To tell, or not to tell?

Hi guys and gals,

I've seen many cars for sale that have had an engine conversion, and a lot say that the conversion hasn't been declared to their insurance.

I understand that this is breaking the law and is very naughty, but wondered what you think of the matter?

How would the insurance company possibly know what's under your bonnet?

Cheers, Shaney.

As it means you wouldnt actually be insured i think its only done by complete a*******s

when someone plows into you and the car is taken away and inspected you might find it voids the insurance..

As above really, maybe fine if your using it for a track day or something

but the whole point in paying for insurance is that your covered in the event of an accident

As littlekris says if you car is badly damaged in an accident and you cant drive it away it would get reovered then a vechile inspector sent out by insurance company, if engine dosnt match what should be there im pritty sure it would be no payout or to pay out they would want the premiums owed for you not having correct cover for a certain period paid up front

i have been there and done it with my brother in the past, he had non decalred alloys on his car, a bike went into the back of him, luckily car was driveable home (just) and we then have to swap the wheels over for the standard ones before it was inspected.

If you get the right insurance company then mods dont have to cost you much more if anything on the premium

Cheers

Rich

Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on doing this or whatever, was just curious as I've seen it around alot. Aha.

Also, on a side note, what insurance companies are mod friendly? My mods being lowered and rims are only like £40 more, but havent looked into what the price would be for an engine conversion!

A lot of insurers won't cover you for an engine conversion, so beware if you're mid policy then swap the engine.

i would always declare your mods, specially engine ones, insurance companies dont like paying out when your legal so to me its not worth the grief when they find out, i fitted a spoiler on one of my old cars, didnt mention it, they found out and wanted to cancel the insurance, i didnt think i had to tell em about it but hey i was wrong

chris

What if you tell the insurance company that you have had the conversion but not updated the v5 ? does this make the insurance void as well ?

Baggie82 said

What if you tell the insurance company that you have had the conversion but not updated the v5 ? does this make the insurance void as well ?

No, its a separate issue. Even if your V5 is not updated, tell the insurance company of any modifications. I know that getting the V5 updated is trickier these days, due to them asking for evidence, but its still necessary and you could be fined if you don't - especially if part of the plan is to avoid paying extra for insurance. Also, it will be problematical when you come to sell the car, not updating the V5 smacks of laziness/don't care attitude and the potential buyer is left wondering what else was skipped or missed out when the engine conversion was done, or how well you treated/maintained the car, etc etc. As well as giving the potential buyer the hassle of updating the V5 once they have the car.

My everyday policy (as opposed to the classic policy for the MKI / II) will allow me to make certain changes to the standard spec. for example fitting a tow bar without upping the premium.

However items such as alloy wheels and built in sat nav. are considered particularly attractive to thieves and therefore more prone to theft constituting a greater risk to cover.

They will allow me to fit new kit within reason and offer two ways to do it… either a rise in premium to cover the increased risk or an agreement to exclude the items in question from my existing cover.

Be aware there's also a specific offence of obtaining insurance by false representation, even you don't have reason to claim.

The law cuts insurance companies some slack insofar as it recognises it's unreasonable to expect them to cover every eventuality when asking you certain questions when discussing cover. Therefore the onus is instead placed on you to declare anything you think may affect the terms.

As said above, if you don't take care and disclose everything you will invalid your insurance and also leave yourself open in certain circumstances to prosecution.

Modifying your vehicle in other more fundamental ways such as lowering the suspension / changing tyre / wheel size may be considered by the insurance company as making your vehicle less road-worthy and again give them an opportunity to void your policy.

If this happens post collision or claim you and not your insurer could be personally pursued by the other party for compensation.

Personally I don't think it's worth the risk. Yes modify your car but in consultation before hand with your insurer otherwise you're just throwing what money you do hand over away and remain uninsured into the bargain.
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In the past ive always told the insurance company if I have a different engine to whats
On the V5 as it's common sense. Skipping over this 'minor' detail is just stupid.

This time however I sent my V5 off to update the engine number and capacity change.

Always tell your insurance company everything, it's their job and mission in life to not pay out any money, so don't give them a reason.

Yes once my conversion is complete the v5 will be getting updated !! hopefully it should be easier seeing as TSR are carrying out the conversion and I will have the receipts to prove.  It just made me wonder thats all ,as you see people selling cars without the v5 being updated.

It's a common misconception that it's difficult these days to change your V5.

So long as you have the new engine number and correct capactiy, or even better the details of the whole donor vehicle it came from your laughing.

I wrote out all these details on a nice bit of paper and got my updated V5 within a week.

Mine was done on the drive by me and a friend for beer tokens and I told the lady at the DVLA exactly that. :mrgreen:

Hi, we declared every single modification (colour change, interior, lights, wheels etc etc) to our insurer (churchill) and got a fixed insurance value and it went up by £24 a year to £190 fully comp. Better safe than sorry i say. I guess if you are late teens early twenties it is so tempting not to declare because your premiums are high enough already.