If you own or are thinking of buying a kit car, then there’s probably not much anyone can say to convince you that they’re great – you’ve already decided that! Yet kit car insurance can sometimes be a bit of an issue, so let’s run through the basics.

Kit cars – non standard

Some insurance companies might use and like descriptions and categories of cars such as ‘standard’ and ‘normal’. However usually your kit car will be anything but standard and owners often customise them which means they may be worth a great deal more than a typical car.

For that reason, some insurance companies may be able to offer rather more expertise in the field than others. In fact, some insurers won’t cover kit cars at all and you may see phrases on their website along the lines of “we do not cover Q plated cars or any other form of kit car”.

Don’t give up though – you still may be able to take out insurance if you choose a specialist insurance company.

Kit cars – choosing a policy

As a result of the above, you may have to look around to find a company that will cover your vehicle – and the online specialist providers of kit car insurance are typically worth looking at.

As you’d expect, their products and services vary often, but the good news is that you should be able to find suitable kit car cover for your car.

The terms and conditions

As you might have guessed kit car insurance typically provides more specialist insurance than the standard insurance policy might. As a guide you might typically find that:

• some insurers may have difficulty in assessing the value of the car and attempt to apply a market value that may be considerably below its true value – it may be preferable to seek a joint valuation type of cover;
• while you’re building it, your vehicle may be in several places at once and some parts may even be ‘in transit’ – a policy may need to explicitly cover this;
• consider if you intend to enter you vehicle into rallies or other events. If so make sure the provider includes protection for these events;
• some kit car policies will typically only cover your vehicle for a very limited number of miles each year and the higher your estimated mileage the higher the premium will be.

Looking further at the details on a specialist’s website should give you all the detail you need about kit car insurance.