Souped up? You must tell your insurance company

Police claim that many modified car drivers don’t tell their insurers about the mods, in order to avoid paying higher premiums. By not declaring a modification, they’re invalidating their insurance and laying themselves open to the criminal offence of false declaration to obtain insurance, which carries a fine of up to £2,500 and disqualification.

[ClickPress, Fri Nov 24 2006] The tabloids have a thing about modified cars. The police like to target them, too. Recently (20/11/06) the Belfast Telegraph reported that ‘police slapped an immediate ban on thirteen souped up cars’ they nabbed in a ‘swoop’ operation.

Obviously if cars are unsafe then they need to come off the road. But the police also claim that many modified car drivers don’t tell their insurers about the mods, in order to avoid paying higher premiums.

And that is unforgivably stupid. Why? Because in most cases, they probably wouldn’t have had to pay much higher premiums anyway, according to Adrian Flux Insurance.

Of course, by not declaring a modification, they’re invalidating their insurance and laying themselves open to the criminal offence of false declaration to obtain insurance, which carries a fine of up to £2,500 and disqualification.

It’s the fact that it’s all so pointless that infuriates Gerry Bucke of Flux. “Not declaring a modification is a mug’s game,” he says. “You’re shelling out for insurance that’s worthless if you have to make a claim. And for what? In most cases, a modification only puts up the premium by a small amount. We’ve had clients who’ve come to us after their insurer turned them down because of a modification, and they’ve ended up paying less with us, with their modification, than they were paying before without it!”

Adrian Flux arranges insurance for more modified car owners than anyone else in the UK. Even a performance modification, such as a turbo or NOS system, can be relatively cheap. “If your turbo adds 15% more power, we’ll probably up the premium by around15%, depending on the car,” says Bucke.

And many modifications may not affect the premium at all. “Especially cosmetic mods like body kits or alloy wheels,” he says. “We reckon owners who invest the time and money on making their cars look smart are going to take better care of them, rather than wrap them round the nearest tree. So why put up the premium?”

The message: disclose the modification. If you don’t, you’re not insured and you’re breaking the law. If you do, you’ll be covered and you may well be pleasantly surprised by the new premium.

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