Modifying your car to add an individual element has been popular for many years now but if it costs you up to double on your insurance as a result is it time to reconsider?
A recent study based on over 2 million cases has strongly shown the vehicles that had received after market aesthetics or modifications such as exhaust systems, alloy wheels, spoilers and body kits paid a much larger premium.
This has led in the past to a large number of people not declaring their modifications: if you are one of these people then be aware, with most policies this will invalidate your cover, potentially leaving you and other road users at risk.
A custom paint job isn't a modification though so shouldn't make a difference right? Wrong: this study reports increases of up to 36 per cent to your insurance premium – even go-faster stripes & numbered decals have increased yearly insurance costs by up to 22 per cent.
An unbelievable 100 per cent premium increase has been seen during this study for those customers adding larger more intricate custom alloy wheels to their cars, these were extreme cases where the alloy wheels had increased width or sometimes wheel spacers.
Not all modifications are bad though and some have shown an decrease in premiums such as parking sensors which can reduce premiums by up to 13 per cent and tow bars by 20 per cent as insurance companies will assume you are driving slower as a result.
Car phones, turbo engines, sat-navs and spoilers are just some of the items that insurance companies flag up as danger areas – turbos and spoilers tend to mean faster cars and more chances of accidents, and car phones and sat-navs can be an advert for opportunistic theft.
Window tints appeared on the chart of modifications that increased premiums, but the average increase was one per cent so nothing to worry about there!
The main thing to take from all this is that if you want to modify your car then expect a larger insurance bill or maybe check with your insurers first, secondly make sure you inform your insurance company so as not to invalidate your insurance completely.
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