Lowering springs & skirts - declare?

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Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106595 03/05/2006 21:40 03/05/2006 21:40
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	Right....renewal time for me and the 20vt, I just shopping around but have question regarding kits & springs. My 20vt is standard except a factory zender kit and lowering springs, both have been on the car since I bought it in 2004, the last owner claimed it was like than from new as he had also know the previous owner. Anyway I have been declaring these and it adds another £50-100 on my policy, or causes alot of companies to not be able to quote me. If I didnt declare them and had a crash would I just not be covered for these parts or would I my policy be void altogether?

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106596 03/05/2006 21:51 03/05/2006 21:51
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	Legally you wouldnt be covered in a crash, however the likelihood of an assesor to not give the ok for a pay out due to skirts and springs is minimal.

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106597 04/05/2006 00:49 04/05/2006 00:49
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	but still there.....suppose you have a BIG accident and you write off your car, their car, and the other party sue you for whiplash or worse. Court fees etc.... blah blah blah.... if your insurance company decides you did not declare your car as modified + states you have invalidated your policy guess who pays the bill for the sum total of ALL the above - yep, including the legal fees? If you've had engine work done it's unlikely they'll bother to take the engine apart and start checking the valve seats - but they could...obvious mods that can be seen from pictures etc is another story. Get with a decent company like greenlight and you wont pay a penny extra for those mods. I've had a lot done to my car over the last few years, and all they've ever charged me is a £25 admin fee when I want to add or change something. Up to you really....

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106598 04/05/2006 01:50 04/05/2006 01:50
Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 859 North-East zak Enjoying the ride
zak Enjoying the ride Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 859 North-East	I have my mods declared - peace of mind really. picture too large; max size allowed is 300 x 100 pixels, please resize 2000X 20VT+

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106599 04/05/2006 02:02 04/05/2006 02:02
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	Quote: I have my mods declared - peace of mind really. Me too. You just never know.

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106600 04/05/2006 04:32 04/05/2006 04:32
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	deffo greenlight love mods did not charge me for most things olny chip and zorst the rest did not matter as they where not power gains

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106601 04/05/2006 15:22 04/05/2006 15:22
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	I've always declared mine, just checking. Engine will always remain standard.

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106602 04/05/2006 19:21 04/05/2006 19:21
Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 12,546 Northumberland A AndrewR I AM a Coop
AndrewR I AM a Coop A Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 12,546 Northumberland	Quote: but still there.....suppose you have a BIG accident and you write off your car, their car, and the other party sue you for whiplash or worse. Court fees etc.... blah blah blah.... if your insurance company decides you did not declare your car as modified + states you have invalidated your policy guess who pays the bill for the sum total of ALL the above - yep, including the legal fees? That isn't quite true. The insurance company will be forced to pay out all 3rd party claims (although they could refuse to pay for your own damage) and then have to take you to court to sue you for the money they'd had to pay out. In practice they'd be unlikely to do this unless they believed you had significant assets. If they did, however, you'd be pretty much screwed because it would be an open and shut case. Dear monos, a secret truth.

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106603 15/05/2006 15:08 15/05/2006 15:08
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	Quote: Quote: In practice they'd be unlikely to do this unless they believed you had significant assets. I wonder what the criteria is for significant assests? Surely most homeowners would qualify? I didnt declare my mods in my younger days but do now for peace of mind - Im with Adrian Flux and they seem competitve with prices.

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106604 15/05/2006 20:30 15/05/2006 20:30
Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 19,937 North wales pinin_prestatyn Forum veteran
pinin_prestatyn Forum veteran Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 19,937 North wales	You better declare those parts. You're not too big to have you on my knee young man. Coopless!

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106605 16/05/2006 22:07 16/05/2006 22:07
A Anonymous Unregistered
Anonymous Unregistered A	Quote: That isn't quite true. The insurance company will be forced to pay out all 3rd party claims (although they could refuse to pay for your own damage) and then have to take you to court to sue you for the money they'd had to pay out. In practice they'd be unlikely to do this unless they believed you had significant assets. If they did, however, you'd be pretty much screwed because it would be an open and shut case. This statement is not entirely correct The insurer could refuse to pay your damage and would have right of recovery against you for the third party claim as well. I assure you The insurer would take every step necessary to recover any outgoings as of a result of a customer non disclosing modifications. If the claim went to court and the insurer produced proof (signed proposal form or voice recording of the quote details being taken) that you had answered no to modifications the case would be pretty clear cut in the judges eyes. The insurance company wouldn't just pay £1000's out to a third party when they have a chance of recovery from a customer who non-disclosed key facts at the quote stage. I have seen cases where an insurer has successfully applied an attachment to earnings so under court order they would be entitled to take a proportion of your earnings until the debt is recovered. If the mods were intentionally non dislocsed that could also be considered insurance fraud. In my 9 years in insurance I have seen numerous claims chucked out for non-dislclosure. Its simply not worth the risk to save a few quid. We offer specialist modified vehicle policies with like for like cover and agreed value available should anyone have troubled finding cover for their modified coupe. Best Regards Neil Greenlight Insurance Last edited by Greenlight; 16/05/2006 22:10.

Re: Lowering springs & skirts - declare? #106606 18/05/2006 00:38 18/05/2006 00:38
Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 12,546 Northumberland A AndrewR I AM a Coop
AndrewR I AM a Coop A Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 12,546 Northumberland	Thanks for the info, Greenlight, but it seems quite common these days for insurers to simply refuse to pay out for damage to undeclared mods or to retroactively calculate what the premium would have been and charge their customer the extra. If the claim is in the thousands, rather than the tens of thousands, then by the time they've instructed a solicitor and been through the court palava it's got to be a pretty marginal cost benefit, especially if all they get out of it is a £5 DEO. Dear monos, a secret truth.

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