Admiral Insurance and Modifications

Buying a ‘5 and Insurance advice Insurance Advice
2

I originally wrote this as a reply to another post but I was so shocked by my experience with Admiral that I thought it worth a post of it’s own. 

I’ve just insured my Ford Focus and my MX-5 Mk2.5 Sport with Admiral Multicar and to my suprise and horror they even class MUDFLAPS and a CHILD SEAT as modifications and increased my premium accordingly.

To make matters worse they will only insure notified manufactures accesories which they call “Optional Extra’s” not aftermarket ones which they call “Non-Standard Parts” so my Mudflaps are covered but the Child Seat is not even though I’m paying an extra premium for both.

They justify it by saying that ANY modifications over the Standard Factory released Spec make the car more desirable to nick and therefore a greater risk.

They are still cheaper than my previous insurer (LV) who wouldn’t give NCB on two cars.

Don’t know what other companies class as modifications but Admiral seem pretty strict on anything and as they have a section which clearly states Modifications on the Insurance Schedule you can’t really ignore them due to the risk of invalidating your policy.

Bah! Watch’em!

3

 Admiral seem to be offering very, very cheapcar  insurance at the moment and beat my previous insurer on my Audi by a lot.  For that cheapness I have no doubt they will be very inflexible on any sort of modification, as they must be getting some money back some how.!  So not surprised to hear this at all…  Certainly would not even bother to ask for a quote for my 5s, both with some level of modification.

4

The childseat seems OTT, but I think the mudflaps are fair enough.

What always annoys me a bit, is you could have a set of aftermarket alloys sitting in clear view on your backseat (not in an mx5 though), and they’d be covered as vehicle contents (on most policies), but if they have to go to the bother of jacking the car up, removing (locking?) nuts, and putting the whole thing on blocks, they wouldn’t be!

Fair enough, if it makes it more desirable, then charge more…
But, along those lines, my car is in very good nick (in my opinion) - no scapes, or kerbed alloys, always cleaned and well polished, roof always clean and well proofed, tyres nice and black, so should I pay more than somebody with a tatty, uncared for car with bumpers hanging off???

Where do you draw the line?

Same goes for the bit about accidents?
If you bump a car at traffic lights, then I think we’d all say that’s an accident
What about a car in a carpark? - I think so
But what about the stumpy post at the end of the space in the carpark?
Or the time that you clipped your mirror going in to the garage
Or the time that you scuffed the kerb?

They’re all accidental, and (potentially) each time causing damage - even if it just needed a bit of elbow grease to get it back to new…In what way does a £60 alloy refurb differ to a £60 bill from ‘chips away’ or wherever for somebody else’s bumper??? Neither were intentional, and ultimately came down to a bit of poor judgement.

The other big issue with modifications, is if you buy a car second hand, how do you know what was standard kit? MX5s are a prime example - so many different models and limited editions, that unless you are a true enthusiast, you’d never know what was standard, because you could have half a dozen cars lined up, and they’d all be different!

Insurance is a very important thing - so my advice (and disclaimer) would be to tell the company everything, and let them decide whether it matters or not - just hope that 1) They can understand you, and 2) You can understand them, and 3) They have a bit of common sense, and don’t charge extra for a child seat.
I keep a wee pile of napkins in my door pocket (handy for checking oil etc!) - maybe I should tell Admiral that, could make it more desirable to somebody with a cold…