Winter tyres and insurance | Legal matters | Back Room Forum

Fri 21 Nov 2014 12:25

Winter tyres and insurance - kzu

I was told yesterday by my insurance company that I need to report to them and premium will be charged as it is a modification to standard specification. I argued that fitting winter tyres makes car safer to drive in winter but they said it is not important. I understand it is all about profit for them but I found this from Asocciation of British Insurers:

www.abi.org.uk/Insurance-and-savings/Products/Moto...s

If you click the link in the text you will get the list and by my insurer it says NO in both columns:

Do customers need to inform the insurer when fitting winter tyres to their cars? NO

Does the fitting of winter tyres affect the amount of cover provided to customers? NO What would you guys advice: should I pay the extra premium or in case of claim argue using the ABI document?

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Fri 21 Nov 2014 12:37

Winter tyres and insurance - gordonbennet

Most unusual for an insurer to charge extra for winter tyres, so long as the tyres and wheels are standard makers specification.

However, if you've bought aftermarket wheels and/or different tyre sizes/specification to standard then that is a modification and they might, or might not, charge extra.

I declare different sizes but don't bother them about same size/spec winter tyres.

edit, from that list i could only find one insurer that wanted to know if you have winter tyres fitted.

Edited by gordonbennet on 21/11/2014 at 12:40

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Fri 21 Nov 2014 13:13

Winter tyres and insurance - skidpan

We are insurred with Aviva and as a courtesy I tell them when I originally insure a different car that I will be using winter tyres from Nov 01 through to March or April depending on the weather.

On one car we use OEM 16" wheels for the winters instead of the OEM 17"'s fitted, no charge, on one car its 16" steels instead of the OEM 16" alloys, no charge. When I had the BMW and used 16" non-run flats instead of the 17" run flats there was still no charge. They simply make a note on the computer.

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Fri 21 Nov 2014 15:08

Winter tyres and insurance - Brit_in_Germany

My view is that there is nothing special about a "winter tyre" for insurance purposes. If you decide to fit a particular make and model of tyre which meets in full the requirements as to size, speed and load rating, I would see no reason to inform the insurer. If the speed rating is lower than the manufacturers given rating, or you change the wheel size they may have a point.

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Fri 21 Nov 2014 16:20

Winter tyres and insurance - Palcouk

If using standard sized rims, as per factory fit, then the abi article you referenced is sufficient to fall back on if there is any claim.

PS You cannot argue/discus with someone who is reading from a script, they have no authority to deviate from their script, or to give any legal answer.

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Fri 21 Nov 2014 17:52

Winter tyres and insurance - nortones2

Change insurers.

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Thu 18 Dec 2014 18:41

Winter tyres and insurance - motorclaimguru

Hi there,

If the wheels fitted with winter tyres, are "lesser" than the wheels fitted, ie you had alloys and have now fitted steels with winter tyres, then there is no need to ammend the policy.

If the wheels are an enhancement, ie you have gone from steels to alloys, it would then be a modification and you would need to advise.

If you have mearly replaced the tyres on the same rims, there should be no need to advise your insurer.

Hope that clarifies.

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Sat 20 Dec 2014 17:34

Winter tyres and insurance - skidpan

If the wheels fitted with winter tyres, are "lesser" than the wheels fitted, ie you had alloys and have now fitted steels with winter tyres, then there is no need to ammend the policy.

Be very careful taking this advice.

It costs nothing to ring your insurers to tell them what you plan to do and there is normally no charge when you fiot winter tyres but its best to let them know so they do not have a way of avoiding paying should you have an accident. Tyres are one thing the assessors look at very carefully and its not just to check tread depth.

As for changing to steels costing no extra I had a very interesting discussion with my insurance company about this just over a year ago whn I bought the Leon. First they wanted an extra £50 and when asked why they told me that steel wheels did not have locking bolts fitted. This is actually true if the car comes from the factory with steels but when I told them I would be fiiting the locking bolts from the alloys onto the steels (they use the exact same bolts on all cars) thay said that in that case there is no extra to pay.

Why take a risk loosing your cover, simply speak to them, costs nothing, they all have a free phone number.

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Sat 20 Dec 2014 22:41

Winter tyres and insurance - Avant

Agree entirely, Skidpan. I'm sure someone did a link to a list of insurers and their policies about winter tyres: about 90 % made no extra charge. Best to tell them though: if your won't let you talk to a human being, maybe time for a change.

I declared 15,000 miles a year with Skoda Insurance, so when I could see it was going to be 20,000 in the car's first year (retirement from Berks to Dorset has meant a lot of runs up and down the A303) I thought I ought to bite the bullet for the same reason. They amended the computer records and said my premium would go down by 46p a year. It seems that high-mileage drivers are thought to be more careful (well, a very little more careful....).

But yes, always worth giving them a ring if anything changes.

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Sun 21 Dec 2014 13:38

Winter tyres and insurance - skidpan

I declared 15,000 miles a year with Skoda Insurance, so when I could see it was going to be 20,000 in the car's first year (retirement from Berks to Dorset has meant a lot of runs up and down the A303) I thought I ought to bite the bullet for the same reason. They amended the computer records and said my premium would go down by 46p a year. It seems that high-mileage drivers are thought to be more careful (well, a very little more careful....).

Our cars have been insurred for 15,000 a year since the 90's. Last month I decided it was worth saving some money, I do 8,000 a year at the most and now the wife has retired her mileage has dropped from about 12,000 a year to less than mine.

So what was the difference between 5,000 a year and 15,000 a year, absolutely nothing. Obviously left it as it was.

Earlier this year when the house insurance was renewed I spotted that although the address was correct the postcode was one letter out, no idea how or when that happened, only been with them since 2013 and did it over the phone. Rang them up and was told the premium would drop £20 a year.

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