Recently a friend at work was discussing his son's car, and an accident he'd had. He had an early 6n2, which when he bought it had alloys fitted, although not standard for that model of Polo. His recent accident, in which his car was written off, has just cost him over £5000 for repairs to the other vehicle. Quite a substantial ammount for someone at college.

The reason,

HE HADN'T DECLARED HIS ALLOYS ON HIS INSURANCE.

My friend had sought legal advice (even though he has legal training) and been advised that although alloy wheels were fitted at the time of purchase, it was his son's responsibilty to notify the insurers of the fact. The insurers database utilises standard car specs, so can't be held responsible for any differencs between standard and aftermarket fitment on cars.

On the plus side the insurers did agree to refund his insurance money for the year, but he was still left with the £5000+ repair bill and no car.

The morale of this story being, whilst you may save a few quid by not declaring your alloys/banded steels/suspension/rear seat removal/etc, can you afford the consequences if you have an accident which is declared your fault??

Edited 16 September, 201114 yr by philpheasant

When I bought my polo it had alloys fitted. I thought they were standard rang my insurer 6 months later to find out that if I had an accident I would not be insured. Looking back, I was a massive donk for not realizing. It was only my second car though, and I was quite naive.

wait, you have to declare removed back seats?

(calls footman james)

Call to HIC on Monday morning then, my back seat is coming out this weekend.

Also being a 2 seater is supposed to be cheaper. Only chance of Injury to 1 passanger instead of 4.

Also being a 2 seater is supposed to be cheaper. Only chance of Injury to 1 passanger instead of 4.

I may have to look into this...

someone i went to college with got pulled over by the police in a random stop over christmas, given a producer (it was 2004) and they wrote on it rollcage as he had a show cage in his 106. produced his documents at the station the next day- the cage was not on his paperwork, they rang the insurance company up who confirmed this voided his insurance and he was promptly smashed with 6 points. only been driving 18months and had his licence revoked.

TAKE NOTE PEOPLE!!!

this is why you ride old school low with steels only have to declare suspension as all the cool retro bits arent mods

the MIB pay out for uninsured drivers, they did when my mate stacked his car and it wasn't mot'd taxed or uninsured! and all he got was his car impounded, a ban and a £200 fine and never had to pay any of the damages.

and all he got was his car impounded, a ban and a £200 fine and never had to pay any of the damages.

ALL he got???? Thats bad enough for me... Fuck losing my liscence for a year...

How would it work if for example you had a rover 25 with an mg zr kit on, would that be classed as a modification

That is the reason I waited a year until I could afford to insure my car with the mods on it :)

deanwt - I would say yes since it isnt the original spec :) even if they are based on the same chassis

putting a different stereo in is classed as a mod.anything that the car did not have when leaving the factory on your model car is a mod.as breadmaker said that's why retro wins hands down.iv got classic insurance now everything declaired and i can even have a rollcage without altering my payments MINT

Edited 29 September, 201114 yr by poloandyb

and all he got was his car impounded, a ban and a £200 fine and never had to pay any of the damages.

ALL he got???? Thats bad enough for me... Fuck losing my liscence for a year...

he was already banned.

if you got hit and injured by an uninsured driver a year on a ban and £200 just isn't right.

That is the reason I waited a year until I could afford to insure my car with the mods on it :)

deanwt - I would say yes since it isnt the original spec :) even if they are based on the same chassis

Suppose it does make sense, anything that wasnt on your car when it left the factory is classed as a modification. Does seem a bit silly if you change parts that are a standard part, like an mg zr. But rules are rules lol

I know I am taking it a bit literal, but does that mean you have to tell the insurance company when you get a service? technically if you change a filter, you have modified the car since it didn't start out with that one

I know I am taking it a bit literal, but does that mean you have to tell the insurance company when you get a service? technically if you change a filter, you have modified the car since it didn't start out with that one

No because your not changing the car as it was from manufacture.

But what your policy could say is, you have to use OEM or OEM standard parts when servicing the vehicle. So depending on the quality of the oil filter you could be in breach of your policy :p