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Guys, I've just been speaking to Elephant insurance regarding a renewal. They tell me that they DO NOT insure cars with such large remaps.

Can anyone confirm if they've had the same info from Elephant please.

I think it depends who you speak to and how you explain the mod. I had the same issue with Admiral (elephant are part of the admiral group) and it all comes down to classifying the remap as a chip. I spoke to one guy who said they wouldn't support a remap but a chip does the same thing and is based on a % of the stock bhp I believe.

An MRC remap will increase the power of the car by around 15-20% which is probably acceptable, if it's not you're probably better of giving some of the mod friendly insurers a call and see what they can offer you. A Plan, Noel Dazely, Adrian Flux etc are all probably worth a call if you're having trouble getting a good price.

Thanks Wombar for the advice. I'll try Elephant 1 more time. If no luck I'll try the others.

Out of interest I know someone who has worked in the motor insurance repair trade for over 20 years. He has never heard of an insurance company checking a car for a remap/chip at any time, let alone one which is not a 'physical' chip.

Use that information at your own risk, obviously.

I was insured via Elephant with a declared remap. They tend to work on %age terms - the 40bhp on the stock 380 for my car was quite a low agin (10½%) but 40bhp on 265 is a tad over 15%.

As mentioned above, I think it all depends on who you speak to, if the person on the phone is unhelpful ask (politlely) to speak to their boss.

I always found Elephant to be very amenable providing you go higher up the chain of command!

Paul

The guy I spoke to actually went to his manager to ask for clarification. This manager then went to his manager to seek clarification. And at the end of all this I got a "No Can Do".

If you go on to their website for a quote, when you mention the car is modified you are taken to a page where you can select remap either 10%...or more than 15% etc.....suspension,,,then re quote..I have played with this to work out the potential insurance damage before going ahead with mods.

Elephant are crap. I have been insured with them for a few years now. i suggest that you get your car insured somewhere else i know i will be next time. Only insurers out of a list of 250 that do not cover chip repair on windscreens. not alot of money but i had to pay £20 quid to get my chip repaird, if you were with one of the 249 companies you would get it for free. i think if the worst happened their is probably more stuff they dont cover.
mark

I'm sure Elephant cover up to a 25% increase via a chip. All the Admiral group insurers do. It's even selectable via their website as others have said above.

I've had windscreen chips repaired free of charge under Elephant!

Paul

[quote="derdle"]I've had windscreen chips repaired free of charge under Elephant!

Had a right mirror replaced & bodywork done within 5days by Elephant.co.uk.

Courtesy car also given (which I had not paid for). I suppose others will say thats my luck, but I can't personally slag off Elephant. That would be a travesty.

I got a quote for upgrading my brakes when I was with Elephant... they came back with a 50% price increase of £600!!!

That spurred me on to move to Noel Dazely who managed to get me to within £100 of my Elephant quote, but allowed for uprated brakes, a generic remap and 3 points (which I hadn't declared to Elephant at the time as the points were still pending). God knows how much more my Elephant premium would have gone up if I'd declared the brakes and the points.

Shame really, I found Elephant's prices very competitive before I got the S4. I'd say they are great for standard cars, but in my experience rubbish for modded cars.

Update guys - I spoke to elephant again - and again they said a firm "NO"! I then called Admiral (their parent co) and they also said a firm "NO".

I then called Noel Dazely, who quoated me £575 - thats for a 32 year old, full NCB, 0 points, living in an average London postcode. PLus my wife - 29 years old, with 3 points on an SP30.

In total thats approx £100 more than what Elephant quoted on a standard car.

Don't understand Alps... I went to MRC for a remap, sat in the car immediately after, declared the mod to Elephant (can't remember if I said 20% or 25% - without a rolling road, who really knows!) but was sorted there and then on the phone.

By sorted, I mean "relieved of more cash"

They also let me get post-break-in repairs done with the repairer of my choice, offered a free courtesy car against the possibility that one wasn't offered by the repairers, etc. Aside from the cluelessness of some of their first line customer services staff, no issues really...

Im glad I dont have all this hastle! Im 29 got 3 points (SP30), wife is also on policy but have a trade policy, so can drive any car, with any mods, as long as the value is no more than £100k! ( just about covers my s4 then!) All for £1200 per year. Way to go.