How much information do you tell your insurance company

[Ricky]

My insurance  is coming  up for renewal,  I always  tell my insurance  company  everything  about  my bike. Having  talked  to my mates I was surprised  to hear that many of them don't mention  any mods to there bike like aftermarket  exhaust system, suspension etc. My mechanic  says that the price of a aftermarket  exhaust system  is a lot cheaper  than a OEM one so why tell them as the performance  is not a big difference.  I have a R6 shock  and a aftermarket  exhaust system so will tell them,but from experience you have a right  job trying  to explain  to a sales  person  what you have and why you fitted it, and half  the time it does not fit in side there nice  little box of rules.Just wondering  how many of you getting on and how  much  you tell them. No I do not work  for a insurance company.

[Ricky]

Just  went  on to a insurance  comparison website, but all the details  about  the bike including  the mods and only 6 company's gave me  a quote, one being  low but with a total excess of 900 pounds  on a bike worth may be £3000, the rest very  expensive  and still with not so high  excess. 20 other companies  could  not quite  on line.

[Dea-ville]

i'm with Bennetts this year & they allow 16 modifications as standard any not on that list you have to declare, full list & details of mods etc on their website.

[mr self destruct]

I tell them everything and let them say to me "We don't need to know about that", rather than assume they don't need to know then get caught out in the event of a claim.
The even know about the lack of a    decal on my fairing.

[mick chiz]

i've gone with bennets this year,moved from mce because got a cheaper quote and mce excess was massive £575/600 ish,with bennets i've getting it down to around £350.
told the lad on the phone that my bike has an after market can and it went up by a whole £8
you can be the most careful rider in world but could be arse ended by somebody who simply didnt see you at the lights junction etc and when the insurance bloke comes to see your bike they're not daft,they know if your bikes modded in anyway and chances are he'll suck through his teeth wash his hands of any malice by saying he's just doing his job.....but your not insured for that aftermarket exhaust etc and so we wont be paying you out.
it pays to be honest imho

[PieEater]

I'm with Hastings, and have been for several years now, they do the usual of bumping up the renewal price each year but I just phone them up and ask if they can do something about the price and they end up reducing it by at least the difference in the online quotes I get from moneysupermarket. This years renewal was £120 and after the phonecall it was £97 fully comp.


When I fist took out the policy I made an note of every mod that the bike has including the Ivan's kit, I phoned them up and put the phone on speakerphone and recorded my conversation with them so I have on record that I have declared all my mods and that they didn't have an issue with any of them. They did put me on hold when they checked with the underwriters about the Ivan's kit but they said given my riding experience the underwriters didn't have an issue with the 10% increase in performance.


I've had good experience with Hastings when it came to making a claim and also when I contacted Customer Service, which is why I stay with them and am happy to recommend them.

[Tmation]

What a lot of people forget is its not just about increased performance.


Some mods like paint schemes cost more than standard to replicate and new flash seats and other goodies can make your bike more attractive to thieves, hence an increase in premium.


Add a rack, top box , side rails, panniers, touring screen, heated grips, crash bars, extra lights etc and you have added an easy £1000 worth of accessories, again not just the extra cost of replacing them in the event of an accident but its more bits for the thieves to sell on. Why do people think the insurance companies should cover this at the same cost as a standard bike?

[Dudeofrude]

Why do people think the insurance companies should cover this at the same cost as a standard bike?

Because they are already a bunch of scamming bastard that have you over a barrell.
I agree you should probably tell them everything but only because they will use   every excuse they can to get out of paying you... "I'm sorry sir but you can't have the £5000 your insured for because you've added crash bungs and they make it more attractive to theives" I tell ya what I'd drop him then and there haha

My argument is it should be your choice what you want insuring for. My bike is heavily modified and has a custom paint job. None of the mods (exhaust, pc3, bars,risers etc etc) really make a difference to the insurance but the paint either triples the price or keeps a lot of them from even giving me a quote. Now if I had the option of insuring it for half the price but only getting a standard one back if anything happened, then I'd happily do that but thats never an option

[bludclot]

It's a really good question, just how far should we go? Taking it to the extreme, when a vehicle is serviced and a non-factory oil is used (in our case, Yamalube) then that's modified... Worse than that if you pick up a stone that lodges in a tyre tread than that's modified.


