So many of you may know I recently bought MikeT's old car. Arguably one of the most heavily modified V6's ever. Although I don't have receipts to the grand total, I'm told by good sources that the build may have exceeded £80k. My question is how the hell do I insure something like it and/or how do insurance companies usually treat a car like it?
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What to expect?
- Thread starter Brett
- Start date
You may find a company to insure it for £80k, but being such a modified car, and high value, the premium may run in to a few thousand squids to get it covered. My BDA Elan is a very straightforward mod that only developes another 70% or so of power over the original, and Hagerty don't worry about that. A mate has a highly modified Elan with a fast road Sierra Cosworth engine squeezed in, and a lot of trick mods to the chassis, suspension, steering brakes and wheels to manage the 400 plus bhp in something that weighs 750kgs. He found one company that would take it on, at around £5000 a year for it's full value, which was around £80k also.
The only way he could get it on the road at a reasonable cost in the end was to insure it 3rd party fire and theft, and that was still a grand or so.
Strange that you can by a 1000cc bike off the shelf that does 0-60 in 2 seconds, a top speed over 200 mph, and insurance can be had for £150 fully comp!
The only way he could get it on the road at a reasonable cost in the end was to insure it 3rd party fire and theft, and that was still a grand or so.
Strange that you can by a 1000cc bike off the shelf that does 0-60 in 2 seconds, a top speed over 200 mph, and insurance can be had for £150 fully comp!
Lol! I bought a set of 18'' wheels off Mike and he had comfortably committed 'new Porsche 996 turbo money' to the project at that stage.
Trouble is that development costs and some costly component failures were included in that figure.
Fab bit of kit though. I suppose Mike would've insured it as 'standard Vee value' plus %power hike over norm. You can usually strip the expensive bits in the event of a heavy claim.
Trouble is that development costs and some costly component failures were included in that figure.
Fab bit of kit though. I suppose Mike would've insured it as 'standard Vee value' plus %power hike over norm. You can usually strip the expensive bits in the event of a heavy claim.
My skyline had receipts for over £35K in mods which had all been spent at UK specialists since it landed in the UK as a bone stocker. Sky insurance were by far the cheapest and with all mods declared would only insure it for it's market value at that point in time.
How much of the £80k originally spent would have been labour? I'd do a parts list at current prices and give a few insurers a call.
How much of the £80k originally spent would have been labour? I'd do a parts list at current prices and give a few insurers a call.
Don't get me wrong, I don't value the car at £80k and certainly wouldn't put an agreed value anywhere near that. Something small on it like the dash would cost me £5k to replace. And yes, in the unfortunate case of a crash, many parts like that could be removed but in the event of theft its not possible. I'm just wondering how insurance companies generally veiw cars like it because I've never insured a car quite so modified or with £X ammount of parts in it.
ed_harland
Member
I would insure for what it cost to buy plus what it costs to get on the road, that way you would hopefully get all your money back.
If it gets crashed you're going to fix it yourself if it catches fire or gets stolen and not recovered you won't be out of pocket.
As with most insurance there is always an element of rip off. If it were still possible I would insure for the legal minimum requirement, third party only and take the other risks myself.
I had a quote (Flux) for this car when I oh so nearly bought it in 2009 ! Fully comp, all mods declared £450 they were only interested in max bhp. At the time my Ph 2 was about £350 to insure.
I'm in a similar situation in finding an insurer for my project so will be interested to see how you get on.
If it gets crashed you're going to fix it yourself if it catches fire or gets stolen and not recovered you won't be out of pocket.
As with most insurance there is always an element of rip off. If it were still possible I would insure for the legal minimum requirement, third party only and take the other risks myself.
I had a quote (Flux) for this car when I oh so nearly bought it in 2009 ! Fully comp, all mods declared £450 they were only interested in max bhp. At the time my Ph 2 was about £350 to insure.
I'm in a similar situation in finding an insurer for my project so will be interested to see how you get on.
