How Modifying Your Mercedes Can Affect the Price of Your Insurance

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There are many factors that determine the cost of your car insurance, including any modifications that you make. People often only think of modifications increasing the cost of your car insurance, but you will find that there are also mods that could lower the cost. This post will tell you all that you need to know about the impact of modifications on car insurance.

Modifications That Lower Insurance

You generally hear advice to avoid modifications as they will increase your car insurance premium, but this is not always the case. Generally, any modification that you make that increases the safety or security of the car will either not impact the car insurance premium or lower it. A few examples of modifications that could lower your car insurance include winter tyres, immobilisers, alarms and extra locking devices. It is important to note that you must always declare a modification to your insurance company even if it will not impact the price.

Modifications That Increase Insurance

So, what about modifications that increase the cost of car insurance? Any changes to the power and performance will usually increase car insurance because it makes the car higher risk in terms of accidents and theft and also more valuable. Cosmetic changes can also increase car insurance premiums as they can make the vehicle more desirable to thieves and sometimes more valuable.

A few examples of modifications that increase car insurance include supercharging, complete body kit, tinted windows and exhaust changes. You might also find that there are some modifications that can completely void your insurance, such as tinted windows that restrict more than 70% of light and illegal wheel modifications.

 How Gap Insurance Can Help

If you make any modification that adds value to your car, you should seriously consider taking out gap insurance. This is an optional insurance policy that will cover the gap between an insurance payout in the event of a write-off (the market value without modifications) and the amount originally paid/outstanding on a finance agreement. Due to depreciation, a write-off can cause you to lose thousands of pounds and leave you struggling to afford a suitable replacement. A gap insurance policy will cover the shortfall and give you peace of mind knowing that you are protected.

It is always important to understand the impact of modifications on car insurance so that you can make smart decisions and avoid making your car insurance too expensive or even voiding the policy. While most mods result in a higher premium, you will find that there are mods that could lower your car insurance while also helping to make your car safer. Regardless of the modification, you should always declare it to your insurance company and make sure that it is a legal mod.