So I had a chat with my insurance broker today as I have yet another vehicle to insure. Everything went quite well, he was a nice guy and got me setup with a good price. Actually to be honest it went well until he asked me if the car was modified. I hesitated, and answered no. I think he knew right away, and we started chatting about what problems were associated with such “modifications”.
Apparently in the eyes of the insurance company, your policy in Alberta can be voided for having any ONE of the following undeclared items installed on your vehicle.
- Engine Swap
- Aftermarket Turbo
- Aftermarket Supercharger
- Nitrous Oxide
Again as reported by the insurance broker, your policy can be voided by having any TWO of the following undeclared items.
- Suspension Modification
- Change to Rim Size
- Interior Roll Cage
- Intake
- Exhaust
- Any other modification designed to increase speed
Keep in mind, this is for UNDECLARED MODIFICATIONS. The broker reported that if you do have any ONE of the first field, or any TWO of the bottom field you are not qualified for low risk insurance. You move up to high risk, as 90% of the insurance companies have policies about “the fast and the furious”.
It looks like there is approximately a 40% hike in insurance moving to owning a modified vehicle, with two of the second field modifications (intake and exhaust) with a total aftermarket value of not more than $3,000CDN.
I’m wondering if anyone can substantiate this brokers claims with any information they might have. Please leave the speculation at home.
My personal take on this, is that they’ve written the policy to protect themselves from “street racers” my profiling anyone with aftermarket modifications. The law, as reported by the broker, states that any modification to increase speed voids your warranty.
This is a very interesting word; speed. In theory the speed of any vehicle is determined by the gearing of the transmission. Intake and exhaust should only change the efficiency of the vehicle to attain these speeds; NOT the actual speed.
Any lawyers online?
Anyways, I don’t know if this has been covered before. I did a quick search and couldn’t find anything in the way of void insurance policies. Hopefully some of you can help with this.
Regards