Admiral Policy

hellokitty08

Well what excellent customer service (although i was giving them £520! hehehe) I nearly had a heart attack on Wednesday when i rang Direct Line to inform them that my new car had Alloy wheels, as when i took up the policy on the phone the week before i wasn't aware that there were considered a modification. So i phoned them to let them know as i wanted to make sure my policy was valid. I was a bit upset (understatment) when they said they wouldn't cover me as I was an inexpereinced driver. (only had my license for 4 months) This began a frantic 7 hour search for company that would cover me for about the same price, alloys and all. As i had only bought a car because i thought i could afford the insurance. Finally found my way to Admiral, who say that dont mind that i have alloys, as they are not performanc enhancing (too true, an insurance company with logic?!?!) They said that if there was a claim, that they would only replace them with standard wheels, which is fine by me, as they just came on the car when i bought it. So all in all i actually got the new policy cheaper, when all the other companies i looked at were £300 more! yay!

Steve1981

hellokitty08 wrote: »

They said that if there was a claim, that they would only replace them with standard wheels, which is fine by me, as they just came on the car when i bought it.

so you are happy and have agreed that if you have a claim you are going to be worse off?

Insurers are obliged to ensure that you are in the same position after the claim as you were before it - in this situation this would not be the case - Im sorry but that doesn't really sound too great to me

tinkerbell84

Steve1981 wrote: »

so you are happy and have agreed that if you have a claim you are going to be worse off?

Insurers are obliged to ensure that you are in the same position after the claim as you were before it - in this situation this would not be the case - Im sorry but that doesn't really sound too great to me

Admiral have never covered alloy wheels that aren't standard. And they are one of the biggest insurers in the UK.

Insurers put limits on all sorts of things when it comes to car insurance - stereo value, value of items in the car etc. If you choose (knowing those limits) to exceed them, surely that's your lookout. No insurance policy has truly unlimited cover.

BenL

Are the alloys aftermarket ones? or from the manufacturer?

Something like a Nissan Micra SE has alloys as standard from manufacturing. This is priced into the rates and are not modifications.

hellokitty08

they didn't originally come on the car, i assume the previous owner put them on. I didnt even buy the car because it had them, so it makes no difference to me. I paid a good price for the car and would have paid the same for it if it had standard wheels on, so it really makes no difference to me if they are replaced with standard wheels. This is my point that no other insurance company would see. Which in their defence, i dont see why they should, but because it made no difference to me it was nice to find a company who were going to accept that. As far as i am concerned i would have no problem selling the car for a similar price without the alloys.

So i just wanted to share this info.

Horasio

Admiral stinks

raskazz

hellokitty08 wrote: »

Finally found my way to Admiral, who say that dont mind that i have alloys, as they are not performanc enhancing (too true, an insurance company with logic?!?!)

Whilst it's great that you've sorted your cover out, Admiral's decision is hardly a shining beacon of logic.

The effect on risk of extras or modifications is threefold - they can effect performance; they (in some instances) can be an indicator of 'moral hazard'; and they can have an effect on the car's desirability to theives.