Insurance and Mods....

[mad-for-tar]

Sorry for dragging this up if it has been covered before. Have searched but not found the info I'm looking for. Have just renewed my insurance with Admiral last week, 2nd year with them now despite slightly cheaper quote with Elephant (sister company I know..) at a very reasonable price.

Am planning some mods in the near future so thought it would be wise check premium hike before digging deep in the pockets. Got some quotes for adding various mods to the car, starting off with uprated brakes and panel insert filter replacement.

Now despite the hikes for the mods, both Admiral and Elephant both told me that they would not cover for mods if they werent to the original manufacturers specifications. To me, this sounds like, changing anything and declaring it, effectively voids my policy, even though they quoted me for it!

Going to ring around a few more places tomorrow, hopefully not getting the same answer. Can anyone shed light on this or how have you got round the "meeting manufacturers specifications" for your mods??

Any help appreciated, thanks,

Tom

[Peakz]

I think what they mean is that they will only replace modified parts with standard ones in the event of a claim.

Was in a similar situation to yourself when I first got my S4, waited until the end of the old policy then went with A-Plan (Thatcham branch deal with modified car policies). They cover like-for-like on the mods so I got a quote for all the future mods I had planned for the coming 12 months.

[derdle]

I used to be with Elephant and they would insure the car with the declared mods, but if you needed to claim they would only return the car to stock. So if you smashed your front suspension and you had say uprated brakes and H&R coilovers, I guess they'd repalce with standard Audi RS4 shocks and brakes. Now if this meant that you had stock brakes on one side and the uprated ones on the other, I guess you'd be left either paying for the brakes to be uprated or downrated!!

I changed to Greenlight as they are very mod friendly and offer trackday insurance for £50 a day.

HTH

Paul

[mad-for-tar]

Thanks for that guys, looks like I misunderstood the chap on the phone then! Had me hanging up believing all modded parts were to be of manufacturers original spec but I thought "this cannot be right!" Sounds more logical that way. Guess its OK for a few small mods like uprated brakes, ARB's, filter replacements, things like that but probably would have to look at different insurer for like for like replacements should i start doing bigger mods. BTW, paying £780 FC with Admiral, 6yrs NCB protected, 26 with full EEC issued clean licence. £328 hike for uprated brakes, filter, exhaust and re-map, but starting out with the easy bits and taking it from there. Will keep posted on how I fair out, for the benefit of others in the same situation.

Thanks

Tom

[mad-for-tar]

Tried Greenlight today, came back with a whopping £240 saving on what I am paying now! Unbelievable, nearly fell over when they told me!

£250 Accident, Fire and Damage Excess with the following conditions below also as per the email:

-24 hour claims assistance service, including a courtesy car provision
-£100,000 legal expenses/solicitors' fee cover (solicitor must be pre- approved)
-Modification friendly insurer (like for like cover on modified parts)
-Optional Track day cover (per event basis, please contact us for full details)
-Guaranteed 14 day hire car in event of Theft/Total loss (write off)
-Courtesy Car provided by Approved repairer for duration of repairs
-£500 Stereo cover
-Unlimited windscreen cover (£60 excess)
- approved repairer must be used
-Free foreign travel (green cards) for up to 90 days per annum
-Boomerang Tag Key loss protection (£1500 towards replacement locks)

Phoned them up just to confirm they hadnt made a mistake or I wasnt seeing things and they said yes it was right. Asked about future mods and was told all I would probably have to pay for is the £25 admin fee for their service but they will be added at no extra cost!! Unreal. Will be converted before the week is ended! Woo Hoo!

Comments and views most welcome...thanks!

[DavidT]

I have been with Greenlight for 4 years, I really like them

[mad-for-tar]

Just phoned them up to take out the policy. Wouldn't insure me now due to the car having a Cat D back in 2002. Can never win can you with it all?! And to top it off now, I have a banshee in one of my turbos as of last night...not been a good week at all. Think I'll just leave the car as is, not worry about any mods, enjoy it in its standard guise and be prepared for the Turbo fairy's visit! You win some, you lose some!

[GardinerG]

Just phoned them up to take out the policy. Wouldn't insure me now due to the car having a Cat D back in 2002.

I'm with Tescos - up to 20% chip, MTMs, Suspension declared. £200ish more. Funnily enough I was told it was the alloys that made the price difference, not the chip.