declaring modifications-pros and cons

As title.....obviously the insurer may try to wiggle out of paying up if you havnt told them about the mods but in my experience the presence of expensive extras is NEVER taken into account in their payout valuation , nor is the service history or level of maintenance .

Yesterday I was speaking to a bloke who worked 10yrs in the motor insurance trade and told me I would never get paid out for anything but the lowest book value despite extras and mods but I had to declare them to get paid out at all . He told me to insure for the lowest book value as I would NEVER be paid the real life , like for like value .

I know what I think but what about the rest of you ? NFU are saying that in theory I could have an Agreed Value but its unlikely they would actually do it .

Since my RRC has a bloody big winch is it worth insuring it as a recovery vehicle or farm machine , whatever ? I know this is a bit far fetched but so is the insurance .

I KNOW you are all bored of this but can somebody please spare me a bit of time to help ? I always try to help out on the subjects I know about (admittedly not many!)....take pity,,,please !

I've declared every last mod on mine. If it wasn't on it when it left the factory - I declared it.
Also took out an agreed valuation, as the gap between the book price of my Disco compared to what it'd cost me to replace it in the event of a total loss is somewhat monumentally huge.

The result?

Fully comp inc green lane cover, breakdown, legal cover, limited mileage (5000) and the Mrs on the policy comes out at £325 with Adrian Flux.

No brainer.

When my last landy was written off (all mods declared) the insurance assessor came along and valued it at £1k with all the mods fitted.

I expressed my thoughts about his ability to assess a vehicle and then told him to come back when I had stripped all the mods off it. He then proceeded to tell me that the £1k price would drop dramatically with the mods removed.

He left and I then stripped the mach 5 wheels, LED beacon bar, 7 led light heads, rear work lamps, snorkel, winch, winch bumper, A bar, urn, jump sockets, cubby box, siren/pa unit, cb, jate rings, interior racking/chests, auxhillary heater, strip lighting, twin battery set up, etc off it. I even took off the new rear prop and the new brake pads just to get my moneysworth out of em.

I then let the salvage company take it away and made them hold it until I was happy with the money they offered. 3 months down the line I agreed to their latest offer and shortly after I received my cheque for £3400.

i recently wrote off a shogun, had afew mods, none declaired. the assesor rang me up, told me he wasnt arsed bowt the mods an that i could go take them off! i thought theyd be really strict an wouldnt let me near it!
anyway a week later he rang me back offering £3500 (book price) i told him that wasnt enough, he rang back 10 mins later offering £4000.. only payed £2500 for it so i was well chuffed!

insurance companys arnt all ****, some are keen to dish the £££ out

I always declare all mods. Mugs game not to. Simples. :rolly:

Was with Admiral when last 90 was written off they offered what I paid for it before improvements done but was told by mate who deals with insurance companies to refuse and to send them examples of how much it would be to replace, they then doubled offer which I accepted

NO cons all pro's ALWAYS declare mods or the car you hit wont get fixed!!!