Tyre Insurance Is It Worth It?

Andy_goodwin

Hi
I have looked through the forums and can't find anything up to date or relevant. Just bought a newer car and have been offered tyre insurance which sounds expensive @ £420 for 3 years. Never had it, has anyone any experiences good or bad and how easy was it to claim?

Herzlos

What tyres does it have on?

You can buy a full new set for most wheels for £420 and they should last more than 3 years unless you do high mileage.

Check what it covers; it's usually just repairs (i.e. the £5 plugs)

straighttalker

What size tyres does your car have? Surely putting the £420 into a savings account will cover a fair few tyres if they go.

maninthestreet

No doubt there will be a lot of exclusions in such a policy, not just restricted to fair wear and tear.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Most of these insurances are designed for two purposes:

- the gullible
- those who are buying beyond their means

Some top end cars do have massively expensive tyres but people buying very expensive cars usually can afford the running costs.

I'd read the policy very carefully as presumably it does not cover fair wear and tear, and what about premature wear due to tracking?

Iceweasel

For me tyre insurance is absolutely essential as I seem to consume tyres at an average of 1 or 2 a year.

Nearly 2 years ago I paid £405 (in 10 interest free instalments) for 3 years cover.

My tyres are runflats and the rears (ContiSportContact2 255/40 17) cost approx £190 each.

Within a month I had one fail in Austria and got a new one fitted the next day, which I paid for by Credit Card.

On return to the UK I received a cheque within a week of submitting the claim form and receipt.

It's essential to print off and carry with you blank claim forms as there is a section to be completed by the tyre dealer/fitter.

I also have had one punctured and damaged beyond repair in the UK - so I simply went to the nearest dealership where they fitted a new tyre and I was on my way within an hour - all paperwork completed and nothing to pay.

So far I've pretty well broken even and still have over a year to go - so any more tyre hassles and I'll have benefited.

Of course it's a bit of a gamble with lots of variables - chiefly the cost of a new tyre - and the mileage you cover - but that not the only things to consider.

Be sure to read the small print as some of these deals only pay 50% of the replacement tyre if the tread is below 6mm.

Also check that the territorial coverage meets your needs - some deals cover only the UK and Ireland - so my new tyre in Austria would not have been covered by some policies.

Some cover a maximum of only 5 replacement tyres.

I prefer to go for the car manufacturer's tyre insurance rather than the individual dealership's 'in-house' alternative which although it may be a tiny bit cheaper usually has several tricky suspect exclusions clauses that I'd rather not test the validity of.

Like I must use the dealership themselves or use Quik-Nit.

I also once discovered a flat tyre when I returned to the car on a in-bound Calais to Dover cross-channel ferry years ago and the ensuing discussion about whether the puncture happened 'abroad' or not was ridiculous.

stator

It's very unlikely to be good value for money. I could replace all the tyres on my car for £200.
Like most 'add-ons' it's just their way of making more money.

firefox1956

Tyre Insurance ??????
Un believable........whatever will they think of next.

Iceweasel

I think a few posters have misunderstood what tyre insurance is all about - many cars these days have tyres that cost over £250 each - some much more.

Run-flats especially are often deemed non-repairable by tyre fitters, so tyre insurance is quite common.

You can plan and budget for tyres wearing out - but an unexpected replacement can easily catch you out. With low profile tyres and the state of the pot-holed roads in the UK it's easy to damage a couple of wheels at the same time

Tyre insurance is not a new thing at all - neither is wheel insurance.

Of course it's not necessarily a good idea for everyone - if I could get 4 new tyres for my car for £200 I wouldn't bother with tyre insurance.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Iceweasel's case makes the point for tyre insurance, with such expensive replacements it's probably worth considering if you do enough miles.

For people like me it wouldn't be, part of my decision to buy a car depends on it having sensible tyre sizes, if its on stupidly priced tyres i don't want it, similarly i only buy cars with proper spare wheels, and i've always got a spare tyre of the correct size and type in the garage at home that can be used as a temporary runner until i can get a sensibly priced new one, i am not going to be ripped off by opportunists smelling desperate prey.

silverwhistle

I'm with G&S. Actually I'm on the forum as I'm sourcing a couple of new tyres. The last I bought were snow tyres a couple of years ago from mytyres (I think) and as the market changes so much was just wondering where the best deals are these days. If I did have expensive tyres I'd make sure I could afford to replace them and basically self-insure: how much profit and administration cost is built into a premium of £420?