[Sethorion]

I'd like to fit a silly big turbo and get the JDM spooly boy noises that excited me so much during my teenage years.

The only issue is the cheapest I can get insurance when going through CompareTheMarket or GoCompare is about £1240.

Does anyone know how to get cheaper insurance for turbo upgrades?

[Torgus]

why would you insure your 'upgrades'?

[rasa bmw]

its law

[Torgus]

How do they know you have modified your car?

What does the insurance cover?

Any link to the specific law, curious as to it's requirements...

[Sethorion]

Originally Posted by Torgus

why would you insure your 'upgrades'?

As lame as it sounds, the upgrades aren't insured. Every insurer I've used, has stated in the T's and C's that modifications aren't covered. They just up the price based on their stats that modifiers are more likely to claim.

Originally Posted by Torgus

How do they know you have modified your car?

What does the insurance cover?

Any link to the specific law, curious as to it's requirements...

If I fit an LSD where the swapped parts are entirely internal then I wouldn't declare that because it makes your insurance premium explode. Given how they won't reimburse you for the price of the LSD internals and they'd have no way to easily discern the presence of one let alone prove that I did the mod myself then I'll take my chances with that.

Fitting a big fat turbo is kind of a dead giveaway. So is chipping/remapping your car.

[Torgus]

Interesting.

So if you don't tell them does the insurance company really go over your crashed car and go OMG non stock part, insurance invalid? What about 3rd party non OEM parts? Like a waterpump? Or rebuilt waterpump? How can they prove a non stock part caused the accident? Sounds like a load of crap to me.

Whole things sounds like you should just go about your business and not tell them a thing.

[Silver Streek]

Torgus

If u crash your car and as a result someone for example has life changing injuries, your car will be gone over by someone that knows what the original parts should be. Pattern parts are not an issue as they will be copies to the same original spec. Putting a big turbo on will be noticed and noted in the report as a modification. This would result in your insurance being invalidated then the police may procecute you. If it's found to be your fault then they may throw the book at you.

It's not about non stock parts, 2nd 3rd party parts should made to the same design/spec so are not classed as a modification. Sticking a bigger turbo on is definitely a modification as is having a map done, a simple scan of the ECU can find that the map has been done, then you have no insurance in the event of a claim IF they look for it.

It's up to you if you are happy taking the chance of invalidating your insurance or not. But it's certainly not a load of crap as you put it.

[Torgus]

It's a load of crap you have to do ANY of that.

A turbo swap, an aftermarket exhaust, a different map, BBK, etc. None of them can cause an accident on their own. Fuck what if I wrote my own valet map or an economy map?

What a crock of shit you have to jump through.

There are documented cases where the insurance company plugged into your OBD2 port and read your map after the car was crashed? You still own the crashed car. reflash it before you give permission to the insurance company to inspect?

[Silver Streek]

Torgus I hear what you are saying, but the insurance company will do anything to wriggle out of a payout. Any excuse to say sorry chap your insurance is invalid then they will. Of course a big turbo won't cause you to have a crash, however the extra speed it gives you might cause you to loose control and crash, at least that's how the insurance company and police would be looking at it.

I have no idea if anyone has plugged a diagnostic in to check if an ECU has a map, but they could. You just don't know. So it's entirely up to you to keep schtum about your mods. If you never need to make a claim they will never find out will they. The one time you may need to claim tho, they may check and they may find it, then your screwed.

They do take the piss when you try to declare some mods tho, I remember in the early days of winter tyres some used to try and put your premium up saying winter tyres were not manufacturer specced items. In winter that really was a piss take!

[Silver Streek]

Sethorion have you tried Adrian Flux? Usually pretty good with modded cars. They dont appear on compare the market etc, as I expect most companies covering modded cars wouldn't.

[Chapperss]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

Sethorion have you tried Adrian Flux? Usually pretty good with modded cars. They dont appear on compare the market etc, as I expect most companies covering modded cars wouldn't.

I heard Adrian don`t do BMW for some reason - could be wrong.

Torgus old bean. He`s not entirely wrong. Now I for one don`t declare my mods, but that is technically breaking the law.

Would they send an assessor out for a minor thing? No, they wont.

If it`s millions of ££ then yes they probably would. Fuck they`d probably send one out for 100k. It may even be normal, not like I subscribe to insurers weekly.

However and this is a fun one for the legal beagles - How can they expect someone to know it is modded?? In this case a big single may be a step to far. But if I sold my car to someone that 'just liked the look of it' didn`t tell the about the mods, I`d think the insurance company would have a real hard time, proving they aren't liable, in a court of law.

My thinking is, if mods invalidate insurance, then the insurers should make sure everyone gets a inspection to find out any mods. They don`t do that and thus accept the risk there may be mods.

Anyway that's my 2 cents on this one

Oh, additionally we don`t insure the car like you guys do, we insure the driver to drive said car

[Sethorion]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

Sethorion have you tried Adrian Flux? Usually pretty good with modded cars. They dont appear on compare the market etc, as I expect most companies covering modded cars wouldn't.

