Recently there have been a fair few posters on here saying they've been on comparison websites and/or to "normal" insurers about insuring their modified vehicle and saying they either can't get cover or the price is ridiculous. Before posting and whingeing about it,
stop, and
think about what you're doing.
Large insurance companies and price comparison websites are
NOT set up to deal with modifications. Sure, the companies may be able to cope with a simple remap or a set of alloys, but much more and the systems they have simply can't cope. 99.99% of their business comes from standard vehicles and non-enthusiasts so it is simply not cost effective for them to make the necessary changes to accommodate us lot. Most of the staff they employ have no idea what an ECU is let alone what a set of Borbet wheels might be worth. I know this. I worked in Commercial Fleet insurance for 7 years and some of the staff there struggled with identifying a Renault Espace...
So, if you have a small modification, you could try the regular insurers first - you may be pleasantly surprised about the price but expect to be put on hold whilst they talk to "The Underwriter" before making a decision, which will usually result in a largely unfair price increase and a higher excess.
If, however, you, like the majority of the posters on here, have a fairly heavily modified vehicle,
you need a specialist insurer. You wouldn't buy an expensive antique and try to insure it under a standard home insurance policy - you'd want agreed value on your item in case it was stolen. So why don't we do the same with our cars? It's your pride and joy and you would be devastated if something happened and it wasn't covered. What's it worth? Saving £50 and taking a big risk of 6 points and a non-repaired car or having peace of mind that all is covered and legal? Modifications need to be disclosed to the insurance company as your policy could be void without letting them know. If you're involved in an accident and your insurer finds out and won't honour the claim you will not be insured and that's a criminal offence - say hello to 6 points minimum. And good luck trying to get insurance once you've had it cancelled - most companies won't touch you.
You will find that a lot of the modified specialists are car enthusiasts like yourselves, and will be able to cater for most if not all modifications and many offer agreed valuations too. Give them the chance of your business. Our site is sponsored by some specialist insurers. There are others available of course, some of which are listed below. Please feel free to add to the list!
HIC
Adrian Flux
Sky Insurance
Performance Direct
Brentacre
Greenlight
Chris Knott Insurance
Cheers!
Mr Bounce