Insurance companies and "minor" mods

Saw this in a local paper....

Quote :

Diamond Insurance is seeking a ruling from the High Court that it should not have to pay out on the insurance policy due to the modifications on the car.
As well as the alloys and the lowered suspension, it is claimed the car had a vent added to the bonnet to give greater air intake, an induction air filter and a stainless steel unit on the exhaust silencer.
Other changes included extra lights, rear lamp clusters, foot pedal covers, gear lever knob, carpet mats, seat covers, multi-disc player and head unit.

Ok the first lot are understandable but gear knob?? carpet mats???? and seat covers???? wtf??? if the high court agree to this every car on the road will be un-insured...next your insurance wil be invalid if you have a scratch on the bumper......

Rant over....

I know i work for an insurer so may be seen to be biased but when you get the FULL story it paints a very different picture to be honest:

"A DRIVER whose car was involved in a fatal accident is being sued by her insurance company after she failed to tell them the vehicle had been souped up.

In a High Court writ, Diamond Insurance claims Anne Bissmire’s Vauxhall Corsa had a host of modifications it had not been made aware of, including lowered suspension and alloy wheels, when it was involved in the smash in London Road, Hadleigh, in 2006.

The car was being driven by Mrs Bissmire’s teenage relative Daniel Bissmire, thought to be her son.

Charlie Morris, 26, died after being flung through the car window and on to the Victoria House Corner roundabout, hitting the Bernard Braine clock.

Two other teenagers were also injured and Mr Bissmire suffered a fractured pelvis and ruptured spleen. He admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years at Basildon Crown Court in 2008.

The car had been insured just a month before the accident.

Diamond Insurance is seeking a ruling from the High Court that it should not have to pay out on the insurance policy due to the modifications on the car.

As well as the alloys and the lowered suspension, it is claimed the car had a vent added to the bonnet to give greater air intake, an induction air filter and a stainless steel unit on the exhaust silencer.

Other changes included extra lights, rear lamp clusters, foot pedal covers, gear lever knob, carpet mats, seat covers, multi-disc player and head unit.

Diamond is also seeking costs from Mrs Bissmore, of Sedgehill Road, London.

There is no suggestion that Mr Bissmire was not insured on the car. He had been driving back to his home in South London from Southend in a convoy of three cars when the crash happened.

But Basildon Crown Court heard the dad-of-one had been trying to entice the drivers of the other two cars into a race and was travelling at more than 60 miles an hour.

Diamond spokesman James Carnduff said it was not appropriate to comment on an ongoing case.

He added: “We would urge drivers to keep their insurance company informed of any modifications made to their vehicle as this could impact on whether the insurer would be able to cover the car or not.”

i dont think the "minor" mods are the real issue in this case

Reading that is anyone really suprised the insurer are trying to get out of paying a large amount of money for what appears to be a fronted insurance policy (i very much doubt this guys mum was REALLY the owner and main driver of this modded corsa as i suspect would have been declared on the policy) with a load of non disclosed mods who was apparently racing at the time of the accident?!?!?

It always amazes me what some people will try to get away with, insurance companies are not going to just try and screw you over for the sake of it but they are also not stupid. Why should they, and subsequently everyone else (including me) who does insure themselves properly and whos premiums go up as a result of claims like this, have to foot the bill for someone who fails to disclose the full facts when getting their insurance or trying to find loopholes to avoid paying the correct premium??

obviously its tragic that someone was killed in this case but its because of cases like this that insurance is so expensive for young drivers and keeps going up!

If in doubt then disclose EVERYTHING to your insurers and let them decide what is relevant!

my rant over.....

I was wondering how long it would take Martin to pop up in this thread, being that you work in this field.

Which reminds me is it cool to call you sometime soon as I need to declare my new wheels that are going on.

better take my foot pedal covers off sharpish then

On a similar note, can anyone advise me on fitting a new exhaust to my Saab, it's not an OEM one, but it's basically the same but stainless, looks identical with regards tailpipe. Would this need declaring to insurance and will I get stung for not using an OEM one.

Cheers

Stuart