So a friend of mine has one of those telematics boxes fitted in his car which monitors speed, smoothness, mileage etc etc. He's just purchased wheels and a set of coilovers to fit next week. I told him that it's dodgy modding your car whilst having a black box. It's bad enough not declaring it when you do not have one!

So my question is, is he at more risk of being caught, to someone who hasn't got a telematics box but did not declare mods? Or to someone who has declared mods in that case? Or if he gets pulled by the police will they know by doing some insurance spot check thing?

I want to prove to him that he's probably better off waiting a year till his insurance drops and finding someone who welcomes mods for a small fee or so on, as I personally think not declaring mods is a bit, let's say, dodgy.

If anyone has any pointers that would be great. Thanks in advance.

The box can't tell if his car is lowered or has different wheels. The police however can tell if they check his or anyone who has undeclared mods, which will result in the insurance company finding out and most likely voiding his insurance. Which will then count as "refused insurance" so next time he goes to insurance price will be sky high and a lot of company's will not even quote him.

Then the police will probably seize his car and impound it (depeding how they're feeling on the day)

Anyone not declaring mods is a retard as should kill themselves.

They won't know he's done the mods until he crashes his car and they inspect it. If he was with the co-op when they first came to check on my car, which only had alloy wheels, they straight out said no we won't cover that.

Basically he's fine. Until he crashes then the insurance won't pay out and he'll be paying for: his own car, the other person's car, damages to the road, damages to people's property, personal injury ect. He could risk it like some one I know of did and end up in a lot of debt.

I thought as much. He kept saying if he got stopped then they wouldnt be able to find out if he'd declared them or whatever. He says he won't crash. You could be a fantastic driver but that doesn't mean there aren't other idiots on the road.

Also with aftermarket rims and being lowered with a bit of stretch I would of thought it would guarantee being pulled over when they see you. Young lad + modded car + police = your up sh** creek without a paddle.

Let's see if he'll listen after I show him this!

Not being funny, sounds like your friends a muppet.

Soon as a copper puts his reg into there computer it'll come up straigh away that he hasnt declared any modifications. He's just asking for trouble. Also you can NEVER know when you'll have a crash and why, its why we have insurance. Tell him to sort his life out and do things properly or bathe in the consequences.

I don't dive like a nob but had loads of near misses; avoiding people walking into the road, creeping out of blind junctions, foxes running out in front of the car in front loads of random things happen that you can't help and can cause you to have a crash that's your fault.

Tell him to do what I've done and wait a year. In that year I got the body work done, saved up for better parts, cleaned the hell out of everything.

Simple answer to this. Rip the shitty telematics box out and run over it and get a normal insurance policy. If I was starting driving now I'd just pay more for a regular policy so theres no 'Big Brother' watching over me. Bad enough with all the money grabbing cameras etc let alone having to drive like an OAP everywhere in fear of going too fast around a corner or accelerating to hard.

Simple answer to this. Rip the shitty telematics box out and run over it and get a normal insurance policy. If I was starting driving now I'd just pay more for a regular policy so theres no 'Big Brother' watching over me. Bad enough with all the money grabbing cameras etc let alone having to drive like an OAP everywhere in fear of going too fast around a corner or accelerating to hard.

Exactly, I'd rather pay more money and drive how I want to drive.

My mates got policy with a box, he hasn't learned how to drive yet because of it. Even after over a year he still drives like he is doing his test, generally scary to be in a car with him.

Yep, he's an idiot. Undeclared mods is nearly as bad as no insurance. What if his car is in an accident and its taken away by a recovery company because its wrecked or for evidence? He won't be able to take any non standard kit off. I'm sure he's come up with the line "I'll just tell the insurance I didn't realise it wasn't standard". Firstly, I'm sure the insurance company have heard that one a thousand times and secondly, they don't have to pay up if he hasn't been truthful. As a business, if they can get out of paying a claim for a few grand, then they will.

Sure, he may know one or two people that have been in accidents and got away with it, but I bet there are many more who ended up in trouble or debt because they weren't properly insured.

The consequences can be lifelong. As has already been mentioned, his insurance will be cancelled and whenever he tries to get a car insurance policy, home insurance policy etc. even when he's 60, that will be hanging over him. It really isn't worth it, especially if he just waits a year until he can afford to insure his mods. Knock some common sense into him before its too late...

Oh, and he says he won't crash? He probably thinks he is a great driver too, right?

Consider this: Driving is like sex... Everybody thinks they're great at it.

I had a black box in my car and drove how ever I wanted and got a £200 refund My friend had a box with the same company and drives every where at 20mph and said when he got in the car with me that my driving was erratic and my policy would be cancelled!

I think people over estimate how harsh the box is going to be. I was with the Co-op and as long as you didn't constantly go out after 11pm they didn't really care. I'd happily still have a black box if you could modify your car with it.

Ten 4 mate. I also had one with co-op and it didn't alter my driving habbits at all, I drove how I wanted, when I wanted with no penalties. However I think they've made them a lot stricter now, as my younger sister just passed her test and got one and they've put hers up for driving outside of hours only a couple of tyres. Either way, there not the best way to go, but if needs must. I couldn't afford to drive otherwise.

Has your mate tried going to a specialist insurer who deal with mods and stuff. Sky Insurance for example?

Surely it would be cheaper taking to time to phone up companies like them and getting a policy with the mods declared and without a 'Big Brother' black box.

Also on the subject of these boxes, why do they put up your premium if you drive 'out of hours'? Surely at those times you are less likely to crash, or less likely to crash into someone else as there are less folk on the road. What if you need to go out at those times for work?

My brother-in-law recently started driving a mk4 golf, and has a black box installed.

He stayed at his girlfriends for 1 night whilst her parents were away and whilst he was there he received a phone call from his insurer asking him why his car wasn't parked at home....

Also he says there have been times where he has needed to brake hard when people have pulled out in front of him etc. and even though he was doing the right thing and avoiding a collision, it still goes against him in terms of the premium he pays!

He stayed at his girlfriends for 1 night whilst her parents were away and whilst he was there he received a phone call from his insurer asking him why his car wasn't parked at home....

Lol, that could have potentially been quite a fun phone call...

I had to get a black box for my polo coupe it was the only way I could get insured. It was either £2250 with a black box or £3k+ without. As I was just a 6th form student at the time, I wasnt exactly flush with money. I just drove as if I didnt have it in, reached quite a high speed on the motorway once on the way to UD14 trying to catch up to mates in 1.9 diesel 9n's and I just got a red warning for speed on my fortnightly driving review messages. I just waited till the year was up then dropped it on alloys after.

I agree with everyone else, wait 1 year, build up your no claims then modify your car. My insurance went from £2250 with no mods for my 1st year down to £750 with mods declared for my 2nd.

No brainer really

Oh and I went with ingenie and they give refunds quarterly for driving. Needless to say even with me driving it slightly eratically at times, I still got £200 back over the year. Plus the black box is purely for driving and they dont care about when you drive though a mate of mines policy states he cant have friends in his car??!!

Photo of car and post code, I'll go crash into him...