Problem getting car insurance

FlameCloud

waamo wrote: »

We had this problem. It is to do with wheel size. In the end we printed the specifications for the wheels from the manufacturers website and sent that to them. There was nothing wrong with the wheels.

The problem will be that for a lot of off the peg insurers, modifications and 18 year olds do not match, so they simply won't offer cover.

waamo

FlameCloud wrote: »

The problem will be that for a lot of off the peg insurers, modifications and 18 year olds do not match, so they simply won't offer cover.

It may not be a modification. In our case it was the idiot fitter that was the problem. He looked at the wheels and proclaimed that they were not standard and couldn't fit the box.

Printing off the specs from the manufacturers website showed the wheels were a factory fitted option with the correct size tyres on.

A couple of days later they fitted the box. It's worth checking the box fitter knows what he's talking about.

ValiantSon

waamo wrote: »

It may not be a modification. In our case it was the idiot fitter that was the problem. He looked at the wheels and proclaimed that they were not standard and couldn't fit the box.

Printing off the specs from the manufacturers website showed the wheels were a factory fitted option with the correct size tyres on.

A couple of days later they fitted the box. It's worth checking the box fitter knows what he's talking about.

Sadly that does't surprise me. There are far too many know-all people who refuse to admit that they might need to check things.

John-K_3

Reardoa wrote: »

As above if the wheel is bigger it allows you to corner a quicker speeds. Usually attracts a small loading (5%) on top of the premium

Bigger wheels allow you to corner at higher speeds?

What makes you think that? It seems pretty unlikely.

The reason people fit them tends to be because they think that they look sporty, which in turn is because racing cars have bigger wheels.

The reason that they have them is that this lets you fir bigger disk brakes, which reduces brake fade as they can radiate more heat.

I would say that in an awful lot of cases bigger wheels hurt cornering. They reduce the sidewall height of the tyres, and so the flexibility, making it harder to keep the contact patch all in contact with the road.

Sea_Shell

So basically insurers are saying that for any second hand car that you buy, you have to scour the internet for the original specification of your vehicle "as new" to cross-check every single specification of the vehicle to ensure that NOTHING has been changed since it rolled out the factory. That's a bit easier on a relatively new car (2-3 yrs old), but surely almost impossible for anything over 10-15 yrs.

Also, how do you know if said "modification" is an after-market change, or a factory option from new?

Quentin

Factory options from new are still modifications and must be disclosed

Sea_Shell

Don't by German then.... everything's an optional extra with them!!!

ValiantSon

Quentin wrote: »

Factory options from new are still modifications and must be disclosed

I have discussed modifications with several insurers over the years and all have been clear that it is any change made to the car after it is delivered from the factory.

welshblue

This happened with my daughter a couple of years ago. They came to fit a black box, said the car had been modified (1 sticker on each front door ) and gave a 7 day cancellation notice for insurance.
The biggest problem was the car was flagged on the RSA database so couldn't get any insurance through any of the companies owned by RSA

Ended up going with Carrot Insurance. A bit more expensive but cash rewards over 12 months made it comparable.

'Modifications' is a whole grey area ... anything on a car that isn't 'factory fitted' ... and the insurance companies not informed ... just gives them another reason to do you over