Winter Tyres & Insurance

sally0101

Hi, can anyone advise me what impact it has on your insurance when you fit Winter Tyres. I want to do this and know I have to inform the car insurance company, but as I have paid up front for the year for my insurance I wondered if this will affect my price. If anything it should make the cost lower as I am adding something to increase safety.

Thank you in advance for all help.

scheming_gypsy

None at all.. if they say it will, tell them to double check with a supervisor.
There's a few threads in the motoring section about the same thing.

olly300

None as long as the winter tyres are the right specification for the car.

There were issues last year with insurers call centre staff giving people wrong information as they thought winter tyres people used in this country were the one with spikes on, which you can't actually use due to cats eyes and the UK in general not having enough snow/ice.

Ian_W

Have a read of this Assn of British Insurers LINK.
Bottom line is provided the tyre/wheel sizes comply with the makers spec then there shouldn't be any charge. but some insurers want to be informed of the change.

k9387

As was mentioned above, there are a few threads with discussions on this.

Best way to find out is to phone and ask (but there shouldn't be any extra charge).

avmad

Hello,

I have a Ford Mondeo with the manufacturer recommended 235 45 W17 tyres currently fitted.

I would like to buy Winter tyres (preferably the Continental WinterContact TS 830P as it came top in the Auto Express Winter Tyre Test 2011).

Should I stay with the same tyre width, profile and speed rating? If I change it I will have to inform my insurance (RAC / Aviva) but I have heard that using thinner tyres and higher profiles might be better in the snow.

Additionally, I cannot see any "W" speed rated winter tyres around (i.e. ones that match what Ford put on and that I have on now) and I have seen several tyre sites saying that you can use a lower rating with winter tyres but how would this work from an insurance perspective?

Actually, I am thinking seriously of using these winter tyres year-round from now on (and the top-rated examples are good in summer too) so surely if these winter tyres were then left on the car year-round and a different speed rating had been used, those tyres would not meet the insurance requirements and would have to be raised an a modification?

Just a bit confused (and worried) by the potential insurance issues.

Many thanks.

avmad

bonzor

I too believe that narrower tyres are better but my insurer refused to allow that, I was told that speed ratings were not important and could be varied. I ended up fitting Entyres all season tyres after reading dozens of reviews from users and also some original german reports too. Ultra low rolling resistance they can pay for themselves in increased mpg. I was unlucky enough to be totalled by someone speeding and not stopping in winter. Winter tyres save lives and are much more efficient below 7 degrees than summer tyres. My tyres are a great compromise. And for any serious money savers my accident has already cost me £20000+

Nine_Lives

Whoever told you that doesn't know what they're talking about.

Narrower tyres ARE better and the speed rating IS important. I already knew the narrow tyres one, but i only recently got told about the speed rating .... by a tyre supplier, tyre fitter & mechanic. I think they'll know a bit more about it that some guy on the end of a phone line punching keys on a keyboard.

The common misconseption is that winter tyres aren't needed in England simply because we don't get 200ft of snow each year. This is nonsense. Winter tyres work best under 7c. You don't have to be driving in silly snow for them to be worth while.

Sad fact is, many people are ignorant, yet think they know everything.

If you want a decent cheap place to buy tyres then google "mytyres" - i've had 3 suppliers who couldn't match them for price.


I have 16" alloys as standard on my car, but when the winter months come, i drop to my winter tyres which i keep on 15" steelies (15" tyres also have the bonus of being cheaper!)

the profile i got for the 15" tyres i got from my spare tyre, which is 15".

forgotmyname

Winter tyres = No difference,

None standard wheels though... Thats where the problems start.

Lots wont cover modified wheels and non standard wheels means you have a modified car and pointed towards
the modified insurance companies.

Fit teh winter tyres to standard wheels and your OK.

Nine_Lives

That's why i chose GM steel wheels which are an identical match to my spare tyre steel rim

mikey72

K_P83 wrote: »

That's why i chose GM steel wheels which are an identical match to my spare tyre steel rim

So a manufacturer recommended size then, even though they may be narrower than your alloys?

I assume if they're an inch smaller, the alloys are low profile, so you probably ended up fitting higher profile winter tyre, which again is usually the manufacturer recommendation.