Insurance cancelled due to painted wheels !
Discussion
My lads girlfriend has just bought her first car with our help and then insured it. The car is a 2007 Fiesta and is totally standard apart from what was a pair of standard wheels that had been badly painted black. I fully intended to refurbish the wheels back to silver for her but due to the snow hadn't had a chance yet.
Today the chap came to fit her black box and within 30 seconds went into a rant about how the car was modified and he would have to notify her insurance. He contracts to various ins co's and doesn't work for the company she is insured with. Wife gets on to the insurance company to explain the wheels are the standard wheels as it left the factory but have been poorly painted at some point, we told them we would get the wheels refurbished back to factory silver within the week...No, you cant do that as its a modification ! Apparently refurbished wheels are a modification and not covered by her policy, even when professionally refurbished back to factory colour/finish.
We then spoke to a manager who said we had 7 days to fit another set of standard wheels and they would be happy with that. An hour later we get an email saying basically we either cancelled the policy ourselves with immediate effect or they would cancel it themselves and we would be on the system for having insurance cancelled. Another phone call ensues and absolutely no movement or interest in letting us sort the issue for her. She is only 17 and answered the questions truthfully to the best of her knowledge when taking out the policy, this just seems stupidly heavy handed for a silly thing like some rattle paint on the wheels.
I cant possibly think how some £10 rattle can is making her that much more of a risk they need to cancel the policy with immediate effect and not even let her rectify the issue !
Naturally they weren't interested in doing anything with all the admin and cancellation fee's either and then the cover for time on risk so she is well and truly shafted.
So, if you have refurbished wheels best you check with your insurer if they class them as a modification, because these clowns do and wont cover a car if they have been.
Today the chap came to fit her black box and within 30 seconds went into a rant about how the car was modified and he would have to notify her insurance. He contracts to various ins co's and doesn't work for the company she is insured with. Wife gets on to the insurance company to explain the wheels are the standard wheels as it left the factory but have been poorly painted at some point, we told them we would get the wheels refurbished back to factory silver within the week...No, you cant do that as its a modification ! Apparently refurbished wheels are a modification and not covered by her policy, even when professionally refurbished back to factory colour/finish.
We then spoke to a manager who said we had 7 days to fit another set of standard wheels and they would be happy with that. An hour later we get an email saying basically we either cancelled the policy ourselves with immediate effect or they would cancel it themselves and we would be on the system for having insurance cancelled. Another phone call ensues and absolutely no movement or interest in letting us sort the issue for her. She is only 17 and answered the questions truthfully to the best of her knowledge when taking out the policy, this just seems stupidly heavy handed for a silly thing like some rattle paint on the wheels.
I cant possibly think how some £10 rattle can is making her that much more of a risk they need to cancel the policy with immediate effect and not even let her rectify the issue !
Naturally they weren't interested in doing anything with all the admin and cancellation fee's either and then the cover for time on risk so she is well and truly shafted.
So, if you have refurbished wheels best you check with your insurer if they class them as a modification, because these clowns do and wont cover a car if they have been.
Edited by fastbikes76 on Tuesday 6th March 17:25
corozin said:
This kind of utter stupidity is unfortunately becoming more and more common and I hope that owners and motorists groups will get to the starting to call out some of this stuff as the BS that it clearly is. Painting wheels black (not even pink!) hardly affects the insurable risk of a car.
If I try really hard I can almost understand what they are saying about not liking the wheels being black, almost. What I can't fathom out is why they wont even afford us the opportunity to replace the wheels or refurbish the current ones back to stock. We cant have them refurbished as that in its own is a modification according to them. They also stated if there were ANY stickers on the car they would also cancel the policy and again not even allow you to remove sticker to conform 
KTF said:
Given most used cars would have had their wheels refurbished at some point, there must be thousands driving around with no insurance 
I did get them to confirm via chat that if I had a damaged wing and repainted it back to factory colour that would be ok and not considered and modification, however if you damage a wheel a refurbish it back to factory silver it is a modification and worthy of cancelling the policy with immediate effect. The mind absolutely boggles and we have had arguments with half the staff today trying to see sense or reason...to no avail.To reply to some posts,
Yes, I think the snitch gets a cutback for each car he snitches on...cant fathom why he would have made such a fuss otherwise !
We have cancelled the policy with immediate effect tonight, they told us we had 7 days to cancel it or they would cancel it. If we did it before the 7 days it wouldn't go on the system, if we didn't they would cancel the policy and it would show up screwing us for years.
Replacement wheels being sourced as we speak and a new policy coming into effect on Thursday.
