Towbars

[niemeyjt]

Following various press articles, I contacted my insurance to notify them of my after-market (but fully conformant) towbar, expecting nothing more than a shrug.

But no - they wanted all the details and values to note as "modifications" on my policy.

Good news, the premium has not increased - and there is one less piece of wriggle room if I have a claim.

Has everyone with an aftermarket towbar done the same?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I asked my wife earlier if she'd contacted the insurance company to check whether winter tyres count as a modification.

There was an article in The Telegraph a few days ago about someone with a (£100,000+new) car valued at £40,000 having had an accident that their insurance company wouldn't cover as they'd fitted a towbar. This was despite actual towbar not being in situ at the time - its being detachable - and a towbar having nothing to do with the accident anyway - it was a head on collision. They only agreed to pay after the newspaper intervened.

 

[Tris]

Recently had a towbar fitted on a new-to-us car as the dealer claimed Ford will not allow them to fit towbars to used cars. Checked the list of modifications on insurance website and there it was, so it's down on the policy. As you say, one less way for them to get out of a claim

 

[ajs]

I raised this a while back. As you note it generally doesn't affect premiums but should be declared. Details needed will generally depend on the broker rather than the underwriter themselves.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/rejection-of-vehicle-insurance-claims.145167/#post-1697767

 

[MikeJhn]

I would take a lot of that with a hefty pinch of salt - there is case law that means that insurance can not be refused unless the reason is directly relevant to the claim - so no declared towbar as above, no insurance for towbar or trailer is reasonable - but no declared towbar and the car is hit by lightning - irrelevant and therefore they must pay out. The other let-out clause for the insurance company is if they can show that they would not have offered insurance for a car with that modification at the point of insurance - e.g. you insure a 1.0 polo and put a 5.0 v8 engine in it - most insurance companies could show that they would not have insured that car, and therefore even if hit by lightning (i.e. engine is irrelevant) they could choose to not pay out.

comment above about type of tyres is a red herring - if they are the correct size / profile etc. for your car and within manufacturer specifications for speed ratings / load carrying then you are fine - there is no basis on which an insurance company could refuse a claim - same for what fuel you put in / type of windscreen wipers you use / type of brake pads / etc. - all consumables and as long as you buy replacements suitable for your car and which are road legal you are fine...

my best experience with modifications was when insured on a range rover years ago and some road debris punched a hole through the oil filter at speed - engine went from running to solid in seconds! The insurance company sent out an engineer, they specified an engine rebuild which when done took the engine from 4.2 litres to c. 5.0 litres - all to their instruction... A couple of years later (so having renewed in-between)
- sorry sir, we can't renew this car it has an engine modification and we don't insure modified engines
- but you specified the modification and have renewed insurance since...
- sorry sir, computer says no - we have never insured modified engines...
- but... but... oh well...

Too fast / too slow is too simplistic the reality is that an accident on a bend where you are going at 70 in a 60 they will most likely pay out - doing 150 in a 30 / doughnuts / drifting / etc. probably not. As for too slow - would love to see a refused claim on that basis - how do you define too slow - other than on a motorway where there is an expectation around driving with the flow of the traffic there is almost no chance of ever being prosecuted for 'too slow' otherwise how do you slow down and stop!

fronting / business use / any other reason where you have lied to the insurance company - sure, it is fraud.

tinted windows - again, they would have to prove that the windows were material in causing the claim

so, soundbites without proper research...

generally speaking most people will never be in that situation - most people buy a car and drive it - they are honest in declarations when applying for insurance and they are not stupid in how they drive...

Lots of myths and miss information concerning car insurance and companies not paying out, the truth is you have a contract with the insurance company and only a breach of the terms and conditions of issuing the insurance can make an insurance invalid, the insurance company can not refuse a claim, they can however reduce the amount of a claim if its proved than any modifications had a contributory effect on the claim, the quote above is the most sensible post I have seen on this subject for a long time.

 

[Amplidyne]

Don't know about how serious it might be, but it never hurts to keep insurance dead straight.
I informed the broker I use about the towbar I have fitted.
Keep on letting them know about any changes religiously.

 

[ey_tony]

Always inform one's insurance provider with details of ANY modifications which might affect the vehicle's handling, performance or structure, that way you don't find rejections or reductions in claim value should you unfortunately have to make a claim.
This includes fitting such as non-standard expensive alloy wheels. If you don't inform them that you have fitted them then they won't be insured for theft and any wheels replaced after damage will likely be equivalent to the original.

I've had tow bars fitted to some of my vehicles in the past and the insurance companies required notification of such modifications. They also usually ask if the vehicle has been modified in any way when applying for insurance with a different company.

However insurance companies can be fair too. When one of my daughters was 17 and I was looking for a 1.1L Peugeot 205 for her I learned about a hack whereby if the vehicle's drive train had not been altered in any way, then as the body shell was exactly the same as other 205s the Peugeot XA van ( the 205 variant) could be completely modified so that the entire interior, electrics and exterior bumpers etc could be completely stripped out and replaced with parts from a 1.6 or 1.9 GTI and I managed to find someone who'd actually done the modification and was selling but there was something wrong with the drive.
I guessed what the problem was when I viewed it so got the car quite cheaply at the time and it cost me the grand total of £6.00 to fix from the local Citroen dealership as the parts were interchangeable.

For all intents and purposes outwardly it looked like a 1.9 GTI until you lifted the bonnet. It even had a big-bore exhaust which made it 'sound' fast. It was the proverbial sheep in wolf's clothing. It even had the 1.9 badges and it was the popular red at the time. I quite envied her LOL.
I'd made sure that I could get it insured before purchasing the vehicle and it was quite a popular mod at the time so the insurance companies were OK with it as long as they knew everything about the vehicle.
Being based on a van the suspension was firm and with the wider wheels of the GTI it actually handled like a dream, though the noise from the big-bore was too much for me but my daughter loved it. I'd taught her to drive so I knew she was absolutely safe and had no reason to show off as the vehicle did it for her and she owned that vehicle for about 5 years always treasuring it until she got a company car.
The week after she'd sold it for nearly as much as I'd paid to a young guy, he rolled it and wrote it off.

I have to say her car was the envy of every young guy in the village and her school at time.