Insurance modification

[Chris Brading]

Hello,

What would be regarded as a insurance modification?   

I have just re insured and stated no modification but am I right to do so?

 

I built a standard kit with upgraded Throttle bodies, MSA roll bar, limited slip diff, is this technically standard ?

 

Now I have changed the steering wheel as well and thinking of changing the tyres, is this a modification?

 

Changing cams and head gaining extra BHP in my opinion is a modification, how much percentage wise would the insurance go up?

[Alan France]

I spoke to A Plan yesterday. I gave them my latest list of mods, including QR steering wheel. No change in premium but it gets recorded so should avoid future issues if you have an incident. It’s worth ringing to keep safe. A Plan know that virtually every Westfield is different.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

If in doubt, declare! You’d be surprised how little financial difference it makes to premiums.

 

Throttle bodies is certainly one I’d notify, change of Tyre type, not so much, what is normal, after all? 

 

Steering wheel, if it was expensive and especially if on a quick release, then yes, I probably would.

[Onliest Smeg David]

When I had head and cams done I informed A-Plan of this and resulting increased power....

 

No increase in premium.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I notified about the super charger, and it didn’t make much difference, either!

[Kingster]

When I was asked this I replied “well it’s a kit car so there’s no such thing as ‘standard’ so it’s impossible to say if it’s modified as there’s no baseline”.

 

In reply they said that they were aware that pretty much every kit has to be modified in one way or another but suggested things like after market turbos (or other performance upgrades) and cages would be something they’d consider as not the norm. 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Indeed.

 

Having asked various insurance brokers over the years, the very basic break down of their answers, were, has it got parts on it, (other than maybe service consumables that Westfield don’t supply if asked, has the engine or gearbox got parts on, or had parts changed from the specification it would have had when installed in the original donor car, other than Westfield parts required to install in the Westfield chassis. And the main two, is it (converted to) forced induction and does it have a full cage. Note the last two, that they seem most interested in, don’t necessarily make much if any financial change, but it appears are something many, (Though not necessarily all) insurance companies like to assess individually. - note that’s the actual insurer, not the broker.

 

One thing to note though, that many have overlooked in the past, different companies do consider work related trips differently. Be very careful in this, people still do get caught out. Not all kit car policies cover travel to and from a place of work automatically. In particular, if you have varying places of work, so are based out of several locations, or have to travel between sites etc for work, this is generally NOT covered under basic commuting.

 

From memory, when I’ve had it on, business usage to let me travel to different work sites etc. used to add about £15 a year roughly. (Note this is not the same as making sales calls, carrying goods etc, those are different classes again, usually.)

[Robin Parker (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO]

First time I insured mine I was asked "is it modified, by modified we mean is it turbocharged or supercharged?" 

[Sparkymart]

On 02/06/2019 at 12:23, Robin (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO said:

First time I insured mine I was asked "is it modified, by modified we mean is it turbocharged or supercharged?" 

What about kitchen cupboards strapped to your car ...!

[Robin Parker (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO]

1 hour ago, Martin Rice (Sparkymart) - Cornwall AO said:

What about kitchen cupboards strapped to your car ...!

No charge. 

That's on the house insurance. 

[Simon Waterfall Syman84]

Glad I read this now.

 

Rings A Plan quick smart to declare Cage that was fitted last week 

[Simon Waterfall Syman84]

Just rang all sorted in 2 mins and No additional charge 

[Mighty Mart]

its quite often the case that there is no extra charge, BUT can make all the difference in the event of a claim if there are no surprises!

Mart.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

6 hours ago, Mighty Mart said:

its quite often the case that there is no extra charge, BUT can make all the difference in the event of a claim if there are no surprises!

Mart.

 

Exactly!