A Cautionary Tale!

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tankman48

tankman48

New Member
Posts
29
I've recently been looking at having my Land rover TD5 tuned but before making my final decision decided to contact my insurance company to see how this would affect my premium, my Insurance company (Direct Line) wouldn't touch me with a barge pole, neither would two others I rang, when i eventually found one that would insure me I found that my premium had more than doubled!!

Bear in mind now i'm not a boy racer, have full no claims discount, have an HGV 1, advanced driving qualification for car and bike and I'm also a driving assessor, so I have a proven record for driving competency (Although you wouldn't of thought so if you's of seen me at the weekend stuck in a bog :) )

My advice to anyone having this mod done is to make sure you research the hidden cost , such as insurance, before going ahead with the work, as some people may find they end up with the inconvenience and expense of having to return their car to stock form because they can't get cover.

Not wanting to teach anyone to suck eggs but i've received a lot of help from people on this forum that are a lot more technically knowledgeable than me for which i'm really grateful, I just wanted to try and make sure no one ended up making the same mistake as me, not sure about anyone else but I can't afford to pay over double on my insurance premium.

Cheers folks.
 
I think you will find the vast majority of people dont tell their insurance company at all.
I was speaking to a man who knew a man who checked cars for insurance companies after accidents, and his first port of call was to research the particular car on the internet, so hes up to speed with what should and shouldnt be there, regarding declared modifications and undeclared stuff.
Obviously undeclared stuff means expense for the insured or now not insured!



Lynall
 
Totally agree with you Lynall, a mate of mine has done loads of mods to his landy and hasn't bothered to inform his insurer, The way I looked at though is that i'd be a real mug increasing my BHP from circa 122bhp to potentially over 200bhp and not telling them, their always looking for excuses to wheedle out of paying when you are unfortunate enough to have a claim so why make it easy for them!
 
tankman,

You can see the list of mods that I have done to my Disco 2 below all of which are declared to my insurance company so if the unthinkable happens they have no get out.

When my renewal came through I looked around and for a better price and even tried Direct Line for a quote for a bog standard D2 and 10 years no claim, it came back wanting more than my renewal price. I live on a farm at a dead end and it's kept in the drive in one of the least at risk postcodes in the country yet Direct Line have always been one of the most expensive companys for quotes on any car I've had.

Have you tried any of the brokers like Adrian Flux or Lancaster for a quote, they have 4x4 sections for modified Landys and I think Landyzone members get a discount at one if not both.
 
Hi

Yes i agree, like you my car is nowhere near a main road and also in one of the least at risk post codes in the country, all the mod's I've done to my TD5 have all been declared to Direct Line most of which would actually help in preventing damage such as rock sliders, belly pan, transmission guard, HD steering arms but rather than give any discount the price just keeps going up! I was pretty shocked to find out though that my policy didn't cover me for green laning as standard, especially considering how they promote themselves in the LRO magazine, I think I'll be going with Adrian Flux when my renewal is due as they seem to be more 4WD friendly, I currently have my quad insured with them and thus far have found them to be pretty spot on.
 
I have just renewed my insurance with Adrian Flux. They use Aviva in the background, by the way. No getting away from the premium hike due to mods, though. I have a Td5 90 with all sorts of stuff on it, but it seems the moment you change anything, the price goes up. My worst quote was £6940 (yes, you are reading right). Obviously not the one i went for, but never the less ended up with more than double the 'standard' premium. I now have a fully 'compliant' listing, having listed all thr extras i have on it and have decided to just accept the high premium and live with it. Adrian Flux cover includes offroad and greenlaning, which is very good.
 
£6940! would anyone seriously pay that! I'm truly getting fed up with continually being ripped off by insurers, used to think Direct Line was OK but it really P***** me of when they stuck an extra £70 on my policy when I changed the suspension and that was just the start of it, there's a 23yr old lives near to my brother, he drives a focus GTI souped up job, if I'd of gone ahead and had my Landy tuned I'd of been paying more than he does in insurance unless he's Bull S******g! Where's the Logic!
 
lynall said:
I think you will find the vast majority of people dont tell their insurance company at all.
I was speaking to a man who knew a man who checked cars for insurance companies after accidents, and his first port of call was to research the particular car on the internet, so hes up to speed with what should and shouldnt be there, regarding declared modifications and undeclared stuff.
Obviously undeclared stuff means expense for the insured or now not insured!