Thanks for actually replying to the thread question. I'm a fan of inspiring conversation but I'm also looking for modified car insurers.

I've tried a bunch of times in the past with light mods on my cars but they've always come out waaaay more expensive than providers through the usual online comparers.

It's also really painful and awkward that they insist on doing everything over the phone.

[Silver Streek]

I've used them for the past few years for my BMW's and they have always been the cheapest. For me at least. When I was at uni (many years ago now) they were always the go to company for modded cars. My mate put a metro turbo engine in his min city e and they were quite reasonable. Times change tho don't they.

Have you looked in any performance car mags for ads from insurers that cover modded cars?

[Chappers 71]

I've used Grove & Dean for the last few years, they've always beaten or at least matched any like for like quotes. I suspect any insurance company would rinse you for fitting 'a silly big turbo' & rightly so but G&D have always been reasonable with my mildly modded 35i, usually around £450 a year.

[rasa bmw]

ive said it for years,,,joe bloggs off the street goes to a forecourt,,most salesmen dont know a fufu valve from a cock,,sell you car with plenty mods,u are none the wiser,,,,but kill someone in said car,where its speed related then who knows? who is liable ? probably everyone..original modder/salesman/owner...its responsibility to have your car road worthy etc,,but is it to check every concievable thing...

[Silver Streek]

At the end of the day the law says it's up to the driver to make sure the car is road worthy. No excuses. It's up to the driver to declare mods to the insurance company no excuses. It's your choice whether or not you want to comply with the law. You may have an accident (I hope none of us do!) and yes u may just get asked for a photo of the car, but then they may send an engineer to look the car over. It's luck of the draw really.

I've had 2 accidents in my BM's first one I was hit by a young driver, his fault no contest, they sent an assessor to go over my car, and go over it he did. He even photographed the suspension springs to see the codes on there to see it they met what the car was supplied with i.e. se or m sport or lowered with aftermarket springs. He was an ex engineer and knew his stuff. He was a nice guy actually. That was a 6k claim on the other guys insurance. My company did the inspection. Second incident they just asked for a photo, then wrotey car off from that.

[Sethorion]

Originally Posted by Silver Streek

At the end of the day the law says it's up to the driver to make sure the car is road worthy. No excuses. It's up to the driver to declare mods to the insurance company no excuses. It's your choice whether or not you want to comply with the law. You may have an accident (I hope none of us do!) and yes u may just get asked for a photo of the car, but then they may send an engineer to look the car over. It's luck of the draw really.

I've had 2 accidents in my BM's first one I was hit by a young driver, his fault no contest, they sent an assessor to go over my car, and go over it he did. He even photographed the suspension springs to see the codes on there to see it they met what the car was supplied with i.e. se or m sport or lowered with aftermarket springs. He was an ex engineer and knew his stuff. He was a nice guy actually. That was a 6k claim on the other guys insurance. My company did the inspection. Second incident they just asked for a photo, then wrotey car off from that.

Wow, photographed the springs?

I was considering getting Bilstein B6s and spray painting them black but that has put me off doing so.

Communities like this that share experiences and knowledge are invaluable .

[rasa bmw]

only ever had an assessor once,was there like 10 mins,only walked round the car with pen and notepad

[Silver Streek]

I probably got unlucky with the assessor. The guy that hit me bounced of my car and took out another 5 cars that were parked along the side of the road. God knows how much the claim against him added up to.

[Saif2018]

Originally Posted by Torgus

It's a load of crap you have to do ANY of that.

A turbo swap, an aftermarket exhaust, a different map, BBK, etc. None of them can cause an accident on their own. Fuck what if I wrote my own valet map or an economy map?

What a crock of shit you have to jump through.

There are documented cases where the insurance company plugged into your OBD2 port and read your map after the car was crashed? You still own the crashed car. reflash it before you give permission to the insurance company to inspect?

Pretty much all drivers would agree with you, problem is insurance companies are snakes looking for ways to bite their victims (policyholders)

The risk of not Declaring it isn't worth it. I've declared my transmission and engine remaps and they bumped up my insurance by about £400, currently with Esure which was the cheapest i could find, just have to look around on as many quotes as possible, there is no 1 insurance provider that's always cheaper.

It's a scam but not much we can do about it, at least not in the UK

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by Sethorion

I'd like to fit a silly big turbo and get the JDM spooly boy noises that excited me so much during my teenage years.

The only issue is the cheapest I can get insurance when going through CompareTheMarket or GoCompare is about £1240.

Does anyone know how to get cheaper insurance for turbo upgrades?

I use esure. I don't have any engine mods, but a lot of suspension mods. I just ticked the box to say modified suspension. I feel you could legitimately do the same for any size turbo; just select 'modified engine' or whatever it is.

Funny thing about declaring mods, is that according to the insurers standard spec is the base spec for that car. Factory options are also 'mods' (deviations from standard spec), and should be declared. Clearly they use some common sense in their assessments of what in their view would increase risk of an accident.

[Torgus]

So are the parts installed insured then? So if you get in an accident they have to replace the aftermarket parts?