Insurance uplift with remap
Discussion
Admiral told me there'd be no increase in my premium so long as the power increase was less than 25%.
I haven't had my re-map yet, so we'll see what happens when I've had it done & I tell them about it. I'm waiting until the AST suspension upgrade is available & then I'll take the car up to Spires & have the two jobs done together.
I haven't had my re-map yet, so we'll see what happens when I've had it done & I tell them about it. I'm waiting until the AST suspension upgrade is available & then I'll take the car up to Spires & have the two jobs done together.
tony993 said:
Admiral told me there'd be no increase in my premium so long as the power increase was less than 25%.
I haven't had my re-map yet, so we'll see what happens when I've had it done & I tell them about it. I'm waiting until the AST suspension upgrade is available & then I'll take the car up to Spires & have the two jobs done together.
My plan too! Are you going for road or track setup?I haven't had my re-map yet, so we'll see what happens when I've had it done & I tell them about it. I'm waiting until the AST suspension upgrade is available & then I'll take the car up to Spires & have the two jobs done together.
Interestingly (or not), whatever mod I put in instead of a remap - a suspension mod or bodykit - the uplift was the same with my insurer LV . Even with the uplift LV were much the cheapest insurer for me on moneysupermarket.
I wouldn't have thought that Life110 springs would have raised the premium, but it certainly does with LV. So you might be on dodgy grounds if you don't tell your insurer. I suppose even a geo change might be regarded as a suspension modification....
I wouldn't have thought that Life110 springs would have raised the premium, but it certainly does with LV. So you might be on dodgy grounds if you don't tell your insurer. I suppose even a geo change might be regarded as a suspension modification....
That does sound a little bonkers. Do their assessors measure the wheel alignment in every claim? They couldn't/wouldn't (even if the car wasn't mangled). Which yes, makes it sound like their risk assessment for the underwriters involves making anything you mention to them a modification, whether credible/material or not ("you added a cupholder? Modified!" 
).
Anything which could be observed with the naked eye (tyre size vs placard, stripes, brightly coloured aftermarket parts, whatever) is perhaps fair game for them to pull you up on in the worst case. In my limited experience the only suspension modification they are interested in is lowering (again, visual).
For the avoidance of doubt I would tell them about a remap (even if invisible - no idea what ECU interrogation capabilities they have).
). Anything which could be observed with the naked eye (tyre size vs placard, stripes, brightly coloured aftermarket parts, whatever) is perhaps fair game for them to pull you up on in the worst case. In my limited experience the only suspension modification they are interested in is lowering (again, visual).
For the avoidance of doubt I would tell them about a remap (even if invisible - no idea what ECU interrogation capabilities they have).
worldwidewebs said:
Do they even know what you were talking about?
I'm pretty sure they know what sidestripes are! Fitting braided brake hoses also gives an increase in premium! I can only assume that they take the view (rightly or wrongly) that the "sort of person" who mods his car is higher risk than someone who doesn't.bcr5784 said:
worldwidewebs said:
Do they even know what you were talking about?
I'm pretty sure they know what sidestripes are! Fitting braided brake hoses also gives an increase in premium! I can only assume that they take the view (rightly or wrongly) that the "sort of person" who mods his car is higher risk than someone who doesn't.Cars that leave the factory all have different geos - they're not set up particularly well. So I could 'modify' my geo to be exactly the same as what your car came out of the factory with. Is it modified? Also, hit a pothole hard enough and you'll likely affect the geo - there's another 'modification' for you. What if you then set it back? What exactly are you setting it back to?
If you want to tell the insurance company you got each of the wheels pointing in the right direction and you're then happy for the person on the end of the phone to load your premium for no other reason than it's easier for them to say it's a modification rather than for them to understand what it is, then I'm not going to tell you you're wrong. But I won't be following your lead and neither will many others
For what it's worth, the following has been my experience with insurers and modifications to my Alp.
First, I soon found that while the insurer I was with, NFU, didn't want to insure any car that had been modified, others like Admiral were OK with this situation. After looking around, I went with A-Plan as they specialise in modified cars; and an added bonus was that the A-Plan premium was less than I'd been paying for the NFU cover.
