seems that high risk vehicles are being loaded so that average punters aren't seeing big rises. My mum pays £260pa for Volvo 850 and was annoyed that had gone up from £245 compared with last year and she has one recent accident but full no claims.

Anyway sorry to rant,
Jon

Neil Smalley

I think base prices are going up. I was quoted 300 quid for my wifes 1 litre Micra. She's over 30, 3 years no claims and no points.

My PPP'd car with me(30+, max no claims and no points) has just cost me 650 quid to insure. Go figure, her car is group 2, mine 19.

Leigh

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by RonaldoH:
<B>Not so long ago, someone on scoobynet (i was told this by the legal people at the insurance co...the only thing they told me) wrote to my insurance company after I quoted what I was paying...with all mods declared and my offenses on my licence.

So guess who pops around to see uncle Ronnie? Mr Insurance Inspector to have a word and have a look....funnily enough the car was all declared (even the indicators)..the only thing they were not happy with was the back box (a HKS Super Drager) which was replaved by Anders scoobysport (which the accepted!) and Anders had the super drager..

So this poses the question....how many prying eyes are there on here? I know there is one or two deceiptful people that for whatever reason go out their way to attempt to make people meet there demise...

well, congratulations to the person that did this too me...it wasted a bit of my time...but I was in the right

Ps..if i ever find out who you actually are, then you will be exposed....on here to everyone, because frankly giving you a kicking is not what you require.

tw@t

[/quote]

Ronnie,
Whoever did that deserves a slap!
Incidentally, that comment about the exhaust being a problem is a little worrying. When I declared my exhaust, the insurance co. didn't even ask what make it was.

andymac

Don't forget that when you call these insurance companies (especially the big ones), that they "record the calls for training purposes". What this actually means is that any calls that are made (because normally they record them all - you can always ask if the call is being recorded when you call) can be gone back to and checked to see what you said to them and they said to you, so if you told them a list of mods which they later deny, ask them for a copy of the conversation. If they refuse, mention the data protection act's requirement to disclose any information that they hold on you and that should do the trick. If they've sold you something on the phone which they later then try and weasle out of report them to the insurance ombudsman (www.theiob.org.uk)

Incidentally, if you do a search you can find the "track day" ruling on there...
cheers
Andy

bros

Tiggs,

Probably is a bit paranoid, but when it only takes 30 seconds to whip off the plate, why not?

Having said that, maybe we should welcome them. I know one guy who COMPLETELY trashed his bike highsiding out of Gerrards, then claimed he did it on the road. Got a new bike out of it ... fair play to him, I thought, until I realised that I (and the rest of you) were funding him. His bike, his responsibility on track, so far as I'm concerned, and if the inspectors want to get someone for that, fair enough.

Bros

Jza

I got a quote from my insurers - and told them at the time i was having options fitted by the dealer - should i send them by post??? No - they say that dealer fit options are ok.

I sent them the receipt for the car showing all the bits id added - and got a letter later saying i hadnt declared these "modifications" when i got the quote so they'd have to go back to the insurers to check!!!!!

Declare everything!!

Jza

IWatkins

A note for all of you who have mods. and declare them.

<B>Write</B> to your insurance company with a list of all the modifications and <B>insist</B> on a written confirmation that they have received this complete list.

I have heard of a few cases where after an accident, insurance companies have failed to pay out because the inspectors (adjusters ?) have 'found' modifications that have been undeclared, even though the owners swear blind they have called the company and told them.

Very easy for them to say "Yeah, that exhaust, yeah OK, yeah, no premium increase" on the phone then promptly forget to add it to your records.

Cheers

Ian

Stevie

There are people who go to trackdays and do 'freelance' insurance work, ie a nice car is lunched, matey boy takes photo's and contacts insurance company on Monday morning. There only a certain number of insurers certain car drivers use, so they will be found.

There is also no point in lying about where the crash took place. I wrote my Land Rover off two weeks ago on a track in the South of France. It has cost me over £20000 in the last two years to build and I could only get an agreed value of £7500 because it is a totally unique vehicle. If you lie about something, sod's law says someone took a photo and in six months time it may be on the internet somewhere. THEN you are in trouble.

As to personal injury claims, my crash was my fault, plain and simple. I went to hospital ( after driving back some 900 miles) and had broken ribs etc confirmed and they insisted I should make a personal injury claim. Off who, I enquired. Your insurance company was the response!! Yeah, OK.

Top tips. When being a muppet in your car always have a roll bar. A Safety Devices hoop is going in the WRX as soon as it is available, but, and this is a BIG but,

My Land Rover had a hoop behind my head but there were two small problems I encountered:-

i) The weather was glorious so the roof was off

and

ii) Yes, you guessed. I was not wearing my bloody seatbelt!!

End over end, I get thrown out first and have to aim for the gap between hoop and top of windscreen when the vehicle lands on me. Missed the hoop, which was nice as it took most of the vehicles weight, but being of larger proportions I managed to be crushed by the windscreen which upside down was taking the weight of engine, gearbox etc. Just glad that as the vehicle rolled away I did not go with it. Just left me face down thinking, bugger, that will be expensive! And ouch, that hurts. Still does, actually.

alexf

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by IWatkins:

I have heard of a few cases where after an accident, insurance companies have failed to pay out because the inspectors (adjusters ?) have 'found' modifications that have been undeclared, even though the owners swear blind they have called the company and told them.

Very easy for them to say "Yeah, that exhaust, yeah OK, yeah, no premium increase" on the phone then promptly forget to add it to your records.

Cheers

Ian[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats why I was impressed with my insurance company (Norwich Union Direct) for sending me a new insurance certificate with all the mods listed on it, without me asking! And they will replace like for like in the event of a claim.

Alex

Tiggs

bros,

i always took the plate off to make the bike look better in the photos!!!

if i chucked my R1 into a barrier at 160mph then im down £10k+, my tough luck. if i dont like it i can insure against it or stay at home.

i know to many people who did as you described and fell off "on the way home"

tiggs

funny story- had a mate who went to a track day, when he got to the gates the security guard pointed behind him where there was a police car with angry police in it. Turned out they followed him for a good part of the trip to the circuit but couldnt catch him (he was a bit quick) and he couldnt see them as he had his wing mirrors off ready for the track! his defence was that his lap timer was taped over the speedo!!!!

[This message has been edited by Tiggs (edited 08 June 2001).]