Induction Kits

[Norfolk n Chance]

For those that have an Induction Kit on did you tell your insurance?

And if so what difference did it make?

[cfc1]

It doesn't matter what difference it made.. to the premium I assume you mean, because if you don't tell them and have an accident, can you afford to loose the value of your car should they refuse to pay out?

Tell them.. end of!

[Norfolk n Chance]

It doesn't matter what difference it made.. to the premium I assume you mean, because if you don't tell them and have an accident, can you afford to loose the value of your car should they refuse to pay out?

Tell them.. end of!

I fully intend to tell them, my question was aimed at the people that have told their insurance co's!!

[ballist1x]

It doesn't matter what difference it made.. to the premium I assume you mean, because if you don't tell them and have an accident, can you afford to loose the value of your car should they refuse to pay out?

Tell them.. end of!

I fully intend to tell them, my question was aimed at the people that have told their insurance co's!!

the problem it the insurance companies are thick.

that is to say, they will believe the hype behind the product. SO if a Induction kit says it will give 10bhp, (even if thats like on a scubaru or someting) they will still assume it applies to the Corolla, and attempt to charge you approx £75-150 for the privalege of gaining approx 2bhp and accoustics...conversations i had with Admiral, in particular broke down after they wanted proof from a garage (Dyno) that the kit would offer less than 5bhp gain, and then they would re-evaluate the price hike...oh yea, your probably also only really looking at an Air filter, as opposed to true induction kit, the insurers dont distinguish between the two:/ so u may as well have a full snorkel system circulating yr car if you are going to do it, and tell them..

Would insurance actually refuse to pay out due to an airfilter? id say not, it would go to a panel who decide whether the induction kit was a factor in the accident, if not, for example it got keyed, or stolen at night...they could hardly say that the modification was the cause of it, thus would pay out regardless..

2 examples for you, my friend had a focus silver 1.6 with 17" OZ 'leggas on it. Crashed it into parked car, the insurs mentioned the wheels - said they wouldnt pay out to replace them, but did pay out on the car...

i had a racing exhaust header on my primera, crashed it, they never mentioned it. and paid out.

Now, im not saying put the kit on and avoid insuring it, obviously its better and all above board. But to say your car is virtually "uninsured" by having one, isnt really true either.

Have you considered a Panel filter upgrade? no way they could even know about that...

[farhanali89]

When you tell them they do put the price up of you're insurance however in certain circumstances they do pay out. It depends on the insurer i am with norwich union on one car and they are extremely strict with modifications however previously i was with tesco and they did not care that i had a stainless steel exhaust on my car and repaired the car after an accident with the exhaust and alloys on the car.

I think they are more fussy when they have to pay out because of an accident at your fault.

Regardless i would tell them as nowadays they are very strict about it, my sister made a claim about 5 days ago on her car she was hit on the sideof her car by a vehicle which pulled out just after she had passed it.

The lady who hit claimed liability and her insurance company declared it was also her fault. Regardless her insurance SAGA offered to repair all damages and offered us to not worry about a thing and not carry out the repairds through our insurance, Saga offered to do the repair and offer a courtesy car.

However we contacted our insurance company the same day of the accident and now our insurance company is dealing with the claim again and they are telling us to send them a receipt of the vehicle and also the logbook. They are being very difficult!

Some insurance companies are more harder about things than others my sister has a factory standard car nothing on the car at all and our insurance company asked so many questions, including full inspection of the car! Pin point questions on the mileage, What the car was being used for at the time etc. It seemed as though they were hesitant to deal with the claim.

Better to be safe and pay that little bit more i reckon.

[farhanali89]

Phone your insurance company and say to them "IF" i was going to put an induction kit on bla bla bla how much would it cost, if the person on the telephone says, " It wont cost a thing" say ok i am going to put it on right now then send me a declaration of having declared the modification by fax or email and do it.

Otherwise they will give you a rocket price or some may even say we will not insure you.

[ae102]

For those that have an Induction Kit on did you tell your insurance?

And if so what difference did it make?

if you have an accident you get the car recovered to your house - remove the induction kit and then ring the insurance. took the assessor weeks to come round last time...........

[farhanali89]

I also did that the first time i had an accident i was hit from the side and had alloys on the car, there was only body damage to the doors however was scared about getting my insurance void because of the wheels, Had the car recovered home by the rac and then just took the wheels off and put the original wheels back on.

It is not a major modification an induction kit so it should be fairly easy to change the induction kit back to the factory box in the event of an accident.

[cabcurtains]

Does anyone know of anybody (personally not Chinese whispers) who has not been been paid out due to an undeclared modification?

Also:

What constitues a mod? If you have non Mr T brake pads is that a mod?

[-T- Sport]

I actually never got paid out when some goon in a Corsa smashed in to the side of my 206.

He was driving his GF's car and I think he was either not insured or it was the same insurance company, as they said they wouldn't pay out. After a few months because my insurance was invalid I got refunded the full amount I'd already paid, about £700. and it only cost me £200 to fix the car myself.

One thing that I did notice, after this happened they changed their website pretty swiftly to make it clear that NO modifications were allowed as I told them it wasn't on their website in the arguements about paying out.

Aaaanyway. In the end it was my fault for not telling them. (even though it should have been HIS insurance company to pay out?) o.O

[cabcurtains]

I actually never got paid out when some goon in a Corsa smashed in to the side of my 206.

He was driving his GF's car and I think he was either not insured or it was the same insurance company, as they said they wouldn't pay out. After a few months because my insurance was invalid I got refunded the full amount I'd already paid, about £700. and it only cost me £200 to fix the car myself.

One thing that I did notice, after this happened they changed their website pretty swiftly to make it clear that NO modifications were allowed as I told them it wasn't on their website in the arguements about paying out.