So bearing in mind insurers base their premiums on their perception (based on all the answers you give to all those questions they ask) of the risk associated with the driver more than the car itself, for any Alp owner looking at modifying their car and wondering about the insurance side of the equation, I suggest you have a chat with A-Plan.
First, I soon found that while the insurer I was with, NFU, didn't want to insure any car that had been modified, others like Admiral were OK with this situation. After looking around, I went with A-Plan as they specialise in modified cars; and an added bonus was that the A-Plan premium was less than I'd been paying for the NFU cover.
So bearing in mind insurers base their premiums on their perception (based on all the answers you give to all those questions they ask) of the risk associated with the driver more than the car itself, for any Alp owner looking at modifying their car and wondering about the insurance side of the equation, I suggest you have a chat with A-Plan.
CharleyFarley66 said:
First, I soon found that while the insurer I was with, NFU, didn't want to insure any car that had been modified
Interestingly, I'm with NFU too and they were happy with the modified springs on my car (no premium increase either). I told them I was thinking about a re-map - they said that was ok too but I'd have to contact them at the time to see how much it would affect the premium byI’m with Admiral, and have just phoned to update that I’ve:
1. Had the track rods upgraded (Life110 Titanium)
2. Had the brake hoses upgraded (Life110 braided ones)
3. Changed the engine cover fixings (Life110 D-rings)
4. Changed the Geometry settings (Life110 Fast Road)
No premium change applies for any of these. In discussing 4. I had to confirm that no other components were changed, and the car neither lowered nor raised.
As these are not relevant to the premium I asked that he’d add a note to my policy to record that I’d informed them of these changes, which he said he has done.
1. Had the track rods upgraded (Life110 Titanium)
2. Had the brake hoses upgraded (Life110 braided ones)
3. Changed the engine cover fixings (Life110 D-rings)
4. Changed the Geometry settings (Life110 Fast Road)
No premium change applies for any of these. In discussing 4. I had to confirm that no other components were changed, and the car neither lowered nor raised.
As these are not relevant to the premium I asked that he’d add a note to my policy to record that I’d informed them of these changes, which he said he has done.
Edited by Whaleblue on Monday 7th August 17:18
worldwidewebs said:
tony993 said:
Admiral told me there'd be no increase in my premium so long as the power increase was less than 25%.
I haven't had my re-map yet, so we'll see what happens when I've had it done & I tell them about it. I'm waiting until the AST suspension upgrade is available & then I'll take the car up to Spires & have the two jobs done together.
My plan too! Are you going for road or track setup?I haven't had my re-map yet, so we'll see what happens when I've had it done & I tell them about it. I'm waiting until the AST suspension upgrade is available & then I'll take the car up to Spires & have the two jobs done together.
Another thing worth mentioning with Admiral is, in my experience, come renewal time there's a bit of tedious bartering to do, as your premium will have increased substantially. It only takes a couple of min.s for them to reconsider & knock £100+ off then you tell them, "That didn't take long, now spend another couple of min.s taking another £120 off, please, & I'll go ahead & renew.", & then you renew for just a few percent more than you paid last time.
tony993 said:
Road, I should think, as I haven't been doing track days recently. I'll tell them what I want from the car & they can adjust accordingly.
Another thing worth mentioning with Admiral is, in my experience, come renewal time there's a bit of tedious bartering to do, as your premium will have increased substantially. It only takes a couple of min.s for them to reconsider & knock £100+ off then you tell them, "That didn't take long, now spend another couple of min.s taking another £120 off, please, & I'll go ahead & renew.", & then you renew for just a few percent more than you paid last time.
Thanks for the tip, I've been with Admiral for a few years and every renewal they put the price up and I have to ask them to bring it down. They tend to happily knock ~£100 off. However it's never occurred to me to ask for even more off.Another thing worth mentioning with Admiral is, in my experience, come renewal time there's a bit of tedious bartering to do, as your premium will have increased substantially. It only takes a couple of min.s for them to reconsider & knock £100+ off then you tell them, "That didn't take long, now spend another couple of min.s taking another £120 off, please, & I'll go ahead & renew.", & then you renew for just a few percent more than you paid last time.
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