cold air induction system and insurance

Douglas Ormrod · Post by **Douglas Ormrod** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:55 am

Just a wee question if you put in one of these cool cold systems or do
something else to improve performance do you have to tell your insurance
company that you have modified the car and will the put your premium up?

Douglas

Wayne Sinclair · Post by **Wayne Sinclair** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 4:12 pm

Yes you should tell your insurance - any excuse not to pay
out...I heard of a boy racer who was not paid out because he had
non standard wheels (wider than manufactures specs). Premium - you would
have to ask, would depend on your age, other policies etc.

Wayne

David & Judy Kerr · Post by **David & Judy Kerr** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:02 pm

I guess it is a mod though I wouldn't think that it would have an effect on
your premium especially if you have a good relation ship with your insurer,
check it out and let me know.

Dave.

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:50 pm

The short answer to this is YES!!!. You are normally required, and =
always well advised, to tell your insurance company if the car is in any
way modified from the way it came out of the box. If they see it as a =
performance mod they will re-assess the premium, but it does depend on =
the kind of relationship you have, and also on the Company, I have =
always found NZI very accomodating and AA absolutely dreadful.

The bottom line is, if you have told them and they have accepted it, =
they cannot use it to decline a claim! =

Bear in mind that they will see the policy as a whole and, even if you =
are claiming for something totally unrelated, they will see a failure to =
tell them of a modification as a breach of the contract, and as grounds =
to decline to honour it.

They are there to make money, not friends.

Regards

Eric

Matt & Sarah Avery · Post by **Matt & Sarah Avery** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:09 pm

I bought one of the original Loch Stewart air boxes about 5 years ago
(great product-highly recommend it) and Loch sent me a copy of a letter
he received back from his insurance company saying that they accepted
the airbox modification without any increase in premiums. I just showed
that letter to my insurer at the time and they were more than happy with
that. It really depends on your insurance company I guess. The old Loch
Stewart design might have been a little more acceptable than the current
one because it still retained the factory filter element rather than a
pod filter.
I wouldn't be surprised if the term "pod filter" was on the insurance
company list of naughty things that only boy racers would use.
I have found that most insurance people I have dealt with have little or
no motor vehicle knowledge, apart from what their forms tell them to ask for.
When I got my supercharged mx5 insured I made sure to inform them about
all the mods. It just confused them.
The conversation went something like this:

Insurance Lady - Is it a Rotary?
Me - No
IL - is it a turbo?
M - No, but it is supercharged.
IL - what's that?
M - Umm... Its kinda like a Turbo but..
IL - As long as its not a turbo
M - I think the policy will need to have a note about the supercharger
IL - No, that's not necessary, its not here on my list (and sure enough
there wasn't a tick box for supercharger).

I eventually got it noted on the policy, along with the 17" wheels and
Mazdaspeed seats for my own protection, but it was a real hassle.

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