XSeries-forum

Just read this article and I am gobsmacked... Insurance companies claiming that Winter Tyres are a 'modification to manufacturer specifications' and therefore increasing premiums!

Does this mean if you have the safer, correct tyres on for the conditions and you are unfortunate enough to have an accident that the insurance companies would claim that you had the 'wrong' tyres on? I know they will wriggle out of what they can but this is ridiculous!

Winter Tyres Increase Insurance


Turks.

So if by their own agreement, they get it wrong (they=insurance companies), what is there to say that they get everything else wrong as well and invalidate claims because of their own mistakes which the motorist can only overturn in court?

Interesting enough, as a side not about insurance companies being wrong, I heard through an insider channel that Allianz insurance is getting an ever increasing flow of people taking them to court with regards to premium increases for speeding fine as they are not related to risk.

It took me 10 mins talking - although at times I felt like yelling at - to a call centre 'drone' before I finally got the message across that my winter tyres (Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow RSC) and wheels (19" 258 staggered) were as BMW offer as OE, and they were safer in this weather and therefore reduced the risk. These folks read off a script and it's not scripted then it must be a modification!

There was an article in Auto Express last week about some guy being asked to pay £230 extra just because of winter tyres!! At least the trade body has now admitted it's all a mistake but personally I don't believe it's all down to errors in the call centres - as I said, they only read off a script, and where does the script come from.........mmmm.......could it be Head Office?

How many times did you get the "must ask my supervisor"

I refuse to call my insurance company about my winter tyres, they are proper specced tyres for the car so end of story. I would take them to court if they were to ever mess me about.

This modification nonsense has to stop. You insure the car for x-pound, if you chose to change the car and don't declare, you would just get x-pound back or the car and the rest is irrelevant.

I have been modifying for years and it is a pain dealing with insurance companies. But this thing with winter tyres was a joke. Winter tyres are still the same size as specified by the manufacturer and in essence are just a different brand.

Its crazy, isn't it? This would mean that most tyre manufacturers would be out of business as, unless they are lucky enough to be chosen as the OEM tyre manufacturer, using their tyres would mean you have "modded" the car??? Senseless. Like pvr, I refuse to say anything about my tyres to some stupid call centre twit- the tyres are legal, they are safe and they are fitted to standard OEM BMW rims, the sizes of which are advised as appropriate for winter tyre fitment by BMW.

[quote=""CondorX5""] Like pvr, I refuse to say anything about my tyres to some stupid call centre twit[/quote]
A couple of points. Don't beat up on the call centre guy, he is only doing his job and is based on scripts. If you do not declare information that they deem relevant, then your insurance may be void.

Shite state of affairs it may be, but we have the choice to take our business elsewhere.

Like Raj said, its just a different brand of tyre, nothing else. Its NOT a "modification" or else other non-OEM supplied tyres of the correct size and width would also be "modifications" which would essentially mean that around 28 million cars on UK roads have been "modified" if such senseless twaddle is applied.
I work on a need to know basis - no need to gabble on to a call centre drone like you've got verbal diarrhoea - they don't need to know what make of tyre I have fitted, merely that it is legal and of a size endorsed by the manufacturer. As pvr says, if they try to get out of that one, legal action is appropriate for the sake of the sanity of the entire motoring universe.

Like Raj said, its just a different brand of tyre, nothing else.

The point is, we do not know this for sure.

As ever for the sake of filling empty pages this article does not specify detail in order to make it mildly interesting.

Clearly any tyre of the same diameter and profile that meets the EU standard is not a modification. I have read posts stating that insurers do not have a problem with this.

However, if you read up on a few boards some are resorting to fitting winters on skinny steelies for maximum effect. Great in snow but clearly a negative when it thaws.

My hunch is that it's here where the issue lies, coupled with the lack of script from head office.

I would not advise anyone too but personally I would not say anything, I would never tell the insurance company when using other tyres on my cars and have never bought the exact oem versions on any vehicle I own. I think insurance companys are just trying it on to increase there profits as if they have not always been doing this.

Just waiting for the European ways to come in where the car is insured, and not the driver. Also, insurance premium is the same for everyone, the only thing that differs is the amount of no claim discount. And modifications never need to be declared, you just don't get them back if you lose the car.

If the tyres are BMW OEM spec they are not a modification. In several countries, they are in fact a requirement.

[quote=""pvr""]Just waiting for the European ways to come in where the car is insured, and not the driver. Also, insurance premium is the same for everyone, the only thing that differs is the amount of no claim discount. And modifications never need to be declared, you just don't get them back if you lose the car.[/quote]

Would be good but i doubt it will ever happen ......the ins companys wouldn't be able to screw us over as much

Just bringing in the German regulation that whiplash claims cannot be made where the collision takes place at less than 10kph. That will put the 'No win, No fee' sharks out of business too, and Should reduce our premiums. The cynic in me realises that the UK Government doesn't have the cojones to do it as it'll cost them too much in Insurance Tax. The question I have is under te European system, how do bad drivers get clobbered? Over here they just don't bother insuring themselves once the premium hits a certain point as the penalties are less than the coss and the chances of getting caught so low.