Insurance companies have told me more than once that a factory fitted accessory is not a modification - therefore Yamaha crash bungs, touring screens, belly pans and the like don't require declaring. Who's to know when such items were fitted however? They are often many times more expensive than after market equivalents that would need declaring.


In the event of an incident an assessor is extremely unlikely to pull the vehicle apart and check for non-standard internals, there would have to be a good reason for this to happen. By the same token an assessor is unlikely to know the difference between a standard rear shock and an R6 rear shock considering the number of different vehicles and variants on the road. Therefore, in the real world given a reasonable risk level,  only external after market bits require declaring.


Considering the above, in response to the question 'any modifications?' I declare my after market exhaust and adjustable levers and then state clearly 'you have to understand that I'm not a vehicle expert or professional, the rest looks standard to me. Would you like me to photograph the bike and send the pictures so that you can see exactly what you are insuring?' To which the answer is invariably 'no.' This is more difficult to convey on-line than in a telephone conversation.


As an aside, I don't like the attitude often shown 'insurance companies are robbers' any more than 'banks are robbers' or any other organisation for that matter - it's always owned and staffed by people and far more often than not everyone does their best. We all know that they are there to make money for their owners / shareholders, they are not a charity run for the benefit of their customers. Would you rather take away the need for and concept of insurance altogether? Probably not.

[Ricky]

I have a aftermarket exhaust  and the price of it is lot lower  than a OEM,one so if I have a accident  and it is damaged  it is a lot cheaper  to replace than the OEM,  so why are they  charging  more for my insurance? And the R6 shock is a much better  quality  shock  than the OEM  one and properly  safer to ride to. It seems to me that it is a sort of black mail, that thay are going  to get  everything  thing out of you and at a price if you don't tell them every thing.
Is there any one out there that has had the misfortune  to have had a accident  and claimed, did you have problems?

[PaulSmith]

My wife used to work for an insurance broker, this is her advice. 

If you try to claim £750 for the Akrapovic that you didn't tell them about, not only will they not pay it, but they will say your policy was overvalued by the cost of the standard exhaust that wasn't fitted, deduct that from the insured value and pay only the pro rata amount. If the bike was stolen, they may deem that the after market exhaust increased the bikes appeal to thieves, and that you need to share some of the burden, and again, reduce the pay out pro rata. If this sounds complicated, just remember that insurance companies are just bookies. You are asking for odds based on the information you supply, if you don't tell them something that changes the odds, don't expect a bookie to do you any favors.

The rule of thumb is if your mod changes the value, the replacement cost, or the risk (of crash, theft etc) and you don't tell them before the claim, then don't mention them on the claim. If they find out some other way, expect a problem.

The most common mistake on household policies is under insuring. If you pay a premium for £10k cover, and your property is worth £20k, then you have only covered half the risk. Even if the claim is less then £10k, you will only get half the payout! 

[Fazer99]

I'm with Carole Nash and I get asked if I have any performance enhancing mods, as far as I'm aware I don't have any but, I do have a Scorpian can but don't declare it as I don't see it as a performance modification. it came with the bike when I bought it so I have nothing to compare it to but I can't see how just putting a can on will enhance performance other than making the bike breath better.

Am I wrong and should I declare it or just carry on as I do?

[Ricky]

Just been ringing  around  for insurance  quotes,  Bennetts where fine with my R6 shock and end can and gave a good price. Bike sure again where happy  with mods, but I am with Hastings  Direct and when I told them about  R6 shock said after being  checked  by there underwriters would  not insurer me, so any one out there beware, does this mean if I had  not told them about  the  shock I would  not be insured?
This is a joke ,some insurance company's   seem fine and others  don't have a clue.

[PaulSmith]

...
This is a joke ,some insurance company's   seem fine and others  don't have a clue.

And therein lies the problem. As Ricky says, many brokers and underwriters just don't understand what you are telling them. I would never detail mods on a price comparison site, because once it goes online, it stays online. Instead I would use the site to get a short list of brokers and ring them to 'confirm' the quote and nail down the details.   

