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Old 25th May 2010, 19:31   #1
pipenslippers
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Smile Insurance advice

Hi Folks,

We all know car thieving insurance companies will do their upmost to screw you over in the event you try to make a claim. Any excuse to avoid a pay out... So do I really have to notify them everytime I make a slight alteration to the car ? I want to make sure my back is covered in the event something did happen. Now I fully understand say if I chipped the car to get a performance increase you must let them know, but do I have to tell them if I install say a high line instrument kit, a real wood dash, or upgrade the rear bumper to include the reverse parking sensors (only using MG Rover parts) etc? Surely there's no way they can tell I've made these alterations ? After all my Club SE could have had all same the extras fitted at the factory.

So when should you notify (legally required) the insurance people of changes made to the car ?

Keeping with insurance companies and their lazy practices... I'm currently with First Direct but could I do better ? I've read stories on the forum of folks finding their insurance company trying write off their perfect 75 after the smallest of prangs etc simply cos the one garage chain they use can't source the parts ! Wot can you do to avoid losing your car to the always undervalued offer the Insurance will payout.. I've had previous experience of the

"that's our and final offer cos that's what Parker's price guide says".

AND

"No sir very low mileage will not improve our offer" (On the flipside ... Try
saying the same thing to secondhand dealer when buying a low milage car ).

Any advice ?



Cheers

Pipe
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Old 25th May 2010, 19:46   #2
Joseph
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Honestly I would phone them and tell them whenever you make ANY changes, as you said they are trying to screw you left and right.

I haven't had to phone an insurance company to mention any changes yet but surely compared to converting to a full wood dash it should be quite an easy job?

If it matters, no insurance company will let me get any chips or any mods (well one but that costs me £9k) and that includes getting new alloys.
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Old 25th May 2010, 20:16   #3
rrobson
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any upgrade that is above the standrd kit or aftermarket is classed as a modification, and subsequently has an effect. in the insurance companies eyes, if you upgrade the head unit, you increace the chance of theft, some goes for alloys, parking sensors, powerfolds, leather interior etc. when the spec is put into the insurance calculation, all the extra kit is atomatically accounted for, therefore the slightly higher risk is also accounted for. but imho, if you rang them up and said
'i've put a wood dash in'
the reply you will almost certainly recieve is

'so what?'
or
'they already have wood dashes dont they?'

same would probably go for things such as parking sensors, powerfolds, standard rover alloys (the same size already installed) etc as these things are optional extras, and are hard to prove wheather the car was fitted with them or not.

all body enhansing items such as aftermarket bumpers (or zt bumpers on a 75), alloys and performance mods would have to be known by the insurance company for obvious reasons. as for most other things i personally wouldnt bother unless you were putting a roll cage in or bucket seats etc, but there is no harm in letting them know. things like a highline system moght be worth telling them about, but what are the chances of someone stealing one?
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Old 26th May 2010, 18:29   #4
pipenslippers
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Thread needs a little *Bump*
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Old 26th May 2010, 18:34   #5
mimbo
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Any changes not informed to insurance compnay, Will void your insurance with the company you are with

Even when fitting new alloys that is classed a a mod and need to be informed to insurance company
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Old 26th May 2010, 18:41   #6
pipenslippers
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mimbo View Post
Any changes not informed to insurance compnay, Will void your insurance with the company you are with
But I still dont understand how they would be able to tell ? If I've retro fitted the identical factory supplied optional extra, ie the rear parking sensors, surely there's no way they could tell? (of course unless they asked about that specific features during the purchase of the insurance ). Are the insurers supplied with full spec details by the car showroom at the time of the original sale ?

Cheers

Pipe.
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Old 26th May 2010, 18:46   #7
JohnDotCom
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pipenslippers View Post
But I still dont understand how they would be able to tell ? If I've retro fitted the identical factory supplied optional extra, ie the rear parking sensors, surely there's no way they could tell? (of course unless they asked about that specific features during the purchase of the insurance ). Are the insurers supplied with full spec details by the car showroom at the time of the original sale ?

Cheers

Pipe.
They only generally know what is fitted and available for each model and spec. Club, Conni, Conni SE etc.
Wheels upgrades are the one that catches most out and prevents payouts.
Hi Line if not an option on model would stand out, I had to declare wide screen and digital mods but no extra charged.
All mods that I have done have been declared and I have had no increase in premium but was told a extras premium would be made if I upgraded the alloys.


On payouts they wouldn't allow for upgrades as they pay out per model so if you have a Club SE thats what payout is paid on.
Factory fitted Audio can be very expensive to replace and if stolen can in fact be above the right off value of car if say a pre 2003 model.

Last edited by JohnDotCom; 26th May 2010 at 18:49..
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Old 26th May 2010, 18:46   #8
pipenslippers
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Quote:
Even when fitting new alloys that is classed a a mod and need to be informed to insurance company
Mad. So I swap one set of MGRover alloys for another set of MGRover 75 alloys and I have to tell them ? Once again either type could have been supplied at the time of purchase. I know I wasn't asked which style of alloys had been installed on the car (not sure I can even remember if they asked if the car had alloys. I assume they know all Club SE's come with alloys as standard)

P
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Old 26th May 2010, 18:57   #9
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I think the standard range and size you would get away with but most swap to 18" a dead giveaway on a 75 as never fitted.
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Old 26th May 2010, 19:02   #10
VVC-Geeza
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My advice would be to notify your insurers of ANY visual mods/changes.

Now a remapped ECU, that's a different matter
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