Factory fitted Alloy wheels and insurance!!

kevin0410

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

The overall diameter of the wheel and tyre may now be bigger than the car was designed for. Therefore, for a same distance, things won't go around as far. Think of an old-fashioned Penny Farthing bicycle. The speedo' usually counts the number of turns of the driveshaft or axle and then converts this into your speed.

Therefore, to compensate for this, you should also fit a lower profile tyre, so the overall diameter of the combination stays the same.

all speedos over read by a certain degree. Fitting larger wheels will generally make the speedo more acurate

raskazz

sam1970 wrote: »

I am sure if ring the insurer to tell them about the wheels they will pump up the premium..I think I will take my chances and consider this as factory fitted option...it is unfair that my premium goes up by over £100 for this and I am not a boy racer..I am a 42 years old professional

Or, if you didn't want to be so reckless, you could read the wording of the question on their website/call the inusrer and ask the question of whether they require the disclosure of factory fitted extras, then disclose all material information honestly.

You're probably one of those hypocrites who moan about fraudsters contributing to insurance premium inflation whilst being one yourself - and make no mistake, if the insurer's question requires disclosure of all changes from standard spec then your deliberate non-disclosure of the alloy wheels is fraud.

shaun_from_Africa

As most modern speedometers are electronic, I would have assumed that when a car leaves the factory with different diameter wheels, the speedo accuracy wouldn't be affected as a simple software tweak to one or more of the "black boxes" would take the change into account.

Trebor16

raskazz wrote: »

Or, if you didn't want to be so reckless, you could read the wording of the question on their website/call the inusrer and ask the question of whether they require the disclosure of factory fitted extras, then disclose all material information honestly.

You're probably one of those hypocrites who moan about fraudsters contributing to insurance premium inflation whilst being one yourself - and make no mistake, if the insurer's question requires disclosure of all changes from standard spec then your deliberate non-disclosure of the alloy wheels is fraud.

Whilst having a (unjustified) pop at the OP you seem to have lost sight of the fact that the wheels were a factory fit option. There is a remarkable lack of consistency amongst insurers with some saying that it is not necessary to declare a factory fitted option, and they are only interested in modifications to the car after it has been registered and used on the road. Other insurers class a factory fit option as a modification.

As an industry they need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.

shaun_from_Africa

Whilst having a (unjustified) pop at the OP you seem to have lost sight of the fact that the wheels were a factory fit option.

But when buying some new cars, you could opt for very expensive entertainment systems, sat navs, bodykits etc, and although these would be factory fit options, they still mean that the car would have been modified from the manufacturers specifications for that particular model.

with some saying that it is not necessary to declare a factory fitted option, and they are only interested in modifications to the car after it has been registered and used on the road. Other insurers class a factory fit option as a modification.

So to avoid any possibility of finding that you should have informed the insurers and failed to do so, leading to them refusing to pay out if your car is stolen or damaged, it make good sense to inform them and let them decide if what was added classes as a modification or not.

raskazz

Trebor16 wrote: »

Whilst having a (unjustified) pop at the OP

Why is it "unjustified"? If the OP's insurer requires disclosure of any changes from the standard specification then this is a clear cut case of reckless/deliberate non-disclosure which is fraud:

"I am sure if ring the insurer to tell them about the wheels they will pump up the premium..I think I will take my chances and consider this as factory fitted option...it is unfair that my premium goes up by over £100 for this"

Trebor16 wrote: »

you seem to have lost sight of the fact that the wheels were a factory fit option.

Er, I haven't lost sight of anything. As has been pointed out in this very thread, if the OP's insurer asks for all changes from the standard specification - which will include changes in or out of the factory - then the alloys need to be disclosed.

Think of it this way - take a bog standard car and add a body kit, alloy wheels, ceramic brakes, carbon fibre panels, expensive paint job. Now some insurers will - quite rightly - in their view decide that this vehicle is then more of a risk than the standard model, regardless of whether the additions were factory added or not. As such they are quite entitled to ask for disclosure of all changes from the standard model.

Trebor16 wrote: »

There is a remarkable lack of consistency amongst insurers with some saying that it is not necessary to declare a factory fitted option, and they are only interested in modifications to the car after it has been registered and used on the road. Other insurers class a factory fit option as a modification.

As an industry they need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.

Or, alternatively, customers could just, you know, actually read/listen to the insurer's questions and answer them honestly. Not rocket science is it.

