insurance claim

[hodges5]

My son was involved in a write off accident last night, now the problem is that he has alloy wheels on his car and he hasn’t declared this with the insurance policy, he purchased the car with the alloys already on so he hasn’t personally altered the car in any way (the cars standard wheels are also alloys but not the ones that are on the vehicle) how does he stand with the insurance? Will they pay out?

He has Fully comp Insurance this is his 1st car and he is already paying over 3k per year for the insurance

Many thanks

[joko]

how would they even know if they are the originals?

[boxtops]

I don't understand why they would query it, if the standard car comes with alloys - unless there was a question on his insurance proposal form about alloy wheels and he answered no to it.

[BertiWooster]

// 3k per year for the insurance // ?

Well , i'll go to the foot of our stairs

[boxtops]

Not unusual for a young man in a high performance car, berti....

[BertiWooster]

What does he drive ? - not a citroen 2CV , I presume

[hodges5]

it's a Honda civic 1.6 vtec sport

[R1Geezer]

Not an issue, don't even mention it. In the unlikely event that the insurer mentions it, say they were bought with the vehicle. In this case the "mod" will not aid performance anyway, so not an issue

This is a good example why youngsters have to pay hightpremiums, he's written it off the premium is set to acknowledge the increased liklihood of this sort of thing.

[hodges5]

Thank you for your answers.

it's just sad when you see your own children work so hard to pay to get on the road and it can all be taken away so quickly, Insuance are now asking for another 3k to insure him on a smaller car, trouble is he needs to have this to travel the 40miles to work each night (no bus route).

It does make you realize why there are so many uninsured drivers out on the roads and they take the risk of not being caught.

A costly experence all round but thankfully no one was hurt

[donna1901]

are the wheels a different size to the ones manufacturer fitted??
insurance companies can be funny, even changing the stereo is classed as a mod but they don't normally get this funny but some can

[AlBags]

They'll pay .. so long as the wheels had proper tyres and were a standard-ish size. Anything too outlandish might cause a few probs.

[donna1901]

if you read small print as my b/f had a highly modified golf gti mk2 years ago and when someone tried to break into it causing damage the insurance would only cover the standard parts, (read small print to see if only manufacturers spec is insured), also he claimed 2 years when someone hit his new car and drove off, he told direct line of the mods who in turn failed to notify the under writer then the fun began... if you're unhappy with the companies response take it to the chief exec opr take it to the chief exec of the company that owns the insurance (as my b/f did, it gets sorted quicker)

[peterdeanmagic]

joko.........they will know when they send someone to value the car
boxtops..the question which would have been asked is are there any modifications
and clearly there were
and as hedges admits they havent been declared
they wont ask if he personally altered them
if the insurance company feel the "aftermarket"would have made him more of a risk
then you might not be in for an easy ride

[cshimmon]

You may already have sorted this with the insurance company by now, but just in case, it can go any with mods, they may never notice, they may notice and simply refuse to pay for the value of the wheels or they could refuse the claim altogether.

You don't mention if the accident was his fault or not but as you say the premium has gone up, that implies it was his error, in which case you can understand why the company would want to charge more.

[hodges5]

Thanks again for all your answers

The situation is still ongoing the insurance have pointed out the mods on the vehicle and are now dragging their heals on a decision as to if they will pay out if my son pays them an added premium, or just not pay out for the mods, or as you say i am aware there is a chance they will not pay out at all.

cshimmon yes this was a fault accident

[hodges5]

Have now just spoken to the insurance and they have requested an additional payment of 5% before they will offer a payout

A massive lesson learnt here and i will be taking any future car to the garage so that they can tell me what is/is not original