Many cars these days have a standard spec and a list of optional extras. With German cars, BMW, Merc, Porsche, no optional extras gets you a very agricultural vehicle so you end up adding bigger alloys, air con, metalic paint, leather et al.
Are these "factory fitted" options considered by insurance companies as "modifications".
I'm not talking about 12ft bat wing spoilers and 27 inch alloys the max power boys do. Just factory fitted stuff.
This scenario becomes more difficult to identify the options if you are buying 2nd hand. How would you know that the BMW you are looking to buy has lowered suspension and a Ltd Slip Diff.
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I eerr on the side of caution and unfortunately pay a price for it. My car has a 'Sports Appearance Pack' which was an optional extra on this model - yet they still stiffed me for an extra 10% as a result, becuase they now class it as a 'modified car'.
Great that, eh.
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I suppose it depends on the insurance company, not all of them rate factory fitted options in the same way.
I suppose if every option was a modification then I should tell my insurance company that A/C has been fitted as that was technically an option when the car was new. Not that I think I'll bother, I can see it causing a lot of aggro!
Blue
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From what I can recall, I had a conversation with my Ins. company along the lines of;
Ins: "Is the car modified in any way?"
Me : "How do you class 'modified'?"
Ins: "The car should be 'standard', as in the same when it left the factory or sold new".
In the past they (DL) have been pretty good, when I fitted non-standard alloys to my 535, they never increased the premium.
Before I fit reverse sensors to the LC, I might just have a quick word though.....
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I told DL that my new touran had optional tinted glass purely for replacement purposes. No affect on premium.
They also said that towbars do not count as a modification.
Joe
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Can't see how any new car purchased from a manufacturer with fitted options can be anything other than standard - car hasn't been modified as it was supplied by the manufacturer to the manufacturers specifications.
Very dodgy are this as the insurance companies are very clever not to define specifically what they class as a modification & therefore have the opportunity to make some additional cash, or maybe I'm just been synical !!
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"Can't see how any new car purchased from a manufacturer with fitted options can be anything other than standard - car hasn't been modified as it was supplied by the manufacturer to the manufacturers specifications"
I could very easily add 50% to the price of my new BMW by specifying options. You think its fair that the insurance company should pay out 50% more the amount they thought they were insuring in the event of a loss?
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But thats what the 'Value of car' section is for.
And given that if I increase the estimated 'value' of my car by, say, 100% during an insurance quote the premium remains unchanged despite the car theoretically being worth twice that I don't really think thats a very sound arguement.
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I had to change insurance companies over exactly this issue - what counts as a mod and what is viewed as "standard".
My car comes with factory fitted satnav - but something niggled at me at renewal time on reading the small print, so I rang them. Their view was that satnav, even when factory fitted, was "audio equipment" and this had a maximum payout of £250. As a new dealer fitted system should it get smashed in a break in or whatever is in the order of five to ten times that amount, I had to change companies to find one who agreed that it would be fully covered in the event of a claim.
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What if you buy a second hand car and you were not advised of any of the modifications, I mean non obvious mods i.e. chipped. You are then involved in an accident and the insurance 'finds' that your car has been modified. However you told the ins company when you bought the ins that the car was not modified. Now where would you stand?
Fow what it's worth, I tell my ins company "To my knowledge, my car has no mods".
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We had £2,500 of extras added on when the car was brand new. Told the ins broker and he just asked for the total price of the car as delivered and wasn't interested in the details.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I find it is best to be upfront then you won't have any problems or worries if you claim. Tell them what model car, explain what factory fitted options there are and what the total price is.
In my experience, insurance companies are not too bothered about non-performance enhancing factory fitted options but need to be aware of them (presumably for replacement) and the total value of the car needs to reflect them.
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By the number of differing opinions one thing is for sure; it's not clear cut and even less so when buying used.
The value is a possible option but as I understand it, you will only be paid "market value" for the car in the event of a total loss and may well be different from the value quoted during the proposal. Dealers will tell you that the value of options on a 2nd hand car are worthless so how does an insurance company value them?
Whenever I do an online quote I am asked for the registration number and up pops the car. If the car is how it left the factory then surely all the information about the car is attached to the reg number and the insurance company have access to that info automatically.
I guess the only safe way is to identify, as best you can, the factory options fitted and tell the insurance company.
Certainly the more I think about this, the more questions come to mind.
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Another point is that many car owners wouldn't have a clue what was fitted as standard & what was optional so would be unable to declare these items anyway if they had purchased the vehicle "second-hand". It's certainly a very large "grey" area & IMHO left deliberately so by the insurance companies.
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The car value thing is quite simple, as has been said, they pay out "market value" of the car, unfortunately market calues rarely take account of options and so if you write your car off, then you will be left with the job of trying to find one with the same options.
That of course is what Gap insurance is for :-)
Blue
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An undisclosed mod can be used as an excuse by an insurance company to pay out in the event of a claim. Replacing standard steel wheels with alloys is certainly a mod which must be disclosed, replacing the factory fitted radio cassette with a cd player doesn't usually bother the insurance companies but it's best to mention it.
I wonder how many of the modified corsas etc driven by the backwards baseball cap brigade have had their mods, alloy wheels, lowered suspension, chipped engines etc. declared to the insurance companies.
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>>An undisclosed mod can be used as an excuse by an insurance company to pay out in the event of a claim.
Not really an "excuse". You pay for an insurance contract. You pay an agreed price for that specific contract with those specific inclusions and exclusions. If you wanted a policy without the modification exclusion, then you could get it.
Don't pay for one thing and then expect it to be so much more.
On the other hand, the rest of what wrangler_rover had to say makes a great deal of sense.
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But what constitutes a modifcation?
Some brands of air filter are classed as a modifcation - others are not. Where is the line? Must you ring your insurer each time your car is serviced 'Yes it has a new air filter it isn't a Vauxhall one its a Halfords one'.
What about tyres? A decent set of tyres can make much more difference to the way a car handles than many 'modifications' - must you call your insurer if you select a different brand/make of tyre?
Fuel - 'Hello, I'd like to declare a modification - yes I filled my Jap spec Impreza Turbo with Optimax this morning, thus increasing its performance'...
It's far too blurred and most insurers just whack a lump on the premium regardless of whether there is any need, so knowing whether to call them about it or not can be quite difficult.
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