Do You Fully Declare On Your Insurance?

[BHBradley]

So I'm assuming there's a lot of you guys and gals who have done some sort of mod to your bike,mine is far from standard in that I turned it from a cruiser into a fully fledged bobber!Ive declared this to my insurers but I'm aware that some people don't,do you fully declare all changes made?Do you think it's worth it?

 

[thunderous71]

So I'm assuming there's a lot of you guys and gals who have done some sort of mod to your bike,mine is far from standard in that I turned it from a cruiser into a fully fledged bobber!Ive declared this to my insurers but I'm aware that some people don't,do you fully declare all changes made?Do you think it's worth it?

You have to be careful as some insurers may try and wangle out of a claim is some mods are not declared, and you will not get the cost back of any mod that isn't declared.

Saying that I have different downpipes on my bike and some other minor stuff that is undeclared.

 

[BHBradley]

You have to be careful as some insurers may try and wangle out of a claim is some mods are not declared, and you will not get the cost back of any mod that isn't declared.

Saying that I have different downpipes on my bike and some other minor stuff that is undeclared.

Oh yeah Thunder that's exactly what I'm getting at,I fully declare as they will do anything to get out of not paying out on a claim!!

 

[Lurch]

As mentioned really. You don't have to tell them about certain things, such as a non-genuine replacement exhaust, they key word being replacement, not upgrade or modification.

I got a quote from Bennetts, and told them about the mods on mine, hand deflectors, interchangeable pannier lids, handle bar risers, HID headlight, top box, all these were no extra cost to the premium except the handle bar risers. They're a 1" insert between the head and the bar as a comfort measure for tall riders. They aren't any improvement to the bike, they don't make it any more desirable, nor do they add any significant value compared to something like a top box, but Bennetts said they'd have to put them down as modified handle bars, and would be an extra £40 on the premium. I declined their generous offer. However, I could have just left it out. If I crashed the bike, they would probably never be noticed, and arguably I could have claimed I didn't know they weren't standard.

I am wondering if non-declaration would only mean non payment for that item, or if the insurers would deem it as failure to disclose and try for more than non payment for that given item. I considered this when declaring my extras, but decided honesty was the best policy...

 

[Taffman92]

I got my insurance with Bennetts online and had a special offer that let me have 16 mods for no extra cost , so I told them all I know that was on it and the price stayed the same , sweet deal for me

 

[RealRider]

If your mod replaces the standard they will cover the standard part value and you would have to pay the difference.

 

[SighBored]

We don't declare any mods over here (not that I know of anyway), but instead some of the workshops will use some insurance fraud techniques to make higher claims than the damage so that:

i) They get to pocket the extra (obviously);
ii) You can request/deal for some "free" goodies/accessories from the workshop;

Before anyone starts preaching about this not just legal and what-not, bear in mind, if people were claiming the exact cost of damages, these @$$hole insurance won't cover to full amount and the owner ends up having to bear the remainder of the cost, so *middle finger* to the insurance and fraud that sh1t.

What's the point of paying for insurance if they are not willing to cover the cost of damage.. The claims process is more like a begging process.. Begging them to give you money to pay for the damages that you had paid the insurance to cover in the first place.

If this is a little confusing, I'm just talking about the original parts damages not about asking the insurance to pay for damages to after-market parts.. Even then (stock parts), they won't pay the full amount for the damages, and it's not because of over the insured amount thing.. They are just legalized swindlers.

#EndOfRant

 

[Shaney_G]

Insurance? Pffft, who needs it.

 

[Lurch]

Insurance? Pffft, who needs it.

In the UK, everyone, unless you want the Police to seize your ride...

@SighBored In the UK, assuming you have fully comprehensive (all risk) cover, they will pay to fix your bike back to your declared standard, although our policies carry an excess which is where you pay the first pounds of a claim. If you're experienced and have had little claim history, the excess can be as low as zero - £100, for new or high risk people, the excess can be very high. The way it works is they fix your bike, and you pay your excess to the garage when you collect it. However, they can write off the bike of the repairs will cost more than 70% of the value of the bike as uneconomical for repair. This is the =n a category D write off, you can then take the insurance money (less excess) and then buy the bike back at its value in the damaged state and repair it yourself. There are cat A/B/C write offs too. Cat A and B are serious enough that the bike is not safe to be repaired. Cat A is where no part of the bike should be used for salvage. Cat C is extensive damage, can be repaired, but needs to be inspected before it is allowed back on the road.

 

[Shaney_G]

That was meant as a joke, lol. Based off of this thread I figured it was required in the UK. In the US it varies state by state. In my state, Washington, it is not required. I personally choose not to have insurance. Some will say that is idiotic of me, but i know the risks and I am willing to take them.

 

[Lurch]

Thought it might be, wasn't sure so clarified it anyway

So what happens if you crash in to someone with no insurance and the accident was your fault? They sue you for what they can?

 

[Shaney_G]

Thought it might be, wasn't sure so clarified it anyway

So what happens if you crash in to someone with no insurance and the accident was your fault? They sue you for what they can?

That, or their uninsured motorists part of their policy covers it. I've never run into (see what I did there) this situation before and I don't know anybody who personally has.

 

[Rusty]

my insurance asks if my bike has been modified for more power then stock, has had the frame altered, or has turbo/nitrous my mods are non of those things so I don't delcare that my VFR is now a naked scramber

 

[CrankyBiker]

In the UK, everyone, unless you want the Police to seize your ride...

@SighBored In the UK, assuming you have fully comprehensive (all risk) cover, they will pay to fix your bike back to your declared standard, although our policies carry an excess which is where you pay the first pounds of a claim. If you're experienced and have had little claim history, the excess can be as low as zero - £100, for new or high risk people, the excess can be very high. The way it works is they fix your bike, and you pay your excess to the garage when you collect it.

Sounds a bit like a deductible. In the US, you can assign a deductible for damages not the fault of other people. For example, I carry a $1k deductible so if I wreck all on my own, I'm $1k out of pocket. Of course then you also have a possibility of your insurance premium going up.

In the case of Harley's and values...I had a buddy of mine get his bike wrecked for him the day he paid it off. A guy backed up his lifted full size pickup into my buddies bike, realized he hit something and pulled forward to see what it was. What he didn't know is the floorboard was hooked under his bumper somehow and he dragged the bike. The local HD dealer assessed the damages and assigned an amount to repair it back to stock. It was somewhere around $8k...there wasn't $8k of damage on it's worst day. The guys insurance company provided the check to my buddy, he tore the bike down himself and did all the repairs. Had enough left to get a 1 off custom paint job done and still walked away with cash.

 

[PistnRods]

Progressive in the US covers mods to your bike. They even advertise it.

 

[Lurch]

Deductable sounds the same as our excess. Not sure UK companies would pay and allow you to gix it yourself. They'd pay out the value, and allow you to buy the bike back for the salvage price.