MK5 Golf GTI
All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: vRS Carl on December 14, 2010, 01:41:18 pm
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I've seen a recent spate of threads across various forums and even articles on the news where insurance companies are charging people "extra" if they fit winter tyres as they regard this as a modification.
Me personally i wouldn't tell them i had them fitted if i knew they would charge extra. Now some might condone this as fraud, misleading etc however look at it this way:
Your car's tyres are a maintenance part. As the car doesn't have a specific OEM tyre then it can't be classed as a modification. A modification in terms of insurance is anything that deviates from from an OEM part to alter the cars ability be it in power, handling, braking, looks, desirability to thieves etc etc.
Now some insurances are saying that winter tyres are a modification as they encourage a driver to travel at higher speeds in adverse weather, therefore increasing the chance of an accident and hence a claim. However as all tyres have different characteristics are they going to start altering insurance premiums say for example if you replace you Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas with Michelin PS3. As i know from experience these 2 tyres have markedly different handling capabilities. What if you have 2 tyres of one make on one axle and 2 of another on the other axle?
We could take this even further. If you have your car serviced by 2 different dealers at some point and one uses a different make of Oil to the other do you have to declare this? What about brake pads? does this apply if you replace these again at 2 different dealers and they use 2 different makes? If you wash your car and then wax it using a different wax to what was put on at new does this again class as modification?
Now i am considering writing a letter, containing a petition, to the CII, who is the governing body, The ABI and the FSA and ask them to clarify why some insurance companies are allowed to charge more and some don't. I think it is absurd that fitting a better tyre for adverse weather is classed as a modification.
I think an insurance company would have an extremely hard time in court justifying not paying out.
Now i am not advising people to mislead their insurance companies. If you do so that is your own personal choice.
I am however looking at garnering support and if i get enough across a few forums i will set up an online petition which will run for one month before i send a letter. I will of course post up said letter and petition for all to read. In the mean time i would suggest shopping around if your not happy with your current insurer.
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Nothing more than taking an opportunity to make a fast buck.
Europe proves that winter tyres save lives and reduce accidents, you think after the hammering they took last year with everyone falling off the roads, they'd welcome drivers exhibiting common sense and self preservation.
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Is that a yes for the Petition then :laugh:
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Yes. :happy2:
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I said yes as I would tell them but if they tried to charge me for the change I would tell them to poke it, cancel my policy with them and go elsewhere. There have been several posts from brokers on here saying they don't charge extra for winter tyres so I would go with them.
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They basically cannot charge now as the ABI, SMMT and others are telling them not too. Most have been refunded that were changed.
http://www.smmt.co.uk/articles/article.cfm?articleid=22819
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Ive answered no, based on what my normal reaction would be, as I would not consider a wear and tare part to constitute a material modification. As pointed out it is no different than fitting a different performance tyre.
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I voted yes, as i phone the insurance company (admiral) when i fitted these to the MK6. THey said fine no need to do anything.
I agree others that some are out to make a fast buck.
I would have asked them for confirmation in writing that the believe it is safer to travel around in winter with temperatures of less than 7oC on summer tyres when the tyre manufacturers state that there is a 60 - 70% drop off in summer tyre performance once it gets to the temperature and below.
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no i wouldnt inform company of putting on winter tyres , yes to petition , how can they justify it are they going to have a different premium to different makes of tyres they all have different characteristics , this is getting silly
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We rang the insurance to tell them we had put winter tyres on the other halfs 1 series, and they said thanx for lettin us know :happy2:
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Ive answered no, based on what my normal reaction would be, as I would not consider a wear and tare part to constitute a material modification. As pointed out it is no different than fitting a different performance tyre.
+1
To the people that answered yes, do you inform your insurance company of every tire change you make? because thats all it is...unless you put on a different set of rims fitted with winter tires, which obviously would be a 'mod'.
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Good to see people's views both ways.
However it seems the ABI have beaten me to it. They have stated on the news the other day that your insurance company should not charge and if they do you should ask to speak to Head Office direct.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11969958
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Spoke to my dad about this last night who is in the trade and he said there is no way the goverment could actually enforce this, The thing they could enforce is doing the same a germany and getting everyone to have a seperate set of wheels for winter.
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Spoke to my dad about this last night who is in the trade and he said there is no way the goverment could actually enforce this, The thing they could enforce is doing the same a germany and getting everyone to have a seperate set of wheels for winter.
Sorry the Goverment couldn't enforce what ?
