Insurance....merged Topic....

[Buf-Phoon]

Mondie, Im sure that other kit developers are investing in testing for compliance with certificates and adr. Perhaps you should email them and find out

Despite all the uncertainty around insurance , I am sure that street legal mods will be more readily insurable than those without, Seems this subject has no definitive answer to date. Anyone out there made a claim on ADR / Emissions compliant / non compliant cars that can contribute ?

[Mondie]

Mondie, Im sure that other kit developers are investing in testing for compliance with certificates and adr. Perhaps you should email them and find out

Thanks mate, that's good to know.

If/when l get real serious l will dig further into that issue.

Insurance sounds like a bit of a worry though. With 3 young kids and a wife who uses the car daily as a sprog taxi, everything has to be 100% legit.

[Geeseman]

Despite all the uncertainty around insurance , I am sure that street legal mods will be more readily insurable than those without,

Not according to my insurer. They couldn't give a rats arse if my car has a certificate or not. Didnt ask for one and didnt want to see one when I offered. I even have written confirmation of the insurance. I'll go so far to say that I think the whole hubbub about certificates has been a ploy to get people to prefer one mod camp over another.

[Mondie]

Despite all the uncertainty around insurance , I am sure that street legal mods will be more readily insurable than those without,

Not according to my insurer. They couldn't give a rats arse if my car has a certificate or not. Didnt ask for one and didnt want to see one when I offered. I even have written confirmation of the insurance. I'll go so far to say that I think the whole hubbub about certificates has been a ploy to get people to prefer one mod camp over another.

But is it?

They may give you approval in writing but dont they always hide behind a statement along the lines of your car must be roadworthy and meet ADR's? If you havent got an engineers cert despite what the insurance companies gives you in writing, isnt that their out should they want to use it?

[Buf-Phoon]

Despite all the uncertainty around insurance , I am sure that street legal mods will be more readily insurable than those without,

Not according to my insurer. They couldn't give a rats arse if my car has a certificate or not. Didnt ask for one and didnt want to see one when I offered. I even have written confirmation of the insurance. I'll go so far to say that I think the whole hubbub about certificates has been a ploy to get people to prefer one mod camp over another.

Don't necessarily disagree. Just seems to be an ongoing issue getting these babies fully insured through normal channels.

If you could get a "kit" ftted as one mod then all would be sweet. But that is not what your saying

We need solutions not more questions. Answers anyone?

[tab]

Despite all the uncertainty around insurance , I am sure that street legal mods will be more readily insurable than those without,

Not according to my insurer. They couldn't give a rats arse if my car has a certificate or not. Didnt ask for one and didnt want to see one when I offered. I even have written confirmation of the insurance. I'll go so far to say that I think the whole hubbub about certificates has been a ploy to get people to prefer one mod camp over another.

But is it?

They may give you approval in writing but dont they always hide behind a statement along the lines of your car must be roadworthy and meet ADR's? If you havent got an engineers cert despite what the insurance companies gives you in writing, isnt that their out should they want to use it?

As far as insurance is concerned they don't give a rat's buttocks about what is actually installed on your vehicle and they will give you all the relevant policy documents and take your premium payments without hesitation. Hell, you don't even have to prove ownership of the vehicle to be covered, as far as their level of involvement at the initiation of a new policy is concerned the vehicle may not even exist.

BUT...

Come claim time is when everything matters:

"Sorry sir, but you don't have a tow bar listed on your policy"

"WTF has that got to do with claiming damage from hitting a kangaroo?"

"Your policy is only valid if all the policy requirements are met, which includes advising us of any modification or additions to your vehicle"

So now, I'm even tempted to call them to advise of a change of floor mats. Documentation or not, it's not worth a pinch of sh*t when it comes to the fine print when the money has to come back out of the insurer's pockets.

Trent.

[Geeseman]

Good points, Trent.

But, I think we need to be realistic. Has anyone had insurance refused because of silly mods like floor mats? Undisclosed intercoolers, air intakes, maybe.

Back to my point, you can get a certificate with any installer of mods, you just need to go about it. Don't chose one over another because they harp on about how they meet adrs when their kit could be the inferior of the bunch.

[ktford]

I spoke to Shannons last week, was going along fine till I mentioned the bit about Business Insurance, call ended very quickly after that. Seems they really only want seldom driven vehicles as already suggested.

Scotty

[dingah2]

I'm with AAMI and only APS Phase 1 fully disclosed. But you need to ensure that items like Tow Bar and Spats are recorded as accessories and not modifications - ie they do not change the performance of your vehicle toehrwise your 3 'lives' disappear before you have even started.

Dingah

[tab]

Good points, Trent.

But, I think we need to be realistic. Has anyone had insurance refused because of silly mods like floor mats? Undisclosed intercoolers, air intakes, maybe.

Back to my point, you can get a certificate with any installer of mods, you just need to go about it. Don't chose one over another because they harp on about how they meet adrs when their kit could be the inferior of the bunch.

Sorry, the floor mats was meant as a tongue-in-cheek look at the whole picture.

Don't get me wrong, I think in some ways it is a good thing that insurance companies are absolute pricks when it comes time for a payout - could you imagine what premiums would be like if they payed out everything without question. Comprehensive car insurance would then be like the dreaded public liability insurance debacle, we would be buying our policies from South Africa! (another tongue-in-cheek comment)

But Geeseman I do entirely agree with your point on the engineers certificate tripe, unless you are a citizen of high moral standing and always perform every action in life with the wellbeing of the environment in mind, then it is essentially nothing but a marketing ploy. Yes adhering to ADR’s are important but you could bet your bottom dollar that the scalies would still find something wrong if they wanted to.

As a side issue, are these “engineers certificates” independently audited in someway, or is it a case of the more you pay for them the better the result?

Trent.