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Is your car modified? Compare car insurance quotes and get the right cover for your upgrades and enhancements
If your car’s been altered to look, feel, or drive differently from its original factory and manufacturer’s specification, then it’s classed as ‘modified’.
When you're buying car insurance, your insurer will need to know about any modifications that’ve been made to your car in order to insure it correctly.
If you don’t tell your insurer about the modifications, you run the risk of not being properly insured and your provider could refuse to pay out in the event of a claim.
Popular car modifications include alloy wheels, tinted windows, suspension and engine changes, roll bars, spoilers and extra or adaptive headlights.
Modified car insurance works in exactly the same way as a standard car insurance policy. It simply also factors in the extra parts you’ve added or changes you’ve made to your car.
So, just like standard motor insurance, modified car cover insures against events like accidental damage, fire and theft. And you’ll be able to choose from extras like breakdown cover, courtesy car and windscreen cover.
There are some modifications which are illegal and won’t be covered under your car insurance, though. For example, if you’re thinking about getting tinted windows installed, then to stay on the right side of the law, (and for safety reasons), the front windscreen must let in at least 75% of light. Other modifications like altered exhausts that exceed a noise limit of 74 decibels, coloured tints on headlights and improperly fitted spoilers are also illegal.
Before making any changes to your car, you should of course check that the modification is legal, but you may also want to contact your insurance provider to see if they’ll cover the modification and find out how it’ll impact your premium.
The majority of modifications will have an effect on your premium.
That’s because when an insurer sets a price for a policy, they take into account:
Some modifications - like wheel upgrades - add value to your vehicle, which means that repairs and replacements are going to cost your insurer more in the event of a claim.
Insurers consider that some modifications put your vehicle at increased risk of accident, theft or even vandalism.
On the other hand, some modifications can actually reduce your premiums because they improve safety. Things like:
It’s always a good idea to compare a range of insurers because they’ll all have different rules and criteria as to how they treat modifications.
In cases where you’ve made a lot of changes to your car, a specialist insurer, used to dealing with modified cars, could offer you a good deal. Insurers like this often recognise that owners and enthusiasts who’ve spent a lot of time and money modifying their car may be more likely to look after it.
The changes you make to your car could increase its value beyond what you paid for it, or its market value. In such cases, you can talk to the insurer about an agreed value policy and salvage retention. These are types of insurance that help to protect your investment should your vehicle be written off.
An agreed value policy recognises the time and money spent on a modified vehicle. You set the value of your car with the insurer and they’ll pay out that amount if your car’s a total loss, regardless of its market value. Agreed value policies tend to be more expensive than standard car insurance policies.
If repairing your vehicle would cost more than replacing it, your insurer will write it off. Some insurers will offer salvage retention, which lets you buy it back to save it from being scrapped. That way, you may be able to re-use some of the parts or even repair the damage to your car yourself.
When you take out an agreed value policy with your insurer, you’ll come to an agreement with your insurer as to its value.
To agree the value with you, the insurer will want details of your vehicle. You’ll need to fill out a form letting the insurer know things about your car including the condition of its bodywork, interior and exterior, engine, transmission, chassis and wheels, for example.
You’ll probably also have to send the insurer good quality photos that show the car’s exterior at different angles - its near side, far side, front and rear. Plus its interior and engine.
You may also need to attach receipts or invoices where available to show purchases and work done.
You can save money on your car insurance, even if your car’s modified:
Doing low mileage and keeping your car safe in a garage or on a driveway overnight can help to bring your quote down
If you pay annually, you’ll avoid paying interest on direct debit payments
If you’re an inexperienced driver, adding a second driver with a safe driving history will sometimes reduce the cost – but only do this if the other person genuinely does drive your car
Consider a telematics policy. Premiums are based on how safely you drive, so if you drive your modified car carefully that might reduce the cost at renewal time
If you don’t declare all modifications, you could invalidate your policy and might not be covered
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Page last reviewed: 06 June 2023
Page reviewed by Jasmine Hembury
[2]For all comprehensive car insurance policies bought through Go.Compare in November 2022