Insurance claim - alloys?

[Jimbo3176]

My first question for ages, used to post a lot on the old forum.

Had a bit of a spin coming off a slippery roundabout (rural area, no pedestrians or houses for miles).. which resulted in my rear left slamming into an old unused signpost (shame the lazy council left them there, minimal damage otherwise).. and a couple of my alloys taking a hefty thump on the curb, and a puncture.

Due to the cost of the repair to the bodywork (even tho I dont think its that bad), gonna have to make a claim.. so I asked my insurance company about the damage to my alloys and tyre (as I have declared all mods).. one is buckled (unusable), and the other is heavily scratched.

As i pay a higher premium to have these alloys, I naively thought they would be covered in the event of a claim.. but I am told this isn't the case (my own fault for not reading the small print I guess).. so..

My insurance company are prepared to spend a lot of money on replacing the rear wing and bumper (cosmetic).. but are not prepared to spend money on wheels.. the car is drivable with the dent.. it is not drivable with a buckled wheel.. where is the sense in that?

Is there any way I can get them to cough up anything for wheels (even original spec from Toyota, which no doubt cost more) or should I just feel lucky (which I do) that nobody else was involved and nobody got hurt..

Whats the point of an insurance policy that doesnt get your car back on the road if its damaged?

Any advice would be much appreciated

[CosmosblueMR2]

Whats the point of an insurance policy that doesnt get your car back on the road if its damaged?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Sorry I don't have an answers on if you can get any money for your wheels but in answer as to why we pay insurance... most of it is personal liability..
If you stuff it into someone else and they have to have treatment or god forbid they died then your insurance pays out these VAST sums... also what with the "claim culture" coming over from the States with all these no win no fee claims around - insurance company's are getting hit more and more for personal liability.

Just imagine if you had no insurance - YOU would be sued for damages etc etc

I'm in no way connected with insurance but it annoys me when people eleswhere say things like "my car is only worth £3000 how the hell do you come up with an annual insurance figure of £1500 !"
simple.. the RISK the driver poses to others - a car is the most leathal thing any of us owns.. either to ourselves or others.

[Jon M]

I know that aftermarket modifications themselves aren't covered, apparently this is because of the difficulties in getting hold of stuff that's rare or imported, but I was under the impression that the insurance would cover an original replacement, so in your case they should pay for a set of Toyota wheels. That's what my friend got told by his insurance company, anyway.

Jon

[Jimbo3176]

Thanks for the replies.. the ironic thing is.. my wheels are probably cheaper (£130+VAT a corner) and easier to source than the standard Revision 5 Toyota alloys..

[CosmosblueMR2]

Thanks for the replies.. the ironic thing is.. my wheels are probably cheaper (£130+VAT a corner) and easier to source than the standard Revision 5 Toyota alloys..

get 'em sell em and buy yours again then .. you might even MAKE on it ! =D>

[Rowland]

Strange - I've been able to make a claim on alloy wheel damage before.

Some mindless idiot pulled out from a T junction and forgot to observe the oncoming traffic, namely me in one of my MR2's a couple of years back.
The body damage was door/wing possibly bonnet but the impact caused me to mount the kerb at 30 mph.
3 of the wheels were damaged but not severely - mainly heavily scuffed through kerb impact.
I tried to plea my case for replacement wheels but was told that the best I could hope for was the wheels to be refurbished on his insurance company.
This was done and the job was pretty good too, the only negative part was they'd only refurbish 3 of the 4 wheels because this was 'the result of the accident' and it mattered not that one wheel looked oxidised and stood out a mile!

[Jimbo3176]

Were they original spec wheels though?..

[cbryson]

I heard that you did not need insurance if you could prove that you had enough money to cover any damage/costs etc... But i expect that you would need a few million in the bank for that, and if you were that rich you wouldnt care how much insurance was.

[CosmosblueMR2]

I heard that you did not need insurance if you could prove that you had enough money to cover any damage/costs etc... But i expect that you would need a few million in the bank for that, and if you were that rich you wouldnt care how much insurance was.

sounds "plausable" in theory - try explaining that to the boys in blue on a 7day wonder notice

"No Officer i do not have any insurance details - cos I am considerably richer than Yau !"

[Rowland]

Were they original spec wheels though?..

Yes they were rev5's.
Sorry I misread the 'aftermarket wheels' part of your post

[Ed]

As i pay a higher premium to have these alloys, I naively thought they would be covered in the event of a claim.. but I am told this isn't the case (my own fault for not reading the small print I guess).. so..

Why are you paying a higher premium on your insurance if they will not repair the alloys if damaged. Apart from the excuse they use of making a car more desireable to knick the reason you pay an increased premium is to cover the cost of replacement should they be damaged or knicked.

Ed

[Jimbo3176]

Thats exactly what I thought Ed, and exactly what I asked on the phone.. all I got was the repeated response of 'No we don't cover those'

Someone once told me the reason to declare mods is so that the insurance company cannot use undeclared mods as a back door to avoid paying out.. so maybe thats why you pay more, to have the priviledge of them still paying out when you need them to..

[Ed]

Thats exactly what I thought Ed, and exactly what I asked on the phone.. all I got was the repeated response of 'No we don't cover those'

Someone once told me the reason to declare mods is so that the insurance company cannot use undeclared mods as a back door to avoid paying out.. so maybe thats why you pay more, to have the priviledge of them still paying out when you need them to..

I'd question that. Yes you should declare mods, however the only reason they should increase your premium is if they are going to cover the mod in the case of a claim. If they aren't prepared to pay out for the replacement then they shouldn't be charging an increase premium period. I'd claim for the repairs and tell them to shove their insurance wher the sun will never shine and take my business to a more reasonable (if there is such a word) insurance company.

Ed

[Jon M]

I think it's standard practice tbh, you pay the extra premium on mods because they make the car more desirable, or if they enhance performance then you might be more likely to smash the car up, I'm sure there's loads of other reasons too, but as far as I know the extra premium is not there to cover the replacement of the aftermarket part and they will never pay for it in the event of theft/damage. It is pretty unfair I think, especially considering that most people won't realise this until they try and claim!

This is all based on discussions my friend had with various companies when phoning around for insurance so I could well be misinformed! Perhaps some of the more specialist modified car insurers will be different, but that seems standard behaviour as far as he could find out.

Jon

[pete h]

Due to the cost of the repair to the bodywork (even tho I dont think its that bad), gonna have to make a claim.. so I asked my insurance company about the damage to my alloys and tyre (as I have declared all mods).. one is buckled (unusable), and the other is heavily scratched.

if they is no chance in the insurance company paying out for the wheels. is it possible you could get the garage doing the repair to add a couple of hundred pound on the price, so at least you could get a few pound back for the wheels?

[Jimbo3176]

Well I just had another conversation with them and it appears they are prepared to replace any damaged wheels with original spec wheels.

[Rob]

In that case - get them to buy you direct Toyota replacement alloys brand new (that were original on your car) and smile as they pay £300 per wheel.

[splashnatz]

then get wheels you like instead !