Motoreasy alloy and cosmetic insurance

mutley74

Hi

I recently bought an almost new car (pre-reg) and was looking to buy a motor easy gap insurance but interested in the Alloy and cosmetic cover. The alloy and cosmetic cover are considerably cheaper than dealer offerings.

However, are they worth it and are their claims and customer service any good?

I have had their sales teams call me numerous times now.

Welcome any feedback. thanks

born_again

Depends on how often your curb your wheels & damage car.

MSE way would be to put a amount each month just in case.

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What happens if you claim- when your main insurer asks if you have "made any claims or suffered any losses in connection with a motor vehicle"?

By definition any claims under the cosmetic/alloy policy would be "at fault" claims.

(Yes even if you didn't claim they would still be accidents/losses but they wouldn't be recorded anywhere)

ROY47

A MotorEasy alloy insurance policy protects against accidental wheel damage (such as kerbing and potholes) without affecting your main car insurance. Claims made on this add-on policy do not impact your main insurance premiums, nor do they result in the loss of your No Claims Bonus (NCB). How the Claims Affect Your Policy

• Independent of Main Insurance: MotorEasy functions as a standalone cosmetic or scratch & dent policy. You do not have to declare these alloy wheel repairs when renewing your legally required motor insurance.
• No Premium Hikes: Because it is a separate policy, claiming for a scuffed or kerbed alloy will not push up the cost of your annual comprehensive premium. 

Key Rules & Claim LimitsTo ensure your claim goes through smoothly without complications, keep the following parameters in mind:

• Claim Caps: You are typically restricted to a maximum of 4 claims in any 12-month policy year.
• Exclusions: Split-rim constructions, two-tone painted alloys, and diamond-cut or machine-polished rims are often excluded from standard cosmetic policies.
• Road Accidents: These policies only cover cosmetic scuffs and scratches. If your alloy is damaged during a major road traffic accident or your vehicle is written off, the damage must be claimed through your main comprehensive motor insurance instead. 

For the full terms of your specific policy, you can check your coverage limits and submit a claim directly through your account on the MotorEasy portal.

Making a claim on a MotorEasy alloy wheel insurance policy does not impact your primary motor insurance "No Claims Bonus" (NCB) or your main insurance claims history. Because alloy wheel insurance is a standalone, cosmetic policy, it operates independently of your primary car insurance provider. This means: 

• No penalty to NCB: Your main car insurance discount remains intact.
• No history of main claims: It will not be logged on the Motor Insurance Database (MID) as a standard motor insurance claim. 

Interesting , that says doesn't affect main insurance ……

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82005243#Comment_82005243

A small MGA with capacity from an insurer thats not known as the most selective on who they will give their pen to 🧐

They are correct in saying it won't impact your NCD, that it won't be reported to MID but its CUE that Motor claims are reported to but it won't be there either.

I suspect their comment is going to be that the incident of kerbing your alloys may impact your motor premium but going on to claim on this policy or not won't make any difference, which could be true. Suspect that a direct insurer, if one were to exist, would be a little more cautious and say it shouldn't because ultimately they can't control what questions another insurer is going to ask at quote stage and some may want claims on tertiary policies declared.

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Independent of Main Insurance: MotorEasy functions as a standalone cosmetic or scratch & dent policy. You do not have to declare these alloy wheel repairs when renewing your legally required motor insurance.

No history of main claims: It will not be logged on the Motor Insurance Database (MID) as a standard motor insurance claim. 

(my italics)

This are the relevant parts, the NCB part is just smoke & mirrors as it can't be affected by claiming on a different policy.

So you could print out the T&Cs, not mention any claims for kerbed alloys & pothole damage (which as a main insurer I'd want to know about- if the driver hits visible stationary objects all the time…..) and if there is any fall-out hope the Ombudsman agrees with your answering "no" to the questions about accidents, claims & losses.

Being a nasty, cynical, suspicious person I wonder why the "as a standard motor insurance claim" is necessary- does it get logged under a different category?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82005583#Comment_82005583

That was my point though… they arent saying you hitting a static object won't impact your premiums nor that you dont have to declare it, your asked to declare all losses irrespective of blame and irrespective of if you claimed.

What they are saying is that having gone on to claim on this insurance won't make any additional difference and personally I think thats a grey area. Confused.com dont actually ask if you claimed or not, they just ask if the matter is settled, if you say yes the language talks about claims, if you say no it talks about incidents but you could be mid claim and so legitimately answer no or you could have settled it yourself and so say yes and the claim language is wrong.

Some others may explicitly ask about a claim on your motor insurance in which case you could legitimately answer no, others may be vague about "insurance" in which case the answer is probably yes.

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That was my point though… they arent saying you hitting a static object won't impact your premiums nor that you dont have to declare it, your asked to declare all losses irrespective of blame and irrespective of if you claimed.

It very much reads to me as if they are saying you don't have to declare alloy wheel claims when renewing your legally required motor insurance, which is why I suggested saving all the wording in case you need to go to the Ombudsman if things go awry and are claiming that you were mislead by the insurer that dealt with the claim.

(Most people are not going to dissect the semantics of any question when they have already been told they don't have to declare it.)

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82005911#Comment_82005911

Quiet the opposite, most people do try and justify why they dont declare something when the insurer has asked a very straightforward question like "have you suffered any losses, accidents or claims in the last 5 years irrespective of fault or if you claimed" or "have you consulted a medical professional, suffered any symptoms or taken any prescription medication in relation to an illness or injury in the last 3 years"

Many people fail to declare that they saw their GP 5 months ago about ear ache because "they didnt think the insurer wanted to know about that sort of thing" whereas clearly a GP is a medical professional and 5 months ago is in the last 3 years.

I dont think the wording is great, I think other firms would word it better, but I think they are probably just about the right side of what it should say.

Arunmor

Get your GAP insurance elsewhere, they would lose my business for the hard sell.

mutley74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82006589#Comment_82006589

Yes I have noticed that. Had so many phone calls from a sales adviser.