[celticdog]

I'm with Carole Nash and I get asked if I have any performance enhancing mods, as far as I'm aware I don't have any but, I do have a Scorpian can but don't declare it as I don't see it as a performance modification. it came with the bike when I bought it so I have nothing to compare it to but I can't see how just putting a can on will enhance performance other than making the bike breath better.

Am I wrong and should I declare it or just carry on as I do?

I hate foccin insurance companies, a necessary evil. As far as you're aware you don't have any mods then you're not lying, but I guess insurers look for anything they can not to pay out. It seems like the buggers make it up as they go along and can pick and choose what to exclude you on if it suits them. Another thing, it's not just mods that they can get you on. They can ask you if you've any points on your licence and you have to tell them. What if they can ask you if you've had to attend a 'speed awareness course' what do you say? They shouldn't be able to penalise you for this. if you refuse to answer, they'll assume you have had to attend one.

[BBROWN1664]

Mines completely standard.
As far as I know, all Fazers have heated grips, boxes and scorpion exhausts.

[ptolemyx]

In 2010 I totalled my heavily modified B-King 
 I had declared the obvious like change of exhaust but had not declared aftermarket levers, rearsets, handlebars etc. Nor had I declared modified airbox, decatted header pipes, Power Commander and dyno tune. They apologised as they could only pay out stock bike value of £6500. I replaced with a similar B-King that cost £6000.

My Fazer is currently stock......with rearsets, bellypan, Renthal bars, folding adjustable levers and R6 shock. Declared to insurers resulting in no change in premium as mod's not deemed to increase performance or value significantly. I'm with Principal Insurance, underwriters are Equity Red Star. 2014 Hayabusa, 2008 B-King and 2001 Fazer100  fully comp' for £196.95 Excess £450.

[teecee90]

I dont declare anything. If they find out and decide not to pay out in the event of a claim or pay a reduced amount...who cares? Its not as if the bike is worth a fortune.

[Ricky]

I know  what you are saying  but if they say you should  have decalered something and did not,  they can say you're  insurance  is inveled and 1 that is against  the law and 2 if you are at fauilt you could  have a big bill to pay to a third party.

[teecee90]

I very much doubt that un-declared modifications would invalidate third party cover, but what do I know.....nothing probably.

[PieEater]

I very much doubt that un-declared modifications would invalidate third party cover, but what do I know.....nothing probably.

It will be in your policy documents this is a quote from mine;

"If you intend to alter your motorcycle from the manufacturer's standard specification.
Alterations include optional extras and any changes to bodywork; these include but are
not limited to:
- Changes to the bodywork, such as specialist paintwork or body kits.
- Fairing removal/addition, including lowers, huggers and front mudguards.
- The addition of panniers or trunk.
- Changes affecting performance such as changes to the engine management system or
exhaust system.
Please be aware that this is not a full list of all possible changes. All changes made from the
manufacturer’s standard specification must be disclosed.
Failure to notify us of a modification may result in your policy being cancelled or treated as if it never existed, or in your claim being rejected or not fully paid."

[hambone]

hi all is the front end off an r1 a mod or an Improvement the brakes definitely are. 

[Dudeofrude]

The thing is, who actually owns a 100% standard bike? Everyone changes at least 1 or 2 things just to make it their own.
What I can't understand is the insurance companies want an arm and a leg from me to insure a bike that's fairly custom, yet my old man builds custom trikes from the ground up and they are happy to insure him for around the £150 Mark each year??
His current creation has a custom built frame with a 1700 gold wing engine, earls forks, a vw rear axle and a hand made fibreglass body. It has the headlights, bars and switches from a Harley, a gl1700 tank, a custom seat and rear lights from a landrover.
So it doesn't really get any further from factory spec than that and his insurance is £130 this year yet the same insurance company won't touch me because I have a custom paint job?? Beggars belief !!

[samsfazer]

There is also something about it being a contract of faith or something, which means you are expected to tell them everything.


I am confused about the speed awareness courses as I don't believe they are registered in a central database but I could be wrong.

[Ricky]

Do I have to tell them about the rear hugger as well? Do they need my inside leg measurement  as well lol.