Just been through the same thing - they were only interested in knowing that the level of tints to the front windows was within the legal limit which I think is 30% which is why many manufacturers tint to 25% according to the guy who did mine. The insurance company wasn't interested in the level of tints to the rear windows and the rear screen. No increase in premium for this or the Superchips remap adding 29bhp.
|
Neil S - do you mean you have front tints?
Legal limit is for 70% of light to pass through, this does not mean a 30% tint is acceptable on clear glass. Clear glass allows about 85% of light through.
If a car has front tinted glass from the factory it will probably already be close to the 70% limit.
|
|
|
|
I agree with all who have said that any 'Mod' should be declared; even changing your alloys for ones of the same wheel/tyre size is a modification. I can't quite see where tinted rear windows would come into the equation. I don't often need to see 100% clearly thru my rear passenger side windows when driving
|
So how many of us have declared fitting better headlamp bulbs as a modification to our insurance companies then? I certainly haven't.
Of course the other issue for me as that I'm generally the 3rd or 4th owner of my lovely bangernomics Vauhalls, how on earth am I supposed to know what parts are original spec. and what aren't? - alloys being a good example.
|
Fit better headlights so that you can see further in the dark and be seen better... surely a safety modification. Any body been offered a reduction in premium for this....?
Modifications only work one way with Insurers and thats in favor of their pockets.
|
Fit better headlights so that you can see further in the dark and be seen better... surely a safety modification. Anybody been offered a reduction in premium for this....? Modifications only work one way with Insurers and thats in favor of their pockets.
Or maybe they'd lump you in with the local car modding lads who also love to put shiny 'xenon' lights in their Novas and Escorts.
|
|
|
It is always your responsibility to ensure that you give the insurance company accurate details.
If you have bought a second hand car that the previous owners added spoilers to or new alloys it is up to you to find out this information and supply it as modifications to the insurers.
You should go and see the garage and ask them to check for after market stuff and get it in writing.
You can say you aren't aware but they will either refuse to pay and void your insurance on any claim or based on the fair policies set out by the FSA they will require that you pay a surcharge for each year you have been insured with them. This surcharge basically covers what extra premium you would have paid if you declared the mods from the start.
|
It is always your responsibility to ensure that you give the insurance company accurate details. If you have bought a second hand car that the previous owners added spoilers to or new alloys it is up to you to find out this information and supply it as modifications to the insurers.
So how am I supposed to track down what the original alloys were? Say someone at some point swapped the original alloys for a similar but different OEM set? What if the original owner specified a different set on purchase? Somehow I don't think anyone would be able to establish an 'audit trail' there.
Am I supposed to have the ECU checked in case it's been remapped? Has anyone ever had that done, other than on some exotic sports car?
|
|
|
|
|
what if the uprated bulbs caused an under bonnet fire as they invariably could in todays world of wire made of cotton with just a hint of copper
|
|
I was specifically thinking of bulbs within the existing rating but non OEM i.e. 65W or whatever, to avoid that issue ;-) maybe I should've been more specific.
|
|
I also meant perfectly legal bulbs . Say the base model comes with bulb A but the GL comes with bulb B, a brighter bulb. Having to declare that you have replaced bulbs A with bulbs B in your base model typifies why insurance has become one big scam. I say that because you would be charged a higher premium for the swoop and so could the owner of the GL if he swops the other way. Why is it all ways win-win for the insurers ?
|
|
|
|
Why do people need to tint their windows or fit HID's please?
One modification states you want privacy, 'don't look at me, you cannot see me 'cos I can't (well just maybe...) see you' and the other absolutely screams, 'over hear, look, look, Oi! look, look at me! I am here!'
So both on the same vehicle - you got a split personality then?!
Mr X - are you American by chance or is your spell checker set wrongly?
I ask because of your spelling of favor instead of the UK way favour .
Your knowledge of the UK insurance industry also makes me wonder too - no way will our insurance companies apply discounts for any type of OEM modification that I know of.
The only way I know of is by taking further and advanced driving tuition and then only some but not all do offer a discount but only by say 10% to 20%.
Norwich Union and Carole Nash used to give a 40% discount (when I rode bikes) for I.A.M certification.
But modding your vehicle? 'Pimp your ride' style as they call it in the States I believe?
$$$KERCHING!!!$$$ Depending on what you do - this could see you with a huge dividend increase on your insurance premiums & big time matey!
