Can anyone think of a good defence for them?

This thought is prompted by this thread:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=590474

I'm slightly staggered that a member of this community would

a) appear to condone fraud
b) appear to be in ignorance of the consequences of such an action (non-declaration of a significant performing enhancing modification potentially rendering insurance invalid)

That post is quoted because it highlights an interesting attitude about insurance and I'd like to know whether this is widely shared.

I don't want to reopen THAT specific debate because toys will be thrown out of prams, so please keep comments to the general question. However, if you think fitting a chip or some other kind of significant performing enhancing mod should be kept from the insurance company, do please say why. Let's not bother about fitting bigger interior light bulbs, eh?

This is a subject that I find quite disturbing. I can only imagine how I would feel if people close to me were killed (injured, perversely, might be worse) by someone without insurance (or invalidated insurance).

 

 

First off, my insurance know everything.

But I can see why people wouldn't. Insurance is a joke. It's far too expensive and if it saves you

 

I have been wondering about insurance validity lately with respect to payment of 3rd party claims and whether the insurer is still legally obliged to pay them in the event the driver has invalidated the policy via omission.

Reading the terms of a policy last year it stated that if after and accident i was convicted for drink driving then they would not pay my claim but under road traffic act blah blah (cant remember the exact wording) they were still liable for any 3rd party claim

i wonder if this is the same for undeclared mods/points etc. guess the chap from chris knott will know??

but anyway, i would view a driver knowingly failing to declare something that would invalidate his policy is not better than any other uninsured driver.

 

But not in a serious accident (which is the case in the situation I alluded to in the other thread)

In that case, the mods WILL be detected (there is a comprehensive investigation going on, and while I don't yet know the outcome with regard to insurance, I suspect they've used that 'minimum' idea)

At first I was going to post that only serious accidents matter, but of course, it's not that simple

Someone without much money could lose their livelihood if their vehicle was damaged by an uninsured driver

At the other end of the scale, people could require years of care as a result of injury

Even if 'only serious accidents mattered,' we're not in control of the outcome, which is why I find the irresponsibility so galling and worrying

Noted that you weren't presenting 'your view'

 

Where I work if you make a false declaration to an insurance company + get stopped and the officers find out you have kept something hidden you will be arrested (That's the way the 'new' powers of arrest work - like it or not). It is a separate offence to 'No Insurance' though you may also end up getting charged with that and have your car seized .... all for not paying an extra bit for say telling them about say the 3 points from the Gatso or the few extra mods you did .....

 

[QUOTE=Bibbs,Apr 30 2008, 01:09 AM] First off, my insurance know everything.

But I can see why people wouldn't. Insurance is a joke. It's far too expensive and if it saves you

 

But I'm not going to get in an accident.

I'm a great driver

<tongue in cheek>

I see it no different from insuring my car as a stock s2000 to insuring my car as a 1.0 saxo .. both are not what is on the drive.

I have ALWAYS insured my cars as what they are (even down to faxing two A4 sheets for my last, I even listed diff brake pads and spark plugs) as I want a *full* payout (like for like) if I ever crash, I want no hasstles about anything.

But how will Mr Policeman know what I've declared to my insurance, how does he know a little black box isn't stock? Hell, you've only just got the ability to tell the car is insured (does it even tell you what level or who it's insured to?)

 

I personally wouldn't be happy not declaring anything, not matter how undetectable in may seem. I wouldn't underestimate an insurance investigator.

This thread has just reminded me of a grey area in my own insurance that's been nagging at me for a while but I keep forgetting to check. Thanks for that

 

Another way of looking at it is in the case of a theft or "self caused, no one else involved accident" claim.

Let's say you have hundreds or thousands of pounds worth of modifications fitted to your car, performance enhancing or not. Had you not declared these, would you expect the insurance to cover the cost of replacement?

When buying insurance, you are paying a premium based on an assessment of risk. As we all know, young drivers pose a bigger risk than older ones, so they pay more premium. Similarly, modified cars and their owners pose a higher risk than those in unmodified cars, so they pay more premium. If you've undeclared mods, you have perhaps paid only 90% of the required premium, in which case, an insurer is responsible for only 90% of your claim.

Of course, the 3rd party cover you buy is unlimited and so an insurer will pay in full any 3rd party claim, and will also demand the additional unpaid premium in the event that undeclared modifications are discovered. However, they will likely only pay 90% of the remainder of the claim, leaving the claimant to fund the rest.

You will also be entered into the "naughty" register that insurers hold and any future premiums will be additionally loaded as you pose a high moral hazard. Your insurance may also be cancelled.

If anyone thinks that insurers haven't wised up to chipping modifications, they are living in cloud cuckoo land. Lots and lots of people are doing this to their diesels in an effort to make them a bit less slow, and, as gad says, it's only a matter of time before more and more partial claims payments are made.