blur911

Then I doubt you're in Ontario. It's always asked and the question is on the standard form.

As you are adding the mods after they asked, you could always plead ignorance to not having informed them. Chances are they informed you about their policies regarding modified vehicles, it was probably in the junk mail or fine print people rarely read. But also keep in mind they don't have to cover claims on anything you didn't inform of. The standard policy covers up to $1500 in non-factory installed electronics and such.

Several years ago you could fill out form OPFC19 and along with an appraisal and details of the mods you could get insured for an agreed upon amount covering all the mods, that form doesn't seem to be available any longer. Now they just want to drop you, get rid of our demographic.

As for what mods can get you dropped if you inform them, I have a friend who was refused for having non-stock wheels on his 300ZXTT. State Farm will drop you for just about anything, springs, wheels, any non-factory parts on the engine, etc. Some companies are better than others, a good broker should know which companies are more "modded car" friendly, and when to stop asking questions. I'm with Economical mutual and they know what's been done to my car.

BTW, one guy in my auto club was refused insurance because he had a CASC club sticker on his street car.

TurboS

Thank you for the heads up, I have posed the appropriate questions to my broker.

BruceP

Insured a couple dozen cars in Ontario over thirty years of driving. Never been asked. *shrug*

sjanes

my insurance company knows about my race seats, rollcage, etc, and they did not raise my rates. They also understand the car is used on the track. Check the wording of your policy to see if it says anything about you having to disclose changes to the car. If they asked if it was modified, and you said no, I suspect they will deny any claim you make if they found out. As was said above, the insurance company's main goal is to make money, and if you give them an "out", they will take it.

Imo000

Yup, pretty much. Last year I’ve attended a seminar where one of the speaker was talking about this exact same thing. I have to tell you that everyone in the room was shocked to find out that this even existed. Of course as soon as the speech was over, questions started flying around asking about things like legality, how it affects the claim and such. Also it was asked how do they have the right to even go into someone else’s car without permission and start pulling the data. The speaker said that if they don’t, they will probably deny the claim. As wells as they don’t ask cause they know the owner has no idea that they are even doing this.

theiceman

Good luck pluging into my car ...

Imo000

You keep laughing........but your Taurus probably has one!

theiceman

oh crap your right... but it's my wifes car so that doesn't count .. that's why I don't drive anything newer than a 95 .. unless it belongs to somebody else ... oh well , back under the Audi to fix that starter motor.

nuck

Depends on the company and the province. I work for an insurer in Alberta. They have a three modification rule where on the third mod they will tell you it must be through a higher risk insurer. So for example, a boost controller or chip, and an exhaust change would be fine, but next mod would get you. They just don't want to be insuring vehicles which are clearly modified for extreme high performance as though they were stockers.
The inspection is not tremendously detailed after a loss and a huge number of mods would essentially be invisible to the insurance company after a claim. This kind of stuff would only likely come up in a total loss situtation.
As to the legality of it, adding a huge amount to a vehicle's horsepower output represents a material change in the risk they insure, and it is the failure to disclose that gets your claim denied, not the mods themselves. Again, I can only speak for Alberta, but not all insurers are doing this.
I would be inclined to report the exhaust sytem as "upgraded for better performance and economy" and leave it at that. The rest of the stuff is not nearly so obvious and I could not conceive of an insurer checking to see if a chip had been reflashed. I think i am the only person at my company that even knows what that means
Most people are clever enough to lie about whether the car has been modified when they apply for the insurance, and then foolish enough to forget that and start demanding compensation foir the unreported mods after an accident. In fact they serve up their own long list of mods put into the car to hang themselves.

Marc Shaw

So Nuck,

What effect would driver's airbag removal (in Alberta) have?

Marc
p.s. Not that I have done that, in case my broker is reading.

YYC930

Hi Marc.....!!

Hope all is well up in the frozen north. LOL !!!

Speaking as to how the law is written......it would be illegal to operate the vehicle on a public road........and would subject the vehicle to a roadside seizure, if a cop wanted to be a jerk.

You'd be in violation of both provincial and federal statues and subject to significant fines. Again......if the cop or someone wanted to be a jerk.

Thing is........I personally doubt they'd know the difference.......and you could probably drive for decades without it until we implement some kind of MOT inspection rule.

Imo000

That's interesting cause here in Ontario, as far as I know, you don't need to have an operating airbag. Just like you don't need to have daytime running lights either. New cars have to have it caue the feds mandate it from the manufacturer but once they are sold, those rules don't apply anymore.

YYC930

Ummmm....better check again. You have a provincial highway safety traffic act just like every other province. Also, there are federal laws that have jurisdiction in and over Ontario ones.

JDM cars cannot get registered here anymore in Alberta due to these laws.......it is economically unfeasible for the owner to convert them over. But, not all inspection stations have their act together.

For example......get into an at fault front end injury accident in your Porsche without operating DRL's for example, and find out how wrong you have been in your interpretation of the law when the other sides accident injury lawyers looks at your car. And that is where they look first and your driving record gets scrutinized. As a dealer I would not sell Marc's car unless it had both airbags operational and the correct OEM airbag steering wheel in place. I am clear of legal liability in that case.

nuck

It isn't an insurance issue but rather a Motor Vehicles Administration issue. It is illegal to import a vehicle without functional safety equipment and it is illegal to disable the federally mandated safety equipment. A couple of years ago a parts supplier out of Quebec got in hot water for reselling the unused airbag assemblys from totalled vehicles. Even with these apparently fully functional systems the cars were not considered roadworthy.
If you don't have an airbag, don't tell anybody. We will make the determination from examining your remains but so long as it isn't established you removed the airbag, your estate should receive the full benefits available.

Marc Shaw

Thanks for the replies.

You have pretty much summed up what I had thought which is why I have not removed the airbag.

I would be surprised, however, that the OEM steering wheel/airbag has to be in place versus an aftermarket wheel with airbag. The reason is that my car is now 16 years old and airbags are only good for 10 - maybe 15 - years max. so I would actually improve the safety equipment of the car by replacing it with a functioning, second-generation airbag. No?

Marc