What is a car modification in 2022?
Mods come in all shapes, sizes and with varying degrees of performance enhancing capabilities. But before you decide which mods you want on your vehicle, you should know and understand the difference between modifications and accessories.
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Mods and accessories can help shape your custom car
Both mods and accessories are ways of customising cars. Mods can include anything from investing in a smart set of alloy wheels to having your engine remapped. It is not always the case, but modifications generally improve the performance of the car and you will need to tell your insurer about them.
Modifications consist of physical changes to your vehicle customising it from its original factory spec. Read our blog to find out about popular modifications through the decades.
Accessories, on the other hand, are additions you may make to your vehicle to make it more practical to use, more comfortable or easier on the eye.
Motorists are fairly familiar with most mods â chipping, raised or lowered suspension, spoilers, upgraded brakes, underglow lighting, custom paint-jobs and decals â but some are less obvious.
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Less obvious modifications can include:
Viper stripe decals, which are twin vinyl stripes running over the bonnet of a car, so called as they were first found on a Dodge Viper and now normally found in the UK on a Suzuki Swift.
Light cluster changes made popular by the Lexus IS200: their lights look really good and they are often copied and mounted on other cars.
Changes to the exhaust system: even changing the back box or adding a tail chrome pipe is a modification.
Replacement gear stick or foot pedals.
Glass tinting film on the windows.
Even extra spotlights and new wheel trims could be regarded as mods by some insurers.
Car accessories you can add without telling your insurer
There are a number of practical pieces of equipment you can add to your car but these are accessories and you wonât need to inform your insurer about them.
These include extending mirrors for towing, beaded seat covers, roof boxes, roof tracks, cycle racks, chrome tyre valve caps and headlight covers.
You should tell your insurer about all your modifications. If you are in doubt as to whether youâve modified or accessorised your vehicle, you should double check with your policy issuer.
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Non-disclosure of a modification could invalidate insurance
Accessories wonât impact on the price of your insurance and mods probably wonât either. However, if you modify your car without telling your insurer, you risk your policy being invalidated in the event of making a claim. Read our blog on how popular modifications affect your car insurance.
Adrian Flux has a range of modified car insurance options to cover just about any car, no matter what the modification. Some mods can even save you money!
To get a swift no obligation Adrian Flux insurance quote for your modified car call 0808 506 5061. 79.5% of all customers receiving an online quote in July 2020 could have obtained a cheaper quote over the phone, based on the information they provided.
