# Tyre insurance



## kmmfc1 (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi,
I'm considering taking out tyre insurance to cover my run-flat tyres (getting a "new" car for me) and I was wondering if anyone can recommend any insurance companies for this? There are a number found when searching google but I was hoping people could share their experience of actually using a company when they've had to claim. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks


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## -Jamie- (Nov 6, 2012)

Not worth the paper they are written on.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Best thing to do is get rid of the runflat tyres when they are worn out. They are horrible things. 

I wouldn't worry about tyre insurance.


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Tyre insurance lol 

Bin the run flats when they are worn out, the money you'll save will pay for the next set probably. And they weigh a tonne!


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## WhiteRoc_170 (Jan 31, 2013)

-Jamie- said:


> Not worth the paper they are written on.


What the tyres or the insurance? 
I dont have runflats.
but i do have 19s with low profile tyres. I had to have my tyre replaced last feb due to pot hole damage. My pirellis 
are £250 each.

I took out tyre insurance when i bought my car new got it for £199 instead of £299. Can claim upto 5 tyres. So straight away i have saved myself money and can get another 4 tyres.

So i dont see how its not a good idea. :tumbleweed:


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

I was pushed to buy tyre insurance.....oh and alloy insurance when I bought my car.

Oh how I laughed....it was 2.5 times the cost to insure my whole car.....and the alloy insurance did not cover the cost of replacement if a wheel was damaged beyond repair :lol:


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## percymon (Jun 27, 2007)

WhiteRoc_170 said:


> What the tyres or the insurance?
> I dont have runflats.
> but i do have 19s with low profile tyres. I had to have my tyre replaced last feb due to pot hole damage. My pirellis
> are £250 each.
> ...


Depends on what you can get the insurance for.

My MINI runflats are £190 a piece - i was offered tyre insurance from Mini for £399 - that covered summer and winter tyres, but you only got a high percentage of replacement cost paid if there was minimal wear on the tyres, otherwise it was something like 25% of the cost. As my used car already had 14k miles on it, and tread depths were below 6mm, I was only ever going to qualify for minimal cost replacement initially.

To the OP if you are looking for GAP insurance try Frank Pickles - I got better cover than through MINI for about 28% of the cost (even after MINI discount).


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## GerryH (May 8, 2011)

I never took the insurance when I got my car new, never had a puncture so you could say I saved the £250+ cost of it. At the time, 2010 it was around £250/tyre but checking recently they have dropped a fair bit to around £160. Have a check at the tyre replacement costs then it's really up to you whether you think it's worth it. You might never get a puncture but you could be really unlucky and get 4 at once, personally I don't think it's worth it as the insurance company are there to make money.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

percymon said:


> Depends on what you can get the insurance for.
> 
> My MINI runflats are £190 a piece - i was offered tyre insurance from Mini for *£399 - that covered summer and winter tyres, but you only got a high percentage of replacement cost paid if there was minimal wear on the tyres, otherwise it was something like 25% of the cost*. As my used car already had 14k miles on it, and tread depths were below 6mm, I was only ever going to qualify for minimal cost replacement initially.
> 
> To the OP if you are looking for GAP insurance try Frank Pickles - I got better cover than through MINI for about 28% of the cost (even after MINI discount).


In that case you would need to make 9 claims to come out ahead! :lol::lol::lol::lol: The worrying thing is people must buy these services!

As a rule in life I insure the bare minimum required of me....and huge potential costs. So House, contents and car are insured......the rest I class as self insured......tyre, wheel, MOT, TV, washing machine etc, identity, legal cover, breakdown, phone, pet, car warranty, any house or car insurance 'add-ons' etc, ad infinitum can all go whistle.

I lost a £600 unlocked iphone after a week....but I bought another and I'm still way, way, way ahead going this route.


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## m500dpp (Feb 17, 2006)

Got it with my Merc, rear tyre punctured, subsequently sidewall damaged, thought they would argue, but nope paid £186 within 3 days well worth it IMHO


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## Turkleton (Apr 18, 2010)

Depending on the price, it's worth it.

My brothers 135i had 18" runflats all round that were pretty nasty, but for the £250 the policy cost, getting 4 rear tyres whilst insured certainly made more sense than forking out £300 per tyre.

It's always a shame when a screw appears in the tyre that's nearing the limit...


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Who paying £300 for 18 or even 19" tyres these day? 

Have you shopped around for better prices? Unless it's a rare size or special tyre, nobody should be paying that kind of money. 

If you hit a pothole and damage a tyre, you should be able to claim off who is liable for the upkeep of the road and not rely on an instance policy. 

£200 for tyre insurance? I insure my whole car for less than that.


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## Turkleton (Apr 18, 2010)

Kerr said:


> Who paying £300 for 18 or even 19" tyres these day?
> 
> Have you shopped around for better prices? Unless it's a rare size or special tyre, nobody should be paying that kind of money.
> 
> ...


This was 2 years ago, and with the tyre insurance you're stuck with main dealer prices too. Still paid for itself many times over even if you could shop about and get them in for £200 each


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Turkleton said:


> This was 2 years ago, and with the tyre insurance you're stuck with main dealer prices too. Still paid for itself many times over even if you could shop about and get them in for £200 each


If you didn't have tyre insurance you can buy where you want. You won't be tied in to over inflated prices.

245/35×18 runflats car be had for just over £140 each for premium brands.

It's very rare to damage a tyre. Doing 4 is really unlucky.

As I say if you damage them due to the road, you claim off who is responsible and have no need for insurance.

Insurance companies take in more money than they pay out. You need to be unlucky to be on the wrong side of this.

Protect your biggest assets seems an obvious thing. You need to be sensible and not insure everything of any worth or your going to pay an awful lot of money out for nothing.