Lynall
Click to expand...
The thing is though, it's all bollox and profiteering though.

Tweaking the injector pump on a 300Tdi and increase the boost on a 200Tdi is doing exactly the same thing a remap does. Yet these you don't need to declare or be charged for.

Same as with a carb engine, fiddle away and tune, change jets, time, etc. More power easily gained. Do the same with an ECU and you'll be charged a kings ransom for doing so.

Next up they'll make you pay extra insurance if you run superunleaded in a car with a knock sensor, as it'll increase its power output.
 
300bhp/ton said:
The thing is though, it's all bollox and profiteering though.

Tweaking the injector pump on a 300Tdi and increase the boost on a 200Tdi is doing exactly the same thing a remap does. Yet these you don't need to declare or be charged for.

Same as with a carb engine, fiddle away and tune, change jets, time, etc. More power easily gained. Do the same with an ECU and you'll be charged a kings ransom for doing so.

Next up they'll make you pay extra insurance if you run superunleaded in a car with a knock sensor, as it'll increase its power output.
Click to expand...

Well if the assessor knows what hes looking for and sees the max fuel screw lock ring missing hes going to know the pump has been played with.
Or any of the other seals on the pump.
I suppose as its an engine modification it should be declared, but in all honesty i dont think you will ever get big power out of the tdi like you can the td5.

Lynall
 
lynall said:
Well if the assessor knows what hes looking for and sees the max fuel screw lock ring missing hes going to know the pump has been played with.
Or any of the other seals on the pump.
I suppose as its an engine modification it should be declared, but in all honesty i dont think you will ever get big power out of the tdi like you can the td5.

Lynall
Click to expand...

'Played with' isn't the same as modified with a view to increasing the bhp!
How many accessors put lannies onto the rolling roads to check the BHP against the stock figures?
 
tankman48 said:
I've recently been looking at having my Land rover TD5 tuned but before making my final decision decided to contact my insurance company to see how this would affect my premium, my Insurance company (Direct Line) wouldn't touch me with a barge pole, neither would two others I rang, when i eventually found one that would insure me I found that my premium had more than doubled!!

Bear in mind now i'm not a boy racer, have full no claims discount, have an HGV 1, advanced driving qualification for car and bike and I'm also a driving assessor, so I have a proven record for driving competency (Although you wouldn't of thought so if you's of seen me at the weekend stuck in a bog :) )

My advice to anyone having this mod done is to make sure you research the hidden cost , such as insurance, before going ahead with the work, as some people may find they end up with the inconvenience and expense of having to return their car to stock form because they can't get cover.

Not wanting to teach anyone to suck eggs but i've received a lot of help from people on this forum that are a lot more technically knowledgeable than me for which i'm really grateful, I just wanted to try and make sure no one ended up making the same mistake as me, not sure about anyone else but I can't afford to pay over double on my insurance premium.

Cheers folks.
Click to expand...

Direct line are a joke for anything out of the ordinary. get them to quote for a 1.2 Clio and they will be pretty good. Landrover, forget it. Modifications, forget it.
 
Yes I've found that out to my expense, there are a lot better out there when it comes to landy's I'm certainly going to be shopping around next month when mine is due for renewal.
 
lynall said:
Well if the assessor knows what hes looking for and sees the max fuel screw lock ring missing hes going to know the pump has been played with.
Or any of the other seals on the pump.
I suppose as its an engine modification it should be declared, but in all honesty i dont think you will ever get big power out of the tdi like you can the td5.

Lynall
Click to expand...

I don't think its a modification. It's mealy an adjustment of an item that is adjustable. Just like adjusting the steering wheel for reach or rake, or the headlights up and down.

some vehicles have adjustments like free wheeling hubs, adjustable seats. You can adjust tyre pressures.
 
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