[doughboy]

Mine wasn't too bad this year, they only added £200 to a £500 policy (with esure of all people!)

+20%bhp chip
suspension
brakes
wheels
exhaust
intercooler

[jimmylad]

A non declared mod, however trivial, is an excuse for an insurance company to screw you over.

[Rudz]

Should i declare darklines?

[doughboy]

No, the car is 2nd hand just deny any knowledge of them as obviously you didn't fit them, the car looked normal to you when you bought it.

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

If the car is not as it was when it left the factory,it could be viewed as a modification.

This.

Whether you choose to declare them is entirely at your own risk. Personally, I would only ever declare non-OEM modifications, unless they're glaringly obvious.

[jayakrishnanv]

Black Grills should they be declared? i was about to change the ones in my vehicle and also to do rear window tinted...can i do it together? My question came up as if i drop the idea of tinting and go for only black grills should i be declaring the same?

[gchild]

Originally Posted by jayakrishnanv

Black Grills should they be declared? i was about to change the ones in my vehicle and also to do rear window tinted...can i do it together? My question came up as if i drop the idea of tinting and go for only black grills should i be declaring the same?

Grills are trivial IMO unless you will claim for them in a shunt.
I've declared my tints, was about £20 extra.

[jayakrishnanv]

Originally Posted by gchild

Grills are trivial IMO unless you will claim for them in a shunt.
I've declared my tints, was about £20 extra.

Thank you very much will be going ahead with both will speak to the insurer and will declare the same

[AWBimmer]

Rang my insurance company admiral to ask them for a quote on coil overs (changing suspension) and the lady asked me the following:

1. Reason?
2. What it'll achieve?
3. How much will it be lowered by?
4. Who'll be the main driver?

Then she put me on hold for 3 mins and came back to say. This needs further referral and unfortunately that dept is now closed so she'll call me back tomorrow / Monday to tell what the referral unit say?

She said its not something they can give a price over the phone instantly as it a "high risk" modification and they need answers...

I told her I've not actually done anything and just ringing to get a quote.

What experience have you had with insurance companies and what have you had to say to justify the suspension mod!?

What can I say to get the cheapest price!?

To me it's ridiculous it'll take this long to verify something like this.. I'm not exactly supercharging the car..

Can anyone please help/chime in?!

[doughboy]

Justify it? WTF?

Never had that, make sure you keep the decription simple.

Just 'altered suspension' or ,modified suspension' will do.

Don't talk about coilover etc else they'll get all steamed up and start spouting off about underwriters and so on.

If you did keep it simple, you must be a high risk already for them to refer it.

[makkan00]

Guys, all those who are putting makkan's OBD port disabled stickers should declare it to their insurance companies as well.

It is a modification and highly dangerous. It may hinder your observation and may distract some thieves, therefore it should be declared to your insurance company as soon as possible

And expect £20-50 addition in to your annual premium

[Alex.Devol]

Ive had this treatment over a few mods, best to talk as little as possible and certainly don't mention any specifics that will give the underwriters reason to believe your motive is for performance gain.
I gave the reasoning as 'improved ride comfort' when they asked about suspension change, its not necessary to go into detail such as what suspension / springs / shocks / coilovers since all suspension alterations fall under the same modification category, they should only ask if there is >or<5cm drop. So as long as that box is ticked on your insurance document you're fine and the less concern aroused in the process the better.

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by Alex.Devol

Ive had this treatment over a few mods, best to talk as little as possible and certainly don't mention any specifics that will give the underwriters reason to believe your motive is for performance gain.
I gave the reasoning as 'improved ride comfort' when they asked about suspension change, its not necessary to go into detail such as what suspension / springs / shocks / coilovers since all suspension alterations fall under the same modification category, they should only ask if there is >or<5cm drop. So as long as that box is ticked on your insurance document you're fine and the less concern aroused in the process the better.

Thanks Alex! What if they say what I'm planning to put? Springs, coils etc?
Also won't they question me when I say I want improved ride comfort? Will they not ask whats wrong with my current / stock suspension?

She did mention something about the underwriters but I didn't know what that meant.

Problem is what I will say in justifying a change in suspension and what answers to give lol.

[Alex.Devol]

In my experience the person on the end of the phone has little to no understanding of cars whatsoever but is simply one of many in a call centre doing data input. If i were you i would call again in a few days, dont say you've spoken to anyone already, just start again without any mention of coilovers and say you are thinking about asking a garage to change your suspension for you. You actually can't speak to the underwriters directly and so the operator may try to liaise between you both (expect a lot of 'would you mind holding the line') but its generally a fruitless endeavour where at some point they will get fed up and want you off the line, just act as clueless as the insurance person on the phone, say as little as possible (if they ask questions dont have answers, the garage will be supplying and fitting your parts so you can pretend to be a clueless yuppie) and with any luck the mod box will be ticked and you'll be £100 poorer!

I went with ride comfort because its the least concerning reason I could think of for a risk assessor, I said the msport suspension is horribly uncomfortable (which IMO it is) and I wanted something nicer for when I have passengers. This isn't far from truth actually because the dampeners on my new suspension are so much better that even though the cars now lower and stiffer round corners its much less crashy and copes with potholes a lot better.

Hope this helps!

[doughboy]

Agree.

Just keep it simple, ask to add a modification to the vehicle, the category is just 'altered suspension' end of.

Then i was asked is the car lowered by more than 10cm (yes 10cm!!) of course I said no, just 1 or 2cm if that.

If they start asking more questions (which they shouldn't), just say the original suspension has worn out and you are changing it for a non-BMW one which is cheaper and more comfortable.

My policy wording just says 'Lowered Suspension (<10cm)'. This covers all the parts used to lower it, springs, dampers, bushes, ARBs, strut brace etc etc.

[AWBimmer]

Thanks guys... will post up to document how I got on :-)