Insurance Rant

[wigs_1]

So yesterday I finally fitted the 18" AMG II to my car, all looks very good apart from the camber on the drivers side front wheel is a bit too +ve compared to the passenger side, but thats another story for another thread...

Got the wheels fitted and before taking it up the road for a spin I rang the insurance (Direct Line) to confirm I had changed the wheels.
What I expected (naivley) was for them to say "ah yes sir, a few quid extra + admin fee blah blah etc"....

What I actually got was, "that'll be £95 extra till the end of the premium (~ 7 months) and my excess going to £650 and if the girlfriend drives £850!!!!
Then he went away and said "hang on, as your girlfriend was 24 when you took out the policy, its actually £149 extra" .

So I'm back to the 16" standard sport alloys (for now) and looking for a new insurer. Rough quotes from confused.com suggest that I can pay the same premium with £100 excess with the different wheels! Where the £150 extra comes from with Direct Line I've no idea!

Fair enough the risk is extra, the bloke even agreed that if the car had rolled out of the factory with the wheels fitted then there would be no extra charge, so why so much now?
Its an 11 year old car, prob worth a fair bit less than the £3300 I paid for it 18 months ago, I'm 28 (nearly 29), ok I have a 2yr old SP30 but I also have 6 years + NCB.

Words of advice/sympathy appreciated. Rant over.
Cheers, Chris

 

[Meldrew2]

Wait until it's time to renew - then shop around with the new details.

I suspect that while insurers will quote low to get your business in the first place, there has to be an element of "we've got the customer by the short & curlies" when there is a mid-term adjustment.

 

[grober]

18" Wheels on a 98 MERC = "gangsta" in the eyes of insurance companies. They just don't like mods to standard vehicles because its difficult for them to assess the extra risk involved. Upshot is an "over the top" quote probably hoping you will move on??

 

[The G.F.P]

if they are merc wheels id not be overly botherd as how would they know if they came with the car or not?

i had this problem and they said they will only pay out to the value of the original wheels as they only wanted an extra £50 to include my 18" non merc alloys

i said so if the car is stolen/written off you wont give me the value of the new wheels just the original ones

yes she said

good i said, these cost me £1,000 and the originals for the alloys alobe would be double that (original 16" AMG's)

as usuall there all morons

 

[Jamesh7216]

This is one of the problems with insuring your car with companies like Direct Line, they only want you if there are no modifications to your car and if it is highly unlikely that you will ever claim. With regard to the excess they quoted you, I tried them for my S class, they were £50 cheaper per year than my present insurer, however only in the small print did i find that the excess was £500 compared to the £100 on my current policy. They might advertise that they cut out the middle man, however someone has to pay for the large amount of TV advertising that they do. and that someone is the customer. I have always managed to find an insurer that offers a better deal overall than Direct Line.

 

[markymark1]

Was thinking of replacing my wheels possibly AMG 2 as the post was thinking of 17" as i have seen a few on this forum and think that they look better than the standard 15" what i was interested to know was what do insurance companys class as a previous post said "GANGSTA".I know that if you have an accident they will look at any reason not to pay out so any mods need to be declared.

 

[wigs_1]

Hopefully not everyone will think they are 'gangsta', not untill I tint the windows anyway..

Re: Insurance, I never mentioned that the wheels were 18", I just stated that I was changing them for another type of mercedes wheel (I assume this is correct given that Mercedes own AMG).

Anyway, the good news is, after a quick scoot on confused.com I had a call tonight from elephant (who I had previously been insured with for a number of years). The nice chap on the phone said adding the wheels wasn't a problem and that if I leave direct line he could probably even knock off the 1 month leavers fee that Direct Line charge.

So in theory I'm no worse off, and the excess is only £100, even for the girlfriend!

Pic of car attached for the benefit of markymark1 so you can see what they look like fitted (pre refurb and in need of a wash ). Car is a sport model on standard suspension.
Cheers, Chris

 

[grober]

Result! Another instance where a forum member has found it pays to shop around for insurance.

 

[AMGeed]

18" Wheels on a 98 MERC = "gangsta" in the eyes of insurance companies.

I guess that makes me a "gangsta" then

98 Merc 18" wheels