They gotta b taking the P1$$

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11969958

that doesnt make sense. Im sure there was another thread saying it wasnt classed as a mod lol

Matt

I wrote in another thread, that this sort of discussion had prompted me to get my wife to phone her insurers to make sure that they knew she was using winter tyres in winter. Her insurance company is Admiral and unfortunately their call centre seems to be "over seas". After the usual trying to comunicate clearly, they could not understand what the term "winter tyres" meant so person that answered the call had to seek advice from elsewhere, that andice say it was okay to use these tyres and that there would not be a change in the policy. This inconsistant response to folk asking the question has become a bit of a joke. In my wife's case I thought it would be quite simple as the car was spec'd up at the factory to be delivered with 195/55 X 15 alloys/tyres - and I was reverting it back to the standard 185/65 X 14 steels/tyres with a T speed rating, in the case of the VRS it might be slightly differant although I'm sure that Skoda will have had type approval for fitting smaller narrower winter tyre. Of course the crazy thing is, that if she breaks a (winter) wheel and claims for it on her insurance, then they could only supply the same as new bigger alloy and tyre which would cost them more - its a strange old world?

Edited 11 December, 201015 yr by rum4mo

Who would declare tires anyway?

Im sure noone i know would declare winter wheels...

The ABI have now admitted this statement is incorrect.

Churchill are almost encouraging them - http://www.churchill.com/motor/winter-tyres.htm - the critical point seems to be 7 degrees - below that and winter tyres are better...

If anything insurers should be charging those with summer tyres during winter a higher premium because they are a greater risk slipping and sliding everywhere on the snow.

I assume the call centre staff who handle most enquiries saw them as something none factory fit and therefore a modification.

There could be a case for thinking that people who fit snow/ mud tyres are more likely to go out in bad conditions or to go off road and such the risk of damage to the car is higher.

Who would declare tires anyway?

Im sure noone i know would declare winter wheels...

Well originally I would tend to agree with you, but there has been a lot of talking about this issue and its really too late after someone has whacked you to try and get your insurance company to avoid using any "valid" tricks to make your life costlier than it needs to be!

Churchill are almost encouraging them - http://www.churchill.com/motor/winter-tyres.htm - the critical point seems to be 7 degrees - below that and winter tyres are better...

Ah ha, well that is interesting, I don't think the belief that at +7C the summer tyres go hard is quite true, its more likely that by the time that the temperature has dropped to +7C, the summer tyres have hardened enough to have lost "a lot" of their ability to provide the required grip. Also, above +7C - maybe at 15C (guess), winter tyres are starting to wear "too quickly" and also allow the tyre to be too flexible to be predictable under heavy loading.

The crazy thing is that most of the large insurers own car insurance businesses both in UK and mainland Europe - so as usual they try to issue one set of rules for UK and other sets of rules for "elsewheres" even if you ignore local road users regulations.

Edited 12 December, 201015 yr by rum4mo

This is a total joke

Snow tyres reported, classed as a mod 20% increase in policy

Revert to universal standard tyres again another mod 20% increase in policy

Making the car safer? ie snow tyres fitted in winter and they think this is a mod

Someone stated why tell them, Well if you do not and you have an accident then you are not insured at all

I seriously think the Gov should get involved with these thieves

Add third party insurance themselves included with the road tax, and if you want your own car protected then you go out and insure in addition for F AND T or FULLY COMP

The insurers are having a laugh, making money and supported by the LAW as you HAVE to be INSURED

Are there any Student drivers in here, can you take it up with the NUS maybe they could wreck Admirals offices for us

National

I agree with state mandated 3rd party insurance on your plate or with tax disc - other EU countries seem to make this work.

As for Admiral, I got my wife to phone them - after 21:00 one night last week, call was picked up by a call centre in Asia and after they did some looking into this, they said that there would not be any extra change in policy for using winter tyres in winter months.

Anyone having a problem with this when dealing with Admiral is quite free to quote that some one else has been given the "okay" without any extra cost from their call centre in Asia.

I would not mind if you get back on this subject if locally they have a different approach as the Asia one might not be correct - just someone saying "okay" to make life easy - but I hope that that is not the case.

I dont understand the problem, the The Association of British Insurers have said its a mistake and now one should be charged more.

Matt

They wouldn't even benefit from charging extra for tyres like that, infact, they'd more than likely lose out

I dont understand the problem, the The Association of British Insurers have said its a mistake and now one should be charged more.

Matt

I'm guessing that you made a mistake there and wrote "the The Association of British Insurers have said its a mistake and now one should be charged more" when you meant to write "the The Association of British Insurers have said its a mistake and now NO one should be charged more"