Insurance.... cautionary tale

[eclipse1501]

Like it or not you can't buy or put together a good quality LHD NSX on the continent for much less than 30,000 euros. So when my insurer offered a replacement market value this year of 27,000 euros on my fully comp policy....i asked them if they would consider some special circumstances and a total loss value of 35,000 euros. In return they asked me to detail the spec of the car and any modifications.

I listed everything, custom interior, NSX-R wheel, alloys etc. My local insurance agent asked me to quantify absolutely everything in order to justify the extra 6,000 euros valuation so i also listed the lowered suspension bits, SS headers and aluminium exhaust, everything under the skin.

After 15 years with Ibex and a variety of cars instead of an improved offer what i got was a very long silence and eventually an admission that they no longer wanted to insure the car fully comp at all. Why?

Largely because the SS headers might give my 20 year old car a 20hp boost!! The fact it will have lost more than that figure over its life was of no interest to them at all. So after three months waiting i now have an offer on the table of a 900 euro premium in return for 3rd party only cover!!! I no longer have an NSX apparently but a "modified"

Lesson learnt by me and beware anyone else with SS headers and all the rest of the mods ......be aware how it may touch on your own insurance - whether you declare them or not.

[britlude]

yup, always ask what the mods will do to the insurance before adding them...

I was told, apparently, the different manifolds make mine more attractive to thieves, even though you can't see them! they are more concerned if you change the tail pipe trims!

all my mods are declared, and the insurance do stipulate that they will only be replaced with oem parts..... even though the replacement parts (modified) are cheaper than the overpriced original parts!

[goldnsx]

They don't like performance mods because of the correlation of crashes. Well, not in your case but as a result of the whole sample. Riskless upgrades are cosmetical things and revisions. Tuning-parts are contraproductive and it's better not to mention them which means you have to cover it yourself. Three years ago this happened to me too, nearly.

[Boomin33]

If you put an aftermarket exhaust, headers, run your car on different alloys for a while ( like I am now ) etc.

If I were to get hit by another driver, or forbid... cause an accident myself.. could they / would they; try and void my insurance, and in fact refuse a claim based on the fact that the policy wasn't written up properly in their minds?

One of my employees used to work at Eagle insurance and qoutes stories where they used to really mess people up on these technicalities for a laugh... or maybe it was for a bonus...
but has anyone ever heard of something like this actually happening?


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[eclipse1501]

Yes they can wriggle out of paying if you do not declare all modifications....as this is seen as having made a false statement in the first place. They assume the car is totally standard when writing the policy.

[Ciaran]

Eclipse is correct, any modification can invalidate your insurance... Your Insurer assumes (based on your statements, and the assumptions in the policy document) that the car in Standard OEM. That is the long and short of it, they can and will step away from any claim where they find any modification. (they are legally obliged to cover any third party injured or at a loss, however they are then entitled to come back and sue you personally for their costs).
I assisted a young guy after Axa turned down his claim (he slid into a ditch and pretty wrecked his Peugoet 206) Axa turned it down as he had a "modified induction kit". The Modified kit was in fact a K&N cone filter. I helped him bring the case to the Financial Service Ombudsman, and they threw it out and said Axa were within there rights...

Unfortunately the modification issue is nothing to do with the car or the impact on the performance (which is very marginal in most cases..) but it is I am sorry to say a reflection on us, the drivers of said cars...
example... take 100 Ford Focus's and say 10% are modified and the remainder are bog standard... which of the 100 cars are likely to be driven fastest...??? ok so the margin for error could be 20%, but you get the picture. The Insurers see the type of person that modifies as a greater risk than those that don't..

My suggestion... it is not a modification, it is a "more economic replacement part"... its being honest and worth a try...

[amo]

hi everyone but i must have the most modded nsx in the uk and iv no prob at all with my insurance they have a full spec list and lots of pics and mags covering my car

richard eggar insurance and i have garanteed value all in writting

thx amo

[JQD84983]

hi everyone but i must have the most modded nsx in the uk and iv no prob at all with my insurance they have a full spec list and lots of pics and mags covering my car


Never a truer word spoken there Amo.

Nice to know there are reasonable choices out there if changes are made.