I'm about to get a Milltek Exhaust and 15% Pulley installed on my MCS (wooo!). Do I need to notify my insurance company about this? Will it increase my premium having a more powerful car? I've seen some people mention they had to tell their insurance company. Is that really required?

 

I would say that it is not required. But, make sure you keep the receipts of the things that are installed in your car. If anything ever happens, you can prove that they were in there.

 

I think it's a matter of whether you want the mods covered if the car is damaged. If the car is totaled they will pay you based upon the industry norms, any money you have paid for mods will be gone. If you tell them about the mods you'll pay a higher premium, but have better coverage.

 

There's an interesting article about this in the current Autoweek. It's probably on their website too.

According to the article, you run the risk of having the insurance company deny your entire coverage if you're in an accident and haven't told them about certain kinds of performance mods. The article mentions some guy in Canada who had his coverage cancelled because the insurance company found out about his suspension mods. He had to restore the suspension to stock to get his coverage restored.

I think the prudent thing is to notify the insurance company of all your mods. Risking warranty coverage is one thing but risking the entire car (in the extreme case) is something else...

 

Unless it alters the safety functions of the vehicle (ie: airbag, seat belt, after-
market steering wheels, etc) no need to mention.

As above, keep your receipts as proof of purchase if something ever
happens to your car.

 

>>Unless it alters the safety functions of the vehicle (ie: airbag, seat belt, after-
>>market steering wheels, etc) no need to mention.
>>
>>As above, keep your receipts as proof of purchase if something ever
>>happens to your car.
>>
I would be VERY leery of keeping ANYTHING from my insurance company....as a young man I learned the hard way that if they have a chance, they will deny your coverage at the time you need it.......long story but I had to make payments on a burned out El Camino for 30 months because the man that was driving it when it caught on fire had been lent it by the friend I had leant it to..........thank god the bank let me keep making the payments as oppossed to wanting their money back immediately......

 

Do you tell your insurance company if you take your MINI on the track or to autocross events monthly?

 

I'm pretty sure my insurance agent would not care if I told him or not. If you do tell your company and there is a response from them it would likely be to raise your rates or cancel you're insurance. From their point of view why would you want this performance stuff unless you're going to RACE the car?

Let it be your little secret. :smile:

R.E.

 

To extend the concept a little further, do you notify your insurance carrier if you put on a different set of wheels? How about if you change from Runflats to standard tires? Or change brands? Or switch from the factory original shocks to something like Konis? Each is a significant deviation from "stock".

Check your state's insurance regulations, check your policy and then make your decision. FWIW, I've never noified my insurance company of any modifications. But, then again, I've never gone totally wild with them either.

Good luck, and here's hoping you never have to find out what is and is not covered.

 

>>Do you tell your insurance company if you take your MINI on the track or to autocross events monthly?
Yes, and mine will cover Driver's Schools or other non-racing, non-timed events.

 

I might be wrong but in the UK isn't it required that you tell your insurance company about mods?

I don't tell my insurance company about mine, I already pay a lot just for being under 25!

 

I already checked with my statefarm agent a while ago. Some things are
reasonable, and others just foolish not to ask.


>>I would be VERY leery of keeping ANYTHING from my insurance company....as a young man I learned the hard way that if they have a chance, they will deny your coverage at the time you need it.......long story but I had to make payments on a burned out El Camino for 30 months because the man that was driving it when it caught on fire had been lent it by the friend I had leant it to..........thank god the bank let me keep making the payments as oppossed to wanting their money back immediately......