Modified Car Insurance

EvanOD

Hi lads, just wondering if there is anyone on here with car insurance and has mods declared. I’m curious to see who’s willing to insure with mods, and how old ye are. Getting a new car soon and would love to do it up but i’m young and only on the N’s and i’m not willing to take the risk with not declaring. Thanks

coylemj

There is no longer an obligation on you to pre-emptively 'declare' anything to the insurance company. They ask questions and you provide truthful answers, that's how it works since S.8 of the act quoted below came into force on Sept 1, 2021.

Of course, if they ask about modifications, you must give them the information they ask for but it's not up to you to make the first move and declare anything.

8. (1) The duties in this section replace, at the pre-contractual stage of a contract of insurance, the principle of utmost good faith (uberrima fides) and any duty of disclosure of a consumer (including any duty on the consumer to volunteer information) that applied prior to the commencement of this section (whether that principle or duty arose at common law or under an enactment).

(2) The pre-contractual duty of disclosure of a consumer is confined to providing responses to questions asked by the insurer, and the consumer shall not be under any duty to volunteer any information over and above that required by such questions.

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2019/act/53/section/8/enacted/en/html#sec8

Eggs For Dinner

If you take out insurance on a standard car and subsequently modify it during the term of the policy, check the policy document as to possible obligations

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909399#Comment_121909399

Fair point. The schedule or a similar document which you got when you took out the policy or last renewed it will probably state as an assumption that you have not modfied the car. Which will place an implicit obligation on you to declare any subsequent modifications. For example, I just checked my Axa documentation and it includes a one page 'Statement of Fact' which, under the heading of 'Car Details and Use' states: 'This car has not been modified beyond the manufacturer's specification'.

EvanOD

Hi, didn’t see this til now.

Thanks for clarifying that, was fairly certain that was the case that if they don’t ask, then you don’t have to tell them, but i haven’t come across a single insurance company that doesn’t ask if you have any modifications done, every place i’ve taken out a quote with asks me