Kit Car insurance

knipex

I am 30 years of age with a full no claims bonus, over 10 years driving history (averaging well over 30k miles per year.)

I am currently looking at purchacing a Kit Car (a Westfield Sei 1.7).

This will not be my main car and I allready have a policy with AXA for my every day car. I have chosen my car and agreed a price but to date have failed to find anyone willing to even offer me a quote.

I have tried

AXA (who i will be leaving due to their ignorant staff and complete lack of customer care)
Hibernian
Quinn Direct
FBD
Royal Sun Aliance

And 12 different brokers. When I tell them I want to insure a Kit car the universal response is what are they ?? what is the make ?? Westfield ?? Is that the make ?/ They are not on my computer so I cannot quote you!!! Good bye.

Is there ANY company that will insure a Kit Car ??????? Limited milage summer months only I will pay a high excess !!!! ANYTHING>>>>>>>

Guy:Incognito

there was an irish kit car club stand at the recent car show in the grounds of terenure college, im sure if u can locate them they could help u

ButcherOfNog

Hmm, there are brokers etc out there that supposedly specialize in sports cars, you need to keep trying and you'll find someone helpfull

Make sure you first tell them you'll be moving yer main car insurance to them, possibly even yer house insurance etc. I'm surprised FBD weren't more helpful, I've been with them quite a while now and can't say anything bad about them, consistantly low premiums and very friendly staff.

Perhaps not mentioning its a kit car, start with Westfield? I'm sure some of the other insurance firms are owned by UK (Aviva own most of the UK crowd I think) .. just checked, and Hibernan are owned by them, so there'd be somewhere to try, Westfield isn't there but everything else is, including Caterham. Try finding a firm in the UK that insures them that has offices in Ireland, then ignore the local office and ring the head office in Ireland directly. I think thats your best bet of getting someone with a clue that might help you ..... and don't take no for an answer, if someone doesn't know, ask to speak to someone higher up

An aside, interesting article on Caterham vs Westfield

Oh and the Irish Kit Car Club

knipex

Thanks butcher.

I have since been lucky and found two brokers who are currently working on quotes for me. One i got from the previous owner and the other is a bit strange. I had rang them and they promised to get back to me. After 2 more calls I actually visited their offices and spoke to a supervisor who told me that they do not and never had covered kitcars.

My girlfriend rang them this morning and spoke to one girl who said no problem. When I rang them again they said no and when I got my girlfriend to ring again and get a name they said no problem and rang me. (It really depends on who you speak to.)

So things are looking up. I should have a quote in a few days. (probably make me cry though......)

Hellrazer

I got involved in supplying a guy with parts for his kit car a few years ago.#
Apparently the law in the UK is that the car is registered by the chassis which the kit was built on and engine cc size.
In this persons case he used a Sierra chassis with a 2.0 Dohc Ford engine to build a ferrari replica.

Anyway what you have to do to run one over here is to buy your chassis with the official log book etc,build your kit car and then go to the UK to get it re-registered and MOTd as a kit car with the original Chassis details.
So you could have a Viper copy but officially its registered in the UK as a (Insert chassis used here).Then you bring it back to Ireland as a UK import and pay the VRT and have it registered in Ireland.

I know it sounds messy but as far as I know this is the only legal way of building it and running it here.The new Irish log book will have it registered as a (whatever) and the insurance companies can only quote you on the details on the logbook.

Hope this helps.
Richie.

knipex

Car is built and registered in Ireland.

It was Uk built using new Westfield chassis and registered there. When iot was imported into Ireland it was reregistered but for some reason they didnt use the chassis date (1992) but chose 1988.

Car was run here for a a year then engine rebuilt then parked. I am in the process of buying it.

Insurance is only obstacle remaining.

JohnBoy

Hey Knipex

(jlanigan from ars)

Nice car.

Have you tried carole nash?

Can't find the number, but they should be in the golden pages. they do bikes and classics, so maybe they do kit cars too.

Hope that helps.

I wanted to insure a 1969 Land rover with them but I have to be 25.

Soon, soon, my precious.

knipex

Hey John

Havent seen you around for a while.

Carol Nash wont quote for a kit only factory built and over 20years old. I have two brokers working on a quote for me so hopefully tomorrow.

JohnBoy

Yeah I kinda dropped off the forum completely.

I got my big fancy case mod done and realised about two months later that I hadn't used the pc since I finished so I sold it.

I no longer own a pc.. It's really a big change for me. been doin a lot more "real" stuff recently.

getting ready to buy a classic landie for restoration

knipex

Congrats John but be careful.

They can be a bitch to restore but if done right thay are worth money, done wrong worthless.

I have a contact in a very very good bodyshop that specialises in restoration if you are interested. Pop me a mail if you want to know more.

Spunog UIE

anyone see the toyota mr2 redone as a ferrai on top gear, looked class. And they were saying his insurance actually went down a lot as a result of it now being classed as a kit car.

knipex

Only in UK..

I got a quote based on a london address for £255

I got a quote today based on an Irish address


€3150



:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

JohnBoy

Hot DAMMMM

what engine is it?

That's outrageous. we have no car culture in this country and now that people finally have disposable incomes and can afford to spend on their cars we get ridded by the insurance companies.



1.7...... crossflow?

but an sei would be injected (or so I thought)

John

:rolleyes:

knipex

SEi W

SE= i dont know but designates kit.

i = independent rear suspension.

W = Wide body (Im a fat bastard)

I get a new quote today for €1336

So car is now purchaced.

commuterised

hey,

My brother just bought a Westfield a few weeks ago and just recently got it insured. I'm not sure who with and how much but I'll ask him and post back here.

There are a lot of Westfields in the North Wicklow area, 3 of my friends have them insured for the road although they are mainly used for autotest and such like.

I'll post back with some info when I get it.

knipex

Thanks commuterised


Any help much appreciated.

commuterised

Right,

He said he went through the Irish Kit Car Club, as mentioned in a post above, (www.irishkitcarclub.com) and they put him in touch with a crowd called St Paul Insurance.

So your best bet would probably be to contact the Irish Kit Car Club. Good Luck!

knipex

Forget St Pauls.

I got a quote for over €3100 from them.........

Through a company called Stuart Insurances in Dublin i got a quote for €1200 for the same car.

Kev

commuterised

Yeah my husband has his rally car insurance with Stuarts. Used to have it with Carol Nash until they started charging him through the roof for it.

have you got a pic of your westie?

knipex

She needs a paint job and I will be posting no pics untill that is done.

Its Blue with a Black roolbar and tan leather interior.