Personalising (it too much) usually does no more than devalues the vehicle.
|
Tron i stated why i got tints in my first post
"Got tints done for my daughters as the dealer said i shouldn't put sun blinds on as it would cause injury if the side airbags deployed. I declared these last year."
When you have a 8 month old that can't move in their seat travelling over long distances its unfair for them to have sun in their face. Also the tints have UV filters for her skin. It also helps reduce the heat in the car.
Why do you think a lot of MPV's are coming with tints these days. You shouldn't put any accessories on the side windows because with side impact airbags those plastic brackets smash again the face of your baby. Not good.
Edited by OldSkoOL on 28/05/2009 at 18:08
|
mothercare or many other places do sunblinds or stick on sun deflecters
the amount of sunblinds i use to throw away was amazing
i do still keep the umbrellas for a rainy day though
(got about 15 of them at home)
|
(got about 15 of them at home)
What ? Rainy days ?
|
|
OldSkoOl ? I did see your very just, valid point and reason - question was geared more to those that do it to make them look cool (not) though.
I have seen vehicles being pulled by the Police & VOSA (J36 M1) to have the tints measured. It is done with a hand held device that is offered up to the glass.
I do not know what the tolerances or what the laws are that revolve around such though.
I have these in my vehicle: tiny.cc/bl9iI and I was told that even with side airbags, these are safe to use.
A lot cheaper and not as permanent as tinting too - so no risk of devaluing your vehicle.
|
"Say the base model comes with bulb A but the GL comes with bulb B, a brighter bulb. Having to declare that you have replaced bulbs A with bulbs B in your base model typifies why insurance has become one big scam. I say that because you would be charged a higher premium for the swoop [sic] and so could the owner of the GL if he swops the other way. Why is it all ways win-win for the insurers ?"
Could it be that life might be impossibly complicated for insurers if they had to construct either a checklist of free "acceptable" modifications (which could well need updating on a frequent basis), or had to spend time discussing with individuals exactly what they were about to modify and why? After which, the extra premium for other modifications would have to be calculated.
Any such procedures would mean costs - extra costs, probably to be born at least in part by every policy.
I can imagine Mr X's posting: "Why should we all have to pay just because some selfish idiots want to modify their cars? It's rip-off Britain again."
Edited by ChrisPeugeot on 28/05/2009 at 19:26
|
|
The point I am making is that you up grade the bulbs and they deem you to be modifying the vehicle in terms of making it more attractive ( to thieves is their normal excuse ) thus you pay a higher premium. Downgrade the bulbs and they will claim you are making the car less safe and must therefor pay a higher premium.It's just win, win win, to them.
|
Mr X the "might" is missing from your post I think. I very much doubt that any worthwhile insurance company would load your premium for changing your bulbs provided that what you fitted was legal and met the relevant British Standard.
|
The point I am making is that dealing with specific upgrades/downgrades/modifications of whatever type is impossibly complicated and costly.
That's why the blunt instrument is used: "If it's modded, we charge extra."
|
|
I told my insurer about my tints and they said ' oh thats ok, we consider it an additional security feature'. I ask every year but nothing changes.
|
The point I am making is that you up grade the bulbs and they deem you to be modifying the vehicle in terms
>>of making it more attractive (to thieves is their normal excuse) thus you pay a higher premium. Downgrade the
>>bulbs and they will claim you are making the car less safe and must therefor (E) pay a higher premium. It's just
>>win win win to them.
That just does not make sense - tell me why should you want to up or downgrade the bulb wattage to begin with?
Maybe having your eyes tested would be a wiser investment?
Do you not think that the x £1000 (or should that be US$ ?) R&D invested in to making the light unit and installing a given wattage bulb by the manufacturer was sufficient and that for whatever reason ( usually for no other reason than asthetic, attracting the holder to it like a shining bright light does to a moth, flying around it, banging its head ) you feel you are more qualified and extensively more knowledgeable to apply what you alone feel is the right, be that less, more, different colour (color?) wattage bulb?
Edited by Tron on 28/05/2009 at 20:54
|
|
As you are setting out once again to be deliberately provocative, I shan't be answering any further posts by yourself.
|
As you are setting out once again to be deliberately provocative I shan't be answering any further posts by yourself.
If that is I you have replied to: I asked perfectly sound, logical, honest, unbiased questions in response to your post(s). I am not trolling or flaming - just asking why, as you have so many of us, to explain yourself.
