Insurance with after market wheels

O

obelix54

Member
 Witney, Oxon
Like many E89's, my car did not come with the original wheels. I had to to re-insure my car with Admiral and declared the wheels as a modification as I always do. Because I was talking to an agent this time, they had to go over each point in detail and I found out that my wheels are not covered on the insurance, only originals or optional extra ones are. If I damaged any wheels, I would have to pay for their replacement myself.

Sort of makes sense but surprised.
 
Interesting take on that..I could see why they would want to know that the wheels weren’t original equipment but why they wouldn’t repair / replace / compensate seems weird.. :tumbleweed:
 
Scooba_Steve said:
Isn't that a standard insurance term? Upgrades/mods are not covered, only the OE spec.
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Maybe so..I’ve never read the fine print.. :tumbleweed:
 
Pretty standard amongst insurers. This is where agreed value insurance from a specialist comes in as it takes into account mods and their value.

I had a non fault on my then bike a few years ago, another rider ran into the back of me, they admitted liability and their insurers repaired my bike and replaced my aftermarket hugger, exhaust and tail tidy like for like. Had it been my fault or 50/50, OEM parts would have been used.
 
Scubaregs said:
Pretty standard amongst insurers. This is where agreed value insurance from a specialist comes in as it takes into account mods and their value.

I had a non fault on my then bike a few years ago, another rider ran into the back of me, they admitted liability and their insurers repaired my bike and replaced my aftermarket hugger, exhaust and tail tidy like for like. Had it been my fault or 50/50, OEM parts would have been used.
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Well every day is a school day..I have non OE wheels on the fleet..but in most cases I’ll just take the risk in the grand scheme of things..the Zed is on an agreed value with 124 mods and changes anyway.. :thumbsup: :tumbleweed: :rofl:
 
Strange from a cost perspective as well from the insurers point of view. If you've got say a £250 value aftermarket wheel fitted and they want to replace it with a £650 OEM 326 alloy supplied by a main dealer?
If only one of your wheels is damaged, would they expect you to drive around with three matching alloys and one completely different replacement? :roll:
 
peeblezZ4 said:
Strange from a cost perspective as well from the insurers point of view. If you've got say a £250 value aftermarket wheel fitted and they want to replace it with a £650 OEM 326 alloy supplied by a main dealer?
If only one of your wheels is damaged, would they expect you to drive around with three matching alloys and one completely different replacement? :roll:
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Part of the reason insurance costs are so high, cars written off with fairly minor damage, insurers need to replace with OEM parts.

All that was visibly damaged on my bike was the hugger, tail tidy and a small gouge on the swing arm. Swing arm had to be replaced as possibility of unseen structural damage. Cost to other party's insurance was £4K.
 
So if this insurance won't cover aftermarket wheels, what would be the scenario if a wheel failed and caused an accident, damaging the rest of the car and possibly a third party's?

That would be a very interesting conversation with the insurers as to how they would see the liability. All seems a bit too much of a grey area for my liking.

If I bought a car with aftermarket wheels, I wouldn't tell the insurance. As far as they are concerned I presumed they were standard fit. I don't think many people would even notice. Are we supposed to be experts in every nuance of the automotive world just to make sure our insurance company is happy?

This insurance thing lately is getting out of control. I am not ringing my insurance every time I put petrol in just in case they don't like the brand! :x
 
It's getting ridiculous.

I've declared my modifications, but reading this I'm wondering what would happen if one of my Aero sills got damaged. :?
 
I'm insured with esure and when I swapped my original alloys for aftermarket ones I declared it to them and they cover the wheels under my policy as a modification. They've covered all the mods I've done so far, including remapping the ECU, the carbon fibre parts, etc.
 
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