Aaaanyway. In the end it was my fault for not telling them. (even though it should have been HIS insurance company to pay out?) o.O

They cancelled your policy after someone hit you! How did they find out the car was modded?

[Hogie]

There is a fund for people who get hit by uninsured drivers. I think like 20 quid of your premium goes toward it every year. Can claim from that if your hit by one

[-T- Sport]

I actually never got paid out when some goon in a Corsa smashed in to the side of my 206.

He was driving his GF's car and I think he was either not insured or it was the same insurance company, as they said they wouldn't pay out. After a few months because my insurance was invalid I got refunded the full amount I'd already paid, about £700. and it only cost me £200 to fix the car myself.

One thing that I did notice, after this happened they changed their website pretty swiftly to make it clear that NO modifications were allowed as I told them it wasn't on their website in the arguements about paying out.

Aaaanyway. In the end it was my fault for not telling them. (even though it should have been HIS insurance company to pay out?) o.O

They cancelled your policy after someone hit you! How did they find out the car was modded?

The car was unmoveable, and the police were..... well, When I stopped ater being hit I just looked at the copper in the car next to me. lol.

A lowloader came and towed both cars and I didn't see it again for 2 months. Had no chance to remove anything. Doh.

[banana man]

don't even go there with insurance companies

I have had 2 incidents in my younger driving days the first one it took 6 months for them to come and look at the car, useless bunch if d**k lickers and by tht time only looked at the damage, not was on the car.

second time was a crazy old man who ran me off the road car was eh (cough) kapuut, but got more back than what I paid for it

[ballist1x]

A lowloader came and towed both cars and I didn't see it again for 2 months. Had no chance to remove anything. Doh.

but that makes no sense, you were surely claiming off their insurance not yours, it doesnt matter what the validity or state of yr insurance was...it was they who were at fault... i think this is a case that went wrong somewhere...

[-T- Sport]

Ofcourse.

As I said - He was either uninsured, or it was the same insurance company. Many companies will tryanything to get out of paying for accidents especially if both cars are through the same company!

What's done is done. I got my money back so nevermind.

[bigfiiish]

Ok, think ive got a bit of experience here, missus's dad actually runs an insurance company so you can tak e all this as coming straight from the horses mouth.

Insurance companies WILL do anything to get out of paying, but there are varying degrees. Some answers to questions above, like Cabcurtains - yes, if they are being picky non-toyota brake pads, bulbs, any minor changes will constitute non standard or non manufacturer aproved aftermarket parts (the law in the letter in your policy means they could say mats and a magic tree too but its never going to happen). The point is that every policy without exception will have a line in the small print somewhere that says something to the effect of - addition of non standard (that means to your car model as you bought it, so bigger brakes off a Gti golf are non standard to a 1.4 golf SE for example) and non declared parts will invalidate your policy - thats their get out clause, it really could mean ANYTHING, so it depends on how good or bad a year the underwriters are having whether they need to look for a wa out or can afford to let your claim through withouth a fight.

Im not naming any names here for legal reasons but i do know of one company who are complete sharks, and regularly do sting unlucky clients on technicalities like this so they wont have to pay out.

Obviously there are some mods they will almost never be able to detect, like forged pistons or uprated valve gear, without dismantling the block - so these will probably go undetected but dont waste your time trying to claim off the insurance for them if the car gets wrecked or stollen.

Also like somebod mentioned above if you can get your car back at your house first you can probably take some parts off and return it to stock condition, completely illegal but you can do it, unless the car gets taken stright off on a tow truck for whatever reason.

And they dont forget, if you get caught with an undeclared mod, they will probably load your premium if you ever go back with them because they dont want you on their books if youve already been caught lying lol!

All in all id say do what an earlier poster suggested, ASK them how much it would cost IF you were to do it, then say right i will and tell them that your putting it on the car and get it in your policy fast, get them to send you out a new copy of it or at least your cover sheet.

Ive declared my Blitz CAI to my insurers and have already checked with them about the flywheel and shifter before i bought them, it was only a very minimal increase, and definatley worth the peace of mind that ill get them all back if someone steals or t-bones my car some day.

Anyone still reading???

[blackcts]

I think i know the insurance company your on about....yep complete sharks..based in down south by any chance?? B)

Surely if your car was stolen with an undeclared mod that wouldnt matter...anything could have been done to the car when it was stolen..

I know of a Passat TDi that was stolen and was recovered by police a few weeks later with new wheels and stuff...So at least it was kind of bitter-sweet for the owner :P

[Aamir2892]

Whats the point of telling your insurance i got a pipercross that costs £200. My insurance dont know but the folks in my street do. :P

[bigfiiish]

Whats the point of telling your insurance i got a pipercross that costs £200. My insurance dont know but the folks in my street do. :P

err.. so if anything happens your insurance company will even consider paying you or the third party... yeah its no big deal if your not the party at fault - you claim off them and bobs your uncle, but if you make a simple mistake and give someone a shunt in the back bumper, enough that your car needs towed away (or even need to go to a repair centre - cos the insurance companies phone these places to check with the head mechanic whether or not any modifications are evident on the car they are repairing - believe me they do) if youve got something obvious like big rims, bodykit or a filter the insurance co breathes a sigh or relief and writes you a dear john letter, they wont cover you and the full cost of both repairs and any personal claims gets taken straight out of your pocket.

For the sake of an extra £10 a year id rather just tell them ;)

I think i know the insurance company your on about....yep complete sharks

And black CTS - your probably exactly exactly right

[linty264]

Declare all mods theres no point it risking so much for so litttle extra, and for me all my mods cost me nothing extra. Good old Adrian Flux :)