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## Turkleton (Apr 18, 2010)

I'm not arguing the fact that you can buy tyres cheaper :lol:

I'm merely saying that despite the dealers tyres being more expensive than sourcing yourself, spending £250 on the policy and getting 4 tyres priced at £300 each was a no brainer.

Tried to get a good deal on the policy for my Mini when I bought it, but they'd cottoned on to it and pushed the price up to 350-400 for the same policy which didn't make sense when the tyres on mine were £150 at the time and I did barely any miles.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Turkleton said:


> Depending on the price, it's worth it.
> 
> My brothers 135i had 18" runflats all round that were pretty nasty, but for the £250 the policy cost, getting 4 rear tyres whilst insured certainly made more sense than forking out £300 per tyre.
> 
> It's always* a shame when a screw appears in the tyre that's nearing the limit...*





Kerr said:


> If you didn't have tyre insurance you can buy where you want. You won't be tied in to over inflated prices.
> 
> 245/35×18 runflats car be had for just over £140 each for premium brands.
> 
> ...


If, while insured, your tyres picked up four separate punctures while nearing the wear limit it could be considered decidedly lucky....especially if they were all really close to the side wall and could not be patched.

Perhaps the Ernest Hemingway quote of "You make your own luck" is truer here than most cases...


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## Dode (Jun 13, 2013)

The chances are you wont need it, that why insurance companies offer it, to make money. I took it out with my car to avoid unexpected bills and to give me a fixed cost each month. I have had my monies worth already with only half the term used. Maybe I was just unlucky but on this occasion I am not out of pocket at least. 

Every insurance is a gamble and I dont take them out on everything its just your luck whether in the long run it is worthwhile or not.


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## Dode (Jun 13, 2013)

Kerr said:


> If you hit a pothole and damage a tyre, you should be able to claim off who is liable for the upkeep of the road and not rely on an instance policy.


This is very difficult to do in my experience, you have to be to prove that a pothole was reported and not fixed after a reasonable period of time



Kerr said:


> £200 for tyre insurance? I insure my whole car for less than that.


I insure my house for less but but I am less likely to claim on my house insurance. It all to do with the odds of it happening.

Look at the cost of life insurance for instance


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Dode said:


> This is very difficult to do in my experience, you have to be to prove that a pothole was reported and not fixed after a reasonable period of time
> 
> I insure my house for less but but I am less likely to claim on my house insurance. It all to do with the odds of it happening.
> 
> Look at the cost of life insurance for instance


I've made two genuine claims for tyre damage and one also put a flat spot on the rim.

Both times I've be paid out in full.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Kerr said:


> I've made two genuine claims for tyre damage and one also put a flat spot on the rim.
> 
> Both times I've be paid out in full.


How much hassle was it? The default reply from the council here says the road was inspected at the required interval, the pothole was not reported and to claim for damage you have to prove negligence...and we've not been negligent. I've not tried myself but know others who have.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Bero said:


> How much hassle was it? The default reply from the council here says the road was inspected at the required interval, the pothole was not reported and to claim for damage you have to prove negligence...and we've not been negligent. I've not tried myself but know others who have.


The first one was on Riverside Drive Aberdeen. It was a sunken manhole cover.

I took pictures and measurements of this one.

I reported it to Aberdeen Council who then informed me that it was Scottish Water's responsibility. Called Scottish Water who then accepted liability within a day and forwarded the claim to their insurers.

They got a bit funny and were trying to reduce the claim. I gave them two similar quotes and they agreed I couldn't do much more then paid out. It did take them quite a few weeks to come up with the money though.

Next time was on the A90. I couldn't get pictures other than getting my passenger to get a moving photo when we drove past it again. I explained it was a very busy 70mph road and too dangerous to stop and measure the pothole.

You report the problems through Traffic Scotland who then forward the case to BEAR who are responsible for the road.

I didn't hear anything from BEAR for a while and I had to chase up Traffic Scotland a few times to get BEAR to send out a claims form. Turns out Traffic Scotland had supplied BEAR the wrong address to send the letter.

The BEAR form had a lot of questions. I refused to answer many of them as they weren't relevant.

I returned the letter with the receipts for the damage and explain I had kept costs down by buying tyre from Camskill.

I got the cheque a few weeks later.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Kerr said:


> The first one was on Riverside Drive Aberdeen. It was a sunken manhole cover.
> 
> I took pictures and measurements of this one.
> 
> ...


Nice...i never realised your were in the North East. Nether were from the council, which i believe make things more difficult.


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## Dode (Jun 13, 2013)

Kerr said:


> I've made two genuine claims for tyre damage and one also put a flat spot on the rim.
> 
> Both times I've be paid out in full.


Good result there. I will bare it mind for the future.

The claim I made on my tyre insurance was due to a screw right on the sidewall so it couldnt be fixed.


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## Dode (Jun 13, 2013)

Bero said:


> How much hassle was it? The default reply from the council here says the road was inspected at the required interval, the pothole was not reported and to claim for damage you have to prove negligence...and we've not been negligent. I've not tried myself but know others who have.


Thats the response I got


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## [email protected] (Sep 28, 2009)

kmmfc1 said:


> Hi,
> I'm considering taking out tyre insurance to cover my run-flat tyres (getting a "new" car for me) and I was wondering if anyone can recommend any insurance companies for this? There are a number found when searching google but I was hoping people could share their experience of actually using a company when they've had to claim. Any help would be much appreciated.
> Thanks


Hi,
Please feel free to give us a try for tyre insurance if you like. If you wanted to PM me some contact details I'd be happy to arrange for one of my quote team to give you a call back.
Regards,
Dan.


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