P Plate modifications VS Insurance VS Police

[vhcbm]

Originally Posted by |Matt|

Any idea how tight RACV is?

I would imagine you would pay a lot extra with them and their other state equivalents like NRMS, RACQ. If you get that serious with modding it's probably better to look at Just car or Shannons maybe.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

for insurance purposes, make sure everything is on paper or email (from them). do not take their word for it over the phone. things might have changed since the late 80's, but i was given 3 totally different stories on mags for my coupe - and was told over the phone i could lower it, and when i sent in the paperwork to show it had been done, they cancelled my policy

Today everything is in writing.

Originally Posted by gtxb67

also in regards to claims, i had thought insurance companies can deny a claim if an unroadworthy part was the cause of an accident. could this mean that if you have engine mods and it is deemed the accident was caused by speed, that they can refuse to pay out

A 50kw and a 400kw car can both do 150kph. Speed due to mod's would be hard to use as reason for denial, unless it was from heavy acceleration!

Originally Posted by gtxb67

another point that none of us really want to think about is, if you have a major accident that results in serious charges being laid towards you - will having any (illegal) engine mods compromise your trial - seems like a silly thought i know, but it is too late to consider once it is happening

RTA is a different story. You vehicle must meet RWC conditions to be covered. Unless you can prove that you are unaware that the vehicle was un-roadworthy. Unfortunately (in Vic anyway) car roadworthyness isn't really policed.

[MWTB]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

They are very interested in protecting their brand, so if they took out a policy and all mod's are disclosed, then they would pay out the claim.
If they mod wasn't disclosed, different story.

Simple rule is tell them everything, if not you run the risk of denial.

So I throw a catback and a set of extractors on and they know about it, they'll pay up?

I'll definitely call them again before I do the work, I just want to know that if I do have a bingle, then they have a stickybeak at the car and see a soup can on one end and some nice big breathers on the other that they'll give me my money.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Today everything is in writing.

recently when we went to insure our rav4, i told them we were going to pick up the car and then tint the windows and put in a stereo. they told me they could not have the windows and stereo on the policy until they were in the car. in this case, we were authorised to do it, but it would not have been in writing until we had done it. having been stung like that before, i told a little white lie and said the car had these modifications and they then sent the appropriate (to me) paperwork
certainly for the original poster, i would wait for confirmation in writing before performing a mod to the car. i was given verbal confirmation and when i let them know, they cancelled the policy. if i was waited for written confirmation, i would not have gone ahead with the lowering and then still would have been insured

Originally Posted by LTDHO

A 50kw and a 400kw car can both do 150kph. Speed due to mod's would be hard to use as reason for denial, unless it was from heavy acceleration!

very true, but most accidents are considered speed related and therefore a very evil act

Originally Posted by LTDHO

RTA is a different story. You vehicle must meet RWC conditions to be covered. Unless you can prove that you are unaware that the vehicle was un-roadworthy. Unfortunately (in Vic anyway) car roadworthyness isn't really policed.

probably true, but vic roads is not the problem in my example. the public prosecuter may be. certainly they seem to go harder on someone when there is a problem with the car, be it illegally modified or unregistered etc.





i am not trying to dispute any of your comments, but do not have much confidence in insurance companies or even the law, when they have an avenue to get out of something. i do not neccessarily believe either the insurance companies or the law are wrong, but do not trust them too much when my back is to the wall. basically when someone is in the crap, it is too late to think about what they should have done

[GS608]

Originally Posted by vhcbm

I would imagine you would pay a lot extra with them and their other state equivalents like NRMS, RACQ. If you get that serious with modding it's probably better to look at Just car or Shannons maybe.

Not true..our AU is covered with RACQ, they're covering my mods, lowered suspension, wheels, stereo, catback exhaust etc and the premium barely changed from a stock AU, with a P plater on the policy too. Checked out Just car and Shannons and they were over the top expensive.

[MWTB]

Emailed RACV the day I made this thread and they still haven't gotten back to me.

Speedy service, it seems, is not their thing.

[NudgE^SIKBRO]

Insurance is a strange thing, when i notified (although im off my P's) RACV that i had converted my BA Ghia to manual, they reduced my premium??? and its listed on the policy...

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Today everything is in writing.
A 50kw and a 400kw car can both do 150kph. Speed due to mod's would be hard to use as reason for denial, unless it was from heavy acceleration!
.

Insurance doesnt work like that. The insurance company only is concerned with what the stats tell them about increased/reduced risk.

Simply they find that cars that have certain mods are involved in more "incidents", whether it seems logical that those mods could actually cause problems or not and price the premiums risks afforded by their stats.

For example putting a wider wheel and a loud exhaust on a stock falcon may not change its power or handling to the extent that it could be possibly the cause of any incident. The insurance company simply looks at it as cars with wide wheels and loud exhausts seem to end up with more claims(because of the (profile/mentality) drivers who are attracted to that mod, hence the higher policies.

If they found that cars that had a stripe painted down the centre had more accidents, they'd charge a higher premium for that too.

Sure with newer models that have to go with past experience on but if the model has a long history the list of mods allowed/refused may be very specific. ie sub wrx

So whether the mod has a direct cause/effect on any claim is not the point, its a factor that could have decided whether the insurance company took you on in the first place or would have demanded a much higher premium for.
Unless its a mod that the insurance company would have taken on without any change in premium, then they will have more than adequate grounds to refuse a claim.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Insurance doesnt work like that . . . . then they will have more than adequate grounds to refuse a claim.

while this is all true, it is irrelevant in the context of what ltdho posted, because he suggested all along to let the insurance company know the modifications. the only issue is whether the insurance company takes on the mods, but then refuses to pay, because the driver is not legally allowed to drive the car while on p plates

[MITCHAY]

You said yourself you know that you are not allowed to have mods. That in itself would tell me regardless if they agreed to insure it that it is not worth the risk of paying money for potentially nothing. And when I say nothing it could mean more than your own car in any damage to property liability.

I suppose the question here is whether there is any onus on the insurer to verify whether the person they are insuring is allowed to drive said vehicle.

I suspect not since it is assumed that your car is roadworthy and you're licenced etc so you'd think that it would be treated in the same way

All I can say is if you do go ahead with this is that you get it in writing with specific reference to the questions you ask here although I'm not sure how that would hold up either

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Insurance doesnt work like that.

Suppose, what would I know?

Originally Posted by sudszy

Unless its a mod that the insurance company would have taken on without any change in premium, then they will have more than adequate grounds to refuse a claim.

Thanks for the notice, whilst false, thanks anyway.