Your Car Insurer needs to be informed of any modifications to your vehicle!

Have you done any modifications or alterations to your vehicle? Have you notified your insurer of such modifications and would your still be able to make a valid claim after such modifications were made?

We Approached our friends at Hollard with some questions to gain clarity on the impact of vehicle modifications on car insurance:

What is your policy with regards to modifications/alterations on a vehicle and car insurance offered?

If a car has had any performance enhancing modifications, then the quote would be referred to an underwriter to understand the risk, before we accept the risk.

The underwriter will want to understand what the car is used for and the nature of client.

If there are many enhancements then we will question what it is for and whether it is for racing, in which case we won’t accept the risk.

Minor modifications may be considered, but major modifications would normally be declined.

If there are modifications because it is a classic car (which classic cars are likely to have), then we may be more lenient.

If we accept a risk then we may decide to load the premium, restrict the driver, or apply additional excess.

Would any modifications increase or decrease the market value of the vehicle and be taken into account?

If the modifications increase or decrease the retail value of the car then we can cater for this by giving the policyholder the option of insuring their car for an amount more or less than its retail value, refer to our policy wording:

Would a client have to inform the company of any modifications made on the vehicle?

Yes. This is clear in our policy wording

If an insured vehicle is in a road crash and it is found by the assessor that there were modifications – would that have an effect on the car insurance claim?

If the client made us aware of the modifications and we were happy to accept the risk (maybe with conditions) then no it won’t affect the car insurance claim. However, if they did not inform us of any modifications to the car then we may void the policy due to the fact that we wouldn’t have written the risk, and therefore not pay the claim.

Would you insure a vehicle where modifications are aimed at boosting performance?

We would first need to understand the reasoning behind the modifications, as well the extent (as explained in the first question above), and then determine whether we want to write the risk.

Also view:

“Vehicle Modifications, Alterations and Road Safety”