Goldenyears

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

As most modern speedometers are electronic, I would have assumed that when a car leaves the factory with different diameter wheels, the speedo accuracy wouldn't be affected as a simple software tweak to one or more of the "black boxes" would take the change into account.

No need for electronic tweaks. If the wheel/tyre combo is factory fitted or approved alternate exactly as specified by the manufacturer the speedo readings will be the same, give or take 0.5%, because the rolling radius is the same.

Trebor16

raskazz wrote: »

Why is it "unjustified"? If the OP's insurer requires disclosure of any changes from the standard specification then this is a clear cut case of reckless/deliberate non-disclosure which is fraud:

The language you used and your tone was unjustified. You could have made your point far more eloquently.

raskazz wrote:

"I am sure if ring the insurer to tell them about the wheels they will pump up the premium..I think I will take my chances and consider this as factory fitted option...it is unfair that my premium goes up by over £100 for this"

If the wheels were fitted at the factory whilst the car was being manufactured then it is a factory fitted option. If the car had been delivered to the first owner and then the wheels had been fitted it would have been a modification.

raskazz wrote:

Er, I haven't lost sight of anything. As has been pointed out in this very thread, if the OP's insurer asks for all changes from the standard specification - which will include changes in or out of the factory - then the alloys need to be disclosed.

It certainly hasn't been clearly established that an option fitted whilst the car was being manufactured is classed as a modification.

raskazz wrote:

Think of it this way - take a bog standard car and add a body kit, alloy wheels, ceramic brakes, carbon fibre panels, expensive paint job. Now some insurers will - quite rightly - in their view decide that this vehicle is then more of a risk than the standard model, regardless of whether the additions were factory added or not. As such they are quite entitled to ask for disclosure of all changes from the standard model.

This issue was about alloy wheels only so mentioning all the other components are of no relevance to this particular debate.

raskazz wrote:

Or, alternatively, customers could just, you know, actually read/listen to the insurer's questions and answer them honestly. Not rocket science is it.

It's not rocket science for the insurance industry to have a standard policy in relation to factory fitted options either.

Trebor16

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

But when buying some new cars, you could opt for very expensive entertainment systems, sat navs, bodykits etc, and although these would be factory fit options, they still mean that the car would have been modified from the manufacturers specifications for that particular model.

Not at all, as the parts have been fitted by the manufacturer then it is still part of the their specification. Metallic paint is usually an option but I have yet to have an insurer ask me about the paintwork or tell me it is a modification.

shaun_from_africa wrote:

So to avoid any possibility of finding that you should have informed the insurers and failed to do so, leading to them refusing to pay out if your car is stolen or damaged, it make good sense to inform them and let them decide if what was added classes as a modification or not.

It would make sense if the insurance industry all sang from the same hymn sheet on this issue and made it clear what they expect of policyholders in relation to factory fitted options, instead of having the ridiculous situation that we have now of having different intepretations which are confusing for the consumer.

raskazz

Trebor16 wrote: »

The language you used and your tone was unjustified. You could have made your point far more eloquently.

Well, I'm not going to apologise to you if you want to take offence on someone else's behalf.

Trebor16 wrote: »

If the wheels were fitted at the factory whilst the car was being manufactured then it is a factory fitted option. If the car had been delivered to the first owner and then the wheels had been fitted it would have been a modification.

That is not in dispute.

Trebor16 wrote: »

It certainly hasn't been clearly established that an option fitted whilst the car was being manufactured is classed as a moddification.

I have no idea what your point is here. We are not debating whether a factory fitted option is a "modification" in some sort of general semantic thought exercise. What is important here is whether the insurer requires factory fitted options to be disclosed. Hence why I said:

"if the OP's insurer asks for all changes from the standard specification - which will include changes in or out of the factory - then the alloys need to be disclosed."

No mention of the word modifications there.

Trebor16 wrote: »

This issue was about alloy wheels only so mentioning all the other components are of no relevance to this particular debate.

The OP was regarding alloy wheels but surely even you can see that the topic of discussion has somewhat broadened since then. I was illustrating why some insurers do require disclosure of factory options.

Trebor16 wrote: »

It's not rocket science for the insurance industry to have a standard policy in relation to factory fitted options either.

Co-ordinated rules on modifications would be anti-competitive. If some insurers think they can gain a competitive advantage by asking for more information than others then they should be allowed to do so.