When it comes to decorating cars, enthusiasts tend to spend a pretty packet on making their vehicles look good as well as perform well.

Car decals are freely available from a wide range of stockists. Designs ranging from cartoon characters to tribal and flame designs that can be stuck to the side of cars in order help it stand out from the rest.

And for those who want to get a bit more performance out of their vehicles, there are no end of stockists of exhausts, spoilers, engine tuners and turbo kits available to satisfy any boy racer.

Hollywood movies and video games have helped to glamorize car customisation – combining performance-enhancing technology with snazzy car designs. But whilst it may look cool at first, it could have implications for your car insurance if you’re not careful about it.

Unfortunately, for many who choose to customise their cars, additions such as snazzy paint jobs, shiny alloy wheels and thumping sound systems can make vehicles more attractive to thieves.

From an insurers’ point of view, any additions that will soup up the performance of the car can be considered a liability. Changes to aspects such as the engine, wheels and even the sound system of your vehicle could raise the value of your insurance premium, at the same time lower the price of the vehicle.

It’s all very well adding a turbo to your vehicle in order to show off to your mates, but should an accident happen it could reduce, even invalidate any claim you might make on your car insurance, as well as potentially making the car unattractive to future buyers should you choose to sell it.

Therefore, it is advisable to contact your insurance company and let them know of any customizations you want to make to your vehicle in order to check how it affects your policy before buying, fitting and showing off any new parts.