I spoke to my insurance company about modding my coop, they basically said that they don't care what I do as long as the car is road legal and will only put the premium up if the value of the car increases. If I declare the value of my coop at the cost of the basic coop, plus the value of the mods, will they actually pay that amount out in the event of a claim? I've visions of them saying the book value is £3.5K or whatever (no matter what my declared value is), never mind the fact you've spent £4K on mods etc. I know a principle of insurance is to put you back in the position you were before the loss, but I'm suspicious? Does anyone have any experience of claiming in a case such as this?

In my experience they WONT pay for any Modifications if you crash, get it nicked etc.

I think the question here is one of value versus cost.

Taking a coop (or pretty much any car, for that matter) worth £3.5k and spending £4k on mods gives you a car which has cost you £7.5k, but has a value of much less than that ... possibly less than the value of the car you started with.

The payment you get from the insurance company should represent the replacement value of the car, not repay your investment in it ... if there doesn't happen to be another car for sale with exactly the same spec then that isn't the fault of the insurance company.

If you're not happy with this then you need an agreed value policy. I believe Greenlight are doing them for coops now, so you might want to check with them.

greenlight can do an agreed price for your coupe. think you have to give them all the receipts and pics etc. adrian flux/red star offer about 25% of the price of the mods in the event of theft, but like for like if accident. agree the worth is alot less than the cost of the items. you do it for your pleasure, nothing else.

A bit off topic I know but what if some crashed in to you ? would the other parties insurance have to give you what you wanted ?

I was always under the impression that if I crashed it would mean me losing out. But it frightens me to think that someone could go in to the back of me, causing me to lose out through no fault of my own.

They basically have to stick with the terms you have with your insurer IIRC and if you have a guaranteed valuation on it you just provide the proof and then they should stick to that basically. Mines down for a nice solid 6.5k should the worst happen

i have just had my 16v non turbo written off by some old lady, i had it for 3 years and it was imaculate she went rite in to the middle of the bonnet from a side road and i was gutted, well i had it insured for 2000 and they have just sent me a cheque for 2700 so i was very pleased, so i went out last week and bought a 20 v turbo 1998 and it is causing me stress allready, the clutch is slipping and today the interior fan has packed up and also the engine managment light has come on 5 times in the last 5 days so perhaps i am not so lucky.

got a good price for the 16v. 2700 for a 20vt is a low price so i would expect some problems