I think you are being a bit melodramatic here. A whole bunch of people say "this has happened more than once" and has these horror stories of insurance null and voided on an insurance company's whim and lives ruined - but any real examples? Who has it happened more than once to? Where?

Australia has pretty good legistlation protecting consumers and regulating insurance practices and decisions to dishonour policies can not be just taken on a whim by the "evil insurance company". I reckon those cases where policies were dishonoured necesarily involved drink driving or blatant and extreme illegal modifications.

How would one go about proving what is a "standard part" on a 40 year old vehicle in court anyway? What with the patchy BLMC record keeping and documentation and "parts bin" culture?

My bro 10 years ago, Mazda 808 coupe, local councilor ran a give way and my bro hit his rear corner (2 year old merc). Councilor should have been held responsible, but police reckoned a 19 year old in a hotted up car was more likely to be to blame. (copper was councilor's brother, gotta love small towns )

Insurance inspector looked at the 'adjustable' suspention in my Bro's car, voided his insurance, he had to pay 5000 in damages to owner of merc.
Yep, went to court, lost!!

(on another note, we helped Karma along with payback on this one a year later )

It was only 3rd party property, he wouldn't have got money for his car, but, what you gonna do?

It does happen! Probably happens infrequently, but you should at least be aware of the risks and possible consequences, so you can make your own decision, not blithely accept someone else's word that 'she'll be right'.

Now, if you could make the person who hands out dubious advice be responsible if the advice is followed i think you will find a change in the advice being handed out.

So, weigh the risks (but at least be aware of them) and make your own decision.

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68 Deluxe.... it's shiny..... I like shiny!!

My insurance company is fully aware of all my mods! My car is considered 'modified', and is insured accordingly.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Mine too,

As it should be!

Matt

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68 Deluxe.... it's shiny..... I like shiny!!

How many pages did you give them

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

My car was insured for years with Vigil Insuarance, all the mods were noted and listed on the policy.
When I changed to Shannons (because Vigil kept writing the value down each year) they said Nah, we don't want/need a list, it's classed as `modified' now, so there ya go.
"Anything is OK as long as RTA legal". Their words.
Whatever that means.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Isn't that a get out of jail free card for insurance companies ??? Sort of a failsafe clause where they can say afterwards that something wasn't legal by the RTA because it was your responsibility to get it engineered or whatever . I am talking worst case scenario of course but they often use little clauses like that to give themselves an escape route if needed .

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My car isn't highly modified. 1275 motor, disc brakes, adjustable rear suspension, hi los all round. Wide wheels. Vigil told me that, that is not really much but I have to register it as modified because it's an 850 not an 'S'. Being under 19, I can't go Shannons but most other insurance companies would only give me 'red-book value' for my car... 1200 bucks...

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

I would like to confirm Shannons' positive attitude to these `run of the mill' mods, so far I've heard nothing but praise re their settlements in the case of vehicle loss or accident damage.
Anybody got any anecdotal evidence.. ie happy stories?

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

My two cents here, hope it helps:

If you're taking out cover on a road going car, then as a very minimum it has to be legal for road use and roadworthy. In principle, it's similar to insurance companies not paying up if you crash your car while drunk - you performed an illegal act by driving while drunk.

If you get your car cleared and registered by the relevant government authority in your state/territory, then you have satisfied the first criteria. Assuming you do no further mods, how you maintain it can determine the latter.

Basic legal principle is dealing "in good faith" - if there is something that would affect the insurance company's decision to insure the vehicle / how much to charge you for insuring the vehicle, then you need to disclose it, except where it is reasonable to assume the insurer is already aware of it / the insurer informs you that you don't need to declare it / declaring the information would actually reduce your premium (then it's your choice to disclose).

For example, 35 yo female as sole driver with no traffic infringements or accidents, versus sharing with an 18 yo male P-plater. The extra info makes a big difference. At the end of the day the insurer is calculating up the risk of a claim and charging a price to cover that risk - however ridiculous that price may be in some cases

In my case my motorbike is listed with Brembo brake master cylinder, braided brake lines, aftermarket exhaust, headlight protector, radiator guard, Scottoiler etc. Some of these increased my premium, some reduced it and some merely added to the value of the vehicle overall (and are handy to help identify the bike in case it gets stolen - touch wood!).

Adding my Mini cost me an extra dollar a week cuz it's not on the road, so as long as I don't drive it under it's own power it's considered "laid up". I can still tow / carry it to a mechanic, spraypainter etc etc and it's covered in transit

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never had an issue with shannons and people i know who have made claims have always been happy with them too. like anything, try to do the right thing by people and you should get the same in return.
i used to be with vigil but glad im with shannons now. better agreed value, lower premium and excess fee's.

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real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

I think this is pretty much like the old philosophical arguments about how many angels can dance on a pin.

You would need to ask a QC the question and then mortgage the house to pay for his research.

Some issues: your car can comply with ADRs and not be acceptable to the rego authorities. ADRs are Federal law rego is State; braided brake hoses can be ADR compliant but are not acceptable in NSW (or didn't used to be a few years ago when I checked).

Just because your car passed the rego inspection doesn't mean its legal to drive on (NSW) roads.

I have had brawls with rego inspectors (culminating in me driving away from teh inspection station without paying on one accassion) over mods to my car which were in accordance with NSW legislation but which the inspector "didn't like". Bonnet scoops are quite clearly defined in the regs but even the local registry ddin't have complete or up to date copy of the full regulations.

I haven't read the suspension sections but the NSW regs for seats are to the effect that anyhting other than seats provided by the manufacturer as original or optional equipment for that model year are illegal. ie late model clubman seats are illegal if fitted to your Cooper S.

I've had two claims with Shannons (close encounters of teh marsupial kind) and both times they coughed up very promptly.

If you are at all in doubt or concerned then get an engineeer to sign off your mods.

Cheers, Ian

I think that's it in a nutshell - like all things, if in doubt, get something in writing that will back you up if it all turns pear-shaped

And yeah, I'm with Shannon's too (bike & car). Their cover includes free salvage rights for vehicles more than 35 years old - ie if your car gets written off you can get it back for free to strip or fix, in addition to whatever settlement you get from the claim.

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