RYui

Hi Everyone,

What is the correct way to declare an OEM hard top to insurers for a non-GT S2000? Which insurers are covering cars with added hardtops?

Hastings (Advantage, Covea) have refused to insure me if I bolt it on proper. It takes far too long to explain the modification [its not a roof rack... its not a replacement roof...] and I wouldn't like to repeat this experience with every single mainstream insurer in the UK. Specialist car insurance seems abit much considering my car is nearly stock.

Do I need to get my V5C changed to S2000 GT or is there something simpler I'm missing?

Searches have just brought up Americans looking to insure their hardtops and MX-5 owners discussing the same issue...

shantybeater

GT is the model, which came with a hardtop. I don't think changing it to a GT is the best option. Was the hardtop available with the non-GT cars as an optional extra? If so its not a modification, just a factory fit 'extra' even if you fitted it at a later date. It's a bit like retrofitting cruise control or an entertainment system which was OEM.

RYui

Unfortunately (at least with Hastings) fitting anything not manufacturer fitted at time of production counts as a modification. Even the manufacturer head unit is covered to £300 whilst aftermarket is only to £100...

I've actually just found... https://www.s2ki.com/forums/uk-irela...ssible-965641/
​​​https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-ta...n-new-1104268/

Maybe I've been going about it the wrong way and should declare it as a retrofitted optional extra. (Though I would be using a non-OEM fitting kit).

Edit:
Well my reply is in approval limbo but I think I'll have to go for the "this is an optional extra" path.

Nottm_S2

i've never really considered it. you could buy the HT as an option and fit it.. its like having optional wheels. any sensible insurer should just note the additional value i guess?

mine is very squeaky at the mo, must look at it

richmc

Quite right!

If you tried to buy a roadster new with a hard top you would have been sold a GT, if you bought a roadster then added a hard top a week later it would still be a roadster, but with a hard top fitted as a modification, When the car was registered it would be as a roadster or a GT in the eyes of the DVLA and the national insurance database, so a roadster with an added hardtop will always have to have it declared as a modification with any new insurer, if it's not declared it can invalidate your insurance.

Now the really silly bit, from new the GT was cheaper to insure than the roadster, as it was deemed to be less likely to be broken into than a car with a rag top if you added a hard top to a roadster the insurance was higher, mental!, also rag tops are seen as a higher safety risk for the driver and passenger, that's even if the hard top is back in the garage, and the really, really silly bit if you are driving your GT without the hard top on some dodgy insurers would only cover you for third party risk that sometimes applied to soft top users with the roof down! I believe there was a test case some years back, not with an S2000 but another rag top where the insurer was sued by an injured passenger because they refused the claim as it was their choice to ride in an open top car, the insurance company lost the case and it now stands as a test case.

just goes to show how far insurance companies will go to get out of paying a claim. I had a Civic CRX from new that came without alloys as standard, I got alloys fitted at the time I bought it and for evermore had to declare them as a dealer fitted mod, same when I had aircon fitted some years later.

Bully9

To add to the silliness, i have a GT (of which i sold the hardtop a few years ago) and i don't remember it ever reported as a GT when i've entered the reg no on a web form for insurance (or any other) purposes. It just comes up as 'normal' S2000. I gave up trying to resolve this issue way back (when i had the hardtop) and now i just treat the reported model as correct, even though it isn't strictly so.

However, I often have to confirm the number of doors and seats it has.

U9aXy6Dn

My MY2000 came with a Hard Top from new, in fact, it usually lives on the car purely as it's such a difficult item to store.

Due to the fact the S2000 'GT' model didn't come out until, I think, 2001-2002-2003, my car is considered an S2000 with optional hard top, rather than the S2000 GT it logically should be.

I've always insured it by sending:
- Photo of the car with the Hard Top fitted
- Modifications list

I have never stated the Hard Top as a modification, as it was installed on the car when I bought it from Honda (and I have photos to prove as such).

Given how these vehicles and in particular, the value of genuine hard tops is increasing, I may well stipulate at my next renewal, the above to see what they respond with.

Hurricane1600

simples you need better insurance

try Footman James Classic car cover

richmc

Careful! If you made a claim in a year when you didn't declare the hard top as a mod they may well try and ask for their pay out back, highly unlikely but we all know insurance companies.

Bully9

Comments like this appear quite regularly, but whenever i've followed it up, it goes nowhere. Have you actually insured an S2000 as a classic car? Has anyone?
I have a 2003 and i do around 1000 miles a year. I've tried a few classic insurers - including Footman James; they didn't want to know.