Big project insurance (thoughts)

[skyinsurance]

Sky, are you able to finally put a definition up for "like for like" cover on mods?

Sure, copy and paste job I'm afraid.


The principal of like for like cover is to ensure that in event of a claim the modified car driver has any damaged after-market part replaced on an identical basis. Where the part is no longer available or custom made you will be compensated financially to reflect the loss of the part in question.

In event of a total loss claim all modified vehicles will be assessed by a qualified motor engineer who will take the impact of your modifications upon the market value of your vehicle into account when calculating the value of your vehicle and advising your Insurer how much to indemnify you for the loss of your vehicle.

With anything like this, the proof is in the pudding and I can say it works very well off the back of 8 years and £millions of premium written.

[Shiny]

Cheers for that, that helps explains it and is along the lines of my assumption.

So basically, if the car is repairable, the cost of replacement modified parts is covered provided they are still available to purchase new.

If the after market parts are not a available, a cash in lieu offer will be made, which although it doesn't say, will be on an indemnity basis (ie it's current used market value of the after market parts, not what they happened to cost when new).

Finally, in the event of the total loss, as i thought, you will only get the market value of the car based on what it is worth with the parts fitted, rather than the value of the car plus the cost of the parts.

Thanks for clearing that up, hopefully those with like for like cover will now understand what they are getting, which is how i see the cover should be. This hopefully will put a stop to the idea that some people have that if they spend £10k on a car worth £1k, if they were to sell the car, they may still only get a small amount over £1k is that is all the car is worth. As the policy indemnifies the financial loss then this all they will get, rather than think they are entitled to £11k because that is what they have spent on all, which just isn't how it all works!

[M@dds]

hmph! complicated! in that case as im hoping to insure the car on a now and then basis im hoping that it should be cheaper either wise id might aswell go for a full use policy etc

Cheers for that, that helps explains it and is along the lines of my assumption.

So basically, if the car is repairable, the cost of replacement modified parts is covered provided they are still available to purchase new.

If the after market parts are not a available, a cash in lieu offer will be made, which although it doesn't say, will be on an indemnity basis (ie it's current used market value of the after market parts, not what they happened to cost when new).

Finally, in the event of the total loss, as i thought, you will only get the market value of the car based on what it is worth with the parts fitted, rather than the value of the car plus the cost of the parts.

Thanks for clearing that up, hopefully those with like for like cover will now understand what they are getting, which is how i see the cover should be. This hopefully will put a stop to the idea that some people have that if they spend £10k on a car worth £1k, if they were to sell the car, they may still only get a small amount over £1k is that is all the car is worth. As the policy indemnifies the financial loss then this all they will get, rather than think they are entitled to £11k because that is what they have spent on all, which just isn't how it all works!

so in other words you will get the your after market parts paid for but only:

1. if they are available

2. if they are available at only the current value for the parts plus the current market value of the vehicle?

[Shiny]

Not quite.

Lets say you have a car worth £2k with a £500 xyz exhaust back box fitted. You have owned the exhaust for a couple of years and if you were to sell it, you could get £200. Oem standard box is £50 new.

If you are hit in the rear, the exhaust is damaged, the car is repairable and the exhaust is still available to buy, the insurers will replace the exhaust with a £500 new one.

If you are hit in the rear, the exhaust is damaged, the car is repairable and the exhaust is no longer sold, you will paid £200 for the exhaust which would be the current value of the exhaust.

Now if you are hit in the rear, the exhaust is damaged and the car is not repairable (total loss/write off) you will be paid the market value of the car with the exhaust fitted. A back box, regardless of value, will probably have little or no effect on the market value of the car. So you will get £2k, maybe a small amount more. You will not get £2k plus another £200 or £500 for the back box.

Put the last bit into perspective. You could spend £10k on a 4g with a fancy paint job, body kit and so on, but if you were to sell it, its market value could be as little as as £2k. So you would get paid £2k by the insurers on a like for like policy, whereas a normal policy may only pay £500 which would be the book price of a 4g.

You can't insure cars on a now and then basis any more unless you tax and SORN your car each time. http://www.mib.org.uk/Motor+Insurance+D ... efault.htm

[NafemanNathan]

I've never had to make a claim (touch wood), so don't really know, but is there a general policy with buying back your car from the insurers if it's considered written-off? Is it a percentage of what they offer, or the full amount? If they're only willing to pay out £2000 for what is worth more like £10,000 to me, or even still £5000 in parts if I was to break it, I could potentially be better off buying it back to break it, or transfer the useable performance parts over to a replacement car.

[M@dds]

ahh ok lol I got it now insurance is too bloody confusing and not to mention expensive thanks shiny. no nore me Nath, I really hope to never haft too

[Edd]

When I was thinking about turboing the 5th gen and my renewal came around. I kept getting two quotes, one with and one without the turbo. Then I knew what I was letting myself in for. And for the record, with sky insurance a 450 bhp prelude was £100 more to insure over a year than a standard one.

Cheers

[Crazy_C]

M@dds, at the end of the day, heavily modified Prelude is still a Prelude, try getting insurance quotes for a vehicle where you've changed the vehicle category with modifications, like my trike, that I have modified from a bike!!

I'm 25, 0 no claims, a fault claim from 3 years ago, 3 points on my licence for speeding, no bike licence, and I've got it insured for about £400 a year.



Modifications will generally be on a list with either "perfectly fine", "decline insurance", or "refer" written next to them, or at least that's basically how it is where I work anyways. Can't say about other companies, but we just have a list of what is fine and what isn't and what needs to be double checked by an underwriter.