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Legally classing a winter tyre as a modification, If they tried, You would have to declare runing summer or all season tyres to, Or even declare a tyre different to the original on the car.
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Legally classing a winter tyre as a modification, If they tried, You would have to declare runing summer or all season tyres to, Or even declare a tyre different to the original on the car.
Oh, i didn't realise that there was talk that the goverment was going to class the Winter tyre as a modification, in fact i am not even sure what it had to do with the goverment !
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Legally classing a winter tyre as a modification, If they tried, You would have to declare runing summer or all season tyres to, Or even declare a tyre different to the original on the car.
Oh, i didn't realise that there was talk that the goverment was going to class the Winter tyre as a modification, in fact i am not even sure what it had to do with the goverment !
That won't happen. The article is talking about making winter tires compulsory during certain months (like other parts of Europe), not about the government classing winter tires as mods.
But I don’t think that will happen in the UK. Everyone would need 2 sets of wheels, it’s just not feasible.
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Yeah the tyre industry is tryin to get the govement to make a descision on either getting rid of the idea of a winter tyre being a modification or making it compulsary to run winter tyre in winter as germany do. All comes down to safety and the general motorist should not be penalised for running winter tyres when needed.
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Legally classing a winter tyre as a modification, If they tried, You would have to declare runing summer or all season tyres to, Or even declare a tyre different to the original on the car.
Oh, i didn't realise that there was talk that the goverment was going to class the Winter tyre as a modification, in fact i am not even sure what it had to do with the goverment !
That won't happen. The article is talking about making winter tires compulsory during certain months (like other parts of Europe), not about the government classing winter tires as mods.
But I don’t think that will happen in the UK. Everyone would need 2 sets of wheels, it’s just not feasible.
Thats what i thought
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Good to see people's views both ways.
However it seems the ABI have beaten me to it. They have stated on the news the other day that your insurance company should not charge and if they do you should ask to speak to Head Office direct.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11969958
If you had read the link i posted earlier you would have seen this info too :P
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That won't happen. The article is talking about making winter tires compulsory during certain months (like other parts of Europe), not about the government classing winter tires as mods.
But I don’t think that will happen in the UK. Everyone would need 2 sets of wheels, it’s just not feasible.
....I'm not saying that I think the UK should legislate on compulsory winter tyres but if it's feasible in Germany then surely it's feasible here.
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Just look at scotland, ireland and northern england. The whole place has just ceased to a halt. I think they have to do something to stop this happening every year. You have to admit, this snow has got worse every year.
Problem is people will whine in the UK cos thats what they do best. Id bet the only thing they could do in order to actually make it legislative would be to provide financial incentives
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Although it's not particularly convenient I'd happily accept a November-March winter tyre ruling without whining.
On the poll question of informing my insurer I would inform mine (Greenlight) - I prefer to have them on my side in the event of a claim.
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You have to admit, this snow has got worse every year.
Its not got worse. Its simply that we have had mild winters for alot of years. This type of winter was the norm in the 80s till mid/late 90s. I have driven in much worse in the late 80s and 90s up here in the north. We simply had a mild decade.
Modern cars have made it much much worse. Been so heavy, more powerful and having stupidly huge width tyres on.
When you think back in the 80s and 90s a shopping hatch was using 145x13 or 155x13 and hot hatches 175x70x13 or 185x60x14 and high powered execs were 185 or 195 (audi100 and 200turbo we had) even Urquattors only had 205's but into days climate a modern A4 basic TDI or similar has 245 tyres on and a basic shopping hatch 1.4/1.0 195 tyres and hothatches 225 or more and rear wheel drive BMWs and merc much wider again is it any wonder people are getting stuck. The past month i have used a small 1.0 hatchback with 165 tyres on and never got stuck.
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People are also not educated on how to drive in the snow.
I've just been out with the dogs and some numpty was sat revving hell out of his BMW trying to get going.
I went over told him to start off in second and just coast along with hardly any throttle input till he got going. Lo and behold he got out of his parking space and went on his merry way.
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stuck for 3 hours in traffic behind a guy in a big 4wd merc who just couldnt get up the hill. Was doing my head in, i bother my ass to buy winter tyres, yet i get stuck behind people without them. Almost like were p!ssing in the wind with it.
When traffic eventually cleared on the other side of the road i drove right past him on the opposite side all the way up the hill.
Ive been using back streets alot today. Gets me away from all the guys doing 2mph everywhere.