Optional extras & Insurance

[Rob Clark]

Just had an interesting conversation with the helpline of my insurance company (Direct Line) regarding what happens if I add sumething (air filter / Ik ) etc to my car and also what price would be for a new meggy 225

Interestingly, when asked about the megane, I mentioned the fact that I was looking at the cup pack so had to reel off all the details of what it is. Turns out the suspension package made a fair bit of diff in that it adds a fair amount to the premium and whacks up the excesses and extra £400 !!!

Is this standard ? and am I obliged to mention them even if they are from factory as new ??

I then went on to mention the bymynewcar.co.uk offer where you are not the 1st owner which he raised an eyebrow on and said your not covered by their gap policy which coveres the instand depreciation you get when you drive a new car away.
He went quiet to ask sum1 then said if its a day old with me as 2nd owner and still got delivery miles then they would cover me which was interesting.

I then went on to ask how my policy would b effected if I added an air filter.
His response suprised me as i gave 2 examples itg panel filter (unnoticable gain in HP but better engine response @ low revs and longer life & IK).
Iven if i put a replacement air filter in which doesnt effect HP i get stung for an extra £30 quid (inc admin charge ) and my premiums rocket by a further £100 !!!
When given a 0-10% increase in HP (and random IK) the price was unchanged !!!! v strange, was only if you go above 10% that the price started going even higher.

Is this typical ? Comments please

 

[Liverpool_Nick]

If you mod your car there is more risk for the insurer. If you tell the company the meg 225 is a cup pack then they should know what it is with out you explaining it, it has the same car grouping as the meg without cup pack, therefore, no additional charge.

They may think that the pack is something that is being put on after sale. To be honest the Customer Manager you spoke to didn't seem to have much knowledge of the companies underwriting manual. Maybe a change of insurer?

 

[McBunny]

just because its the same group doesnt mean it doesnt cost more to insure !!

 

[Rob Clark]

I did say the cup pack but he had nfi what 1 was. New insurer maybe but no1 else been able to get close to DL for years for me.

 

[McBunny]

dl are great except for mods usually they dont do mods if your under 25

 

[JBarber]

I've had the argument with a couple of insurance companies (Direct Line and Bell). Legally you are supposed to declare options like Cup packs even if they are factory fitted. Direct line put this as manufacturer fitted mod or something on the policy, Bell refused to insure me saying that couldn't cover mods at all.

A lot of people say just don't declare them, which is fine but if they find out they could refuse to pay out in the event of a claim.

On and BTW, I'm 33, full NCD, live in the country and car is garaged, no convictions and a professional engineer, so the Bell refusal was not on the basis of me being a yob!

 

[Liverpool_Nick]

just because its the same group doesnt mean it doesnt cost more to insure !!

Ok, but when insurers are pricing you on the car they look at the car grouping and the year it was made. The ABI decieded that adding packs to the meg and clio should not change the the car grouping. Therefore, there shouldn't be a change in premium as there is no added risk!

 

[McBunny]

its the same with the mini option packs they dont change the grouping but you still need to declare them and they can increase the premium.
what you get charged is based on more than just the group for one it increases the cost of the car thats been insured so costs more to replace so costs more to insure

 

[JBarber]

^ exactly.

 

[Liverpool_Nick]

I didn't say anything about not declaring them, for god sake im in work for the industry! Your telling me things i already know but are a little bit wrong.

What an extra £400 quid to change the susp, it doesnt increase top speed performance, all the cup does is increase the payout, therefore, no additional charge as the deaprication will be only a few hundreds pounds more than the meg without cup packs and it wouldn't be worth the loss of the customer to increase the premium.

Actually with Minis the grouping does change, i dont mean the chilli pack by the way.