For ages now I have 'bitten my tongue' in not replying to your sometimes most provocative posts - yet when another does the same back to you, you storm off like a child?
|
|
Nobody's storming. Are you sure you are on the right forum ?. There are some excellent sites where you could ' troll' to your hearts content.
|
Nobody's storming. Are you sure you are on the right forum ?. There are some excellent sites where you could ' troll' to your hearts content.
Again I say, "I asked perfectly sound, logical, honest, unbiased questions in response to your post(s). I am not trolling or flaming - just asking why, as you have so many of us, to explain yourself.
|
I'm begging to regret using the bulb change as an example here :-)).
I'll repeat my specific query : if I change the OEM bulbs for Osram nightbreakers is that a modification or not?
Has anyone on here actually reported such a bulb change to their insurance company?
Personally no and no
|
Hi Spamcan
Apologies to all for 'hijacking' the thread.
I just do not/cannot understand though why anyone wants to change the wattage of bulbs?
The latest craze around here are those HID's, day running LED's and changing the (front) side light bulbs for every colour imaginable.
Edited by Tron on 28/05/2009 at 21:49
|
Well Tron - each to his own. In fairness to Mr X he was illustrating a theory with the bulb thing.
Can we keep it civilized guys ?
|
The original bulbs in the P38 Range Rover ( early models ) where particularly poor. A slighter brighter bulb made a world of difference with out going to extremes. Hence most people changed them. Hardly a cosmetic improvement.
The Osram night breakers have surely passed some sort of EU certification and if that is the case, I wouldn't regard them as a modification.
To go even further, would fitting the same size Dunlops as a replacement for the original Mitchelins be considered a modification ?
|
To go even further would fitting the same size Dunlops as a replacement for the original Mitchelins be considered a modification ?
That is not a modification! You are changing a 'like for like' item.
However, changing a bulb for a higher or lower wattage is a modification.
As per your insurance documentation:
Legally you have to inform your insurer of any modifications made to the vehicle(s) it covers or you policy could/will be invalidated.
|
However changing a bulb for a higher or lower wattage is a modification.
My example was changing the bulb for a more efficient type of the same wattage. Is that a modification? Have any backroomers ever informed their insurance company of a bulb change?
As per your insurance documentation: Legally you have to inform your insurer of any modifications made to the vehicle(s) it covers or you policy could/will be invalidated.
We're back to definition of 'any' as per my message near the top of the thread, are they all modifications?
|
We're back to definition of 'any' as per my message near the top of the thread are they all modifications?
Contact your insurance company - they are clearly the only people that can advise you.
tiny.cc/wcrOI
|
I have seen vehicles being pulled by the Police & VOSA (J36 M1) to have the tints measured. It is done with a hand held device that is offered up to the glass.
All in the interest of road safety, no doubt. I'd be happier if the Police and VOSA pulled foreign left hand drive trucks and check their RH side mirrors to see if said vehicles are safe to use UK roads. Apparantly not according to the number of incidents involving these trucks.
|
My mate fitted uprated brakes to his car, since he used it to tow his caravan. He declared it, and was penalised for making his car safer!
Apparently, his insurers asked - "when did you fit the towbar and why did you not tell us you had modified the vehicle already?" He got away with it as the car was supplied new with the proper Renault towbar fitted prior to delivery - he had to provide evidence from the dealer though!
|
If you were daft enough to order a brand new car with 'privacy glass' as an optional extra, would you have to pay an additional insurance premium , or would it not be viewed as a modification?
My mate arrived a couple of days ago in a Nissan Note with privacy glass (it came as standard). I had to smirk when I imagined a drug-dealer choosing a Note as his form of transport.
|
Most people choose privacy glass to the rear to 1. Keep the car cooler in hot weather and 2. To hide items from prying eyes. We seem to be able to muster a large number of police officers to measure how much light car windows will allow through but we can't muster the same number to bring to an end the habit of scroats sticking a brick through your rear windows and helping themselves to your chattels.
If I choose to deny the endless parade of ccvt cameras the opportunity to see who I am traveling in a vehicle with through use of darkened glass, surely that is my prerogative ?
|
I doubt that privacy glass keeps a car cool anyway. Black absorbs heat and I would think that a tinted/dark widow will get warmer in the sun, than a clear one, and transmit the heat to the car interior. Relective glass is needed. People who use devices inside their windscreen don't use black do they? It is usually something silvery and reflective.
|
|
I think a lot of the newer tints are of the reflective type.
|
>>I doubt that privacy glass keeps a car cool anyway<<
Well, as someone who had it retro-fitted, I can tell you it does. I dont know why this is so, perhaps because it blocks alot more light in one direction than another.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