Broker is vegetable that rhymes with Parrot, underwriter is largest city in Switzerland and will be last in the phone book
They did not refund entire policy either, we had to pay £35 admin fee for setting up the policy, £35 admin fee for cancelling the policy and then a further £67 for time on risk over 10 days. The policy was setup on direct debit with a deposit paid so will be be refunded some of the deposit less the above costs.
Yes, I think the snitch gets a cutback for each car he snitches on...cant fathom why he would have made such a fuss otherwise !
We have cancelled the policy with immediate effect tonight, they told us we had 7 days to cancel it or they would cancel it. If we did it before the 7 days it wouldn't go on the system, if we didn't they would cancel the policy and it would show up screwing us for years.
Replacement wheels being sourced as we speak and a new policy coming into effect on Thursday.
Broker is vegetable that rhymes with Parrot, underwriter is largest city in Switzerland and will be last in the phone book
They did not refund entire policy either, we had to pay £35 admin fee for setting up the policy, £35 admin fee for cancelling the policy and then a further £67 for time on risk over 10 days. The policy was setup on direct debit with a deposit paid so will be be refunded some of the deposit less the above costs.
Edited by fastbikes76 on Tuesday 6th March 18:00
Wow, I cant believe so many people feel the same way as me ! Being PH I fully expected to be told its all my fault for trying to con the insurance company and of course painted wheels are modifications, calling custard and wanting proof blah blah blah. For once PH seems to be about car enthusiasts annoyed at being conned
vikingaero said:
OK. That's clearer. Is this a decision by Rhymes with Parrot or Zurich? I'm inclined to think it's a mentalist manager at Rhymes with Parrot that has thrown his toys out of the pram rather than the underwriting insurer. Go after both with the FOS.
I see that TrakGlobalGroup are the owners of Rhymes with Parrot - very incestuous.
Decision has come from Zurich according to the Carrot. They sent them the photos that matey boy took when he turned up to fit black box and Zurich declined the policy or allowing to rectify the issueI see that TrakGlobalGroup are the owners of Rhymes with Parrot - very incestuous.
b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: Daft as I find it I can sort of get how painted wheels could be viewed as a modification.
What I'm struggling with is how the fk saying you'll get them refurbished back to standard is still a modification? 
And that's the arguments we been having all day. I can kind of see the painted wheels being an issue,,,but not taking them back to standard.What I'm struggling with is how the f
k saying you'll get them refurbished back to standard is still a modification? Sad Ken said:
fastbikes76 said:
a pair of standard wheels that had been badly painted black.
I might have missed this by skim reading, but why were only two wheels painted? Did they run out of paint halfway through lol 
darren f said:
So does the black box now have to be removed? (... sorry don’t know the technicalities of this). In which case, I want it done tomorrow please and by the way the car is now 300 miles away. That or said black box has just caused some electrical issues that caused the car to break down (... very expensively). Childishly vindictive I know, but If you want to give the ****head installer some grief... (me, I’d just wimp out and write it off as a bad experience).
He didn’t even fit it, he was there long enough to take a few photos and buggered off sharpish. I tried my best reasoning with them explaining very clearly they were standard wheels and would be put back to standard colour. I spoke to several people including managers and all round it was a big nope.
I then tried to sweet talk them into at least waiving their fees to help a poor 17 year old girl out, couldn’t do that either. On the whole it was a big case of nope, nope nope and a little more nope !
In a big twist of fate, we have just taken out a new policy with More Than and although they previously didn’t quote us, they have now given us a policy at around £250 cheaper than the one we just cancelled ... so after all deductions she works out about a £100 better off
Best i hurry up and get the wheels done silver again !!!!
I then tried to sweet talk them into at least waiving their fees to help a poor 17 year old girl out, couldn’t do that either. On the whole it was a big case of nope, nope nope and a little more nope !
In a big twist of fate, we have just taken out a new policy with More Than and although they previously didn’t quote us, they have now given us a policy at around £250 cheaper than the one we just cancelled ... so after all deductions she works out about a £100 better off
Best i hurry up and get the wheels done silver again !!!!
Gavia said:
Jetblackonetenth said:
Rhymes with Parrot's website says
Your car will be inspected for its specification and roadworthiness when your i-box is fitted to it. So make sure yours doesn’t have any modifications including:
Body kits
Performance enhancements
Non-standard alloys
LED lights which light up under your car at night
Stickers and decals
And many more...
It appears it is the black box fitters job to inspect the car
Then they’ve made it clear what their terms are and this thread is a bit moot. Your car will be inspected for its specification and roadworthiness when your i-box is fitted to it. So make sure yours doesn’t have any modifications including:
Body kits
Performance enhancements
Non-standard alloys
LED lights which light up under your car at night
Stickers and decals
And many more...
It appears it is the black box fitters job to inspect the car
Well we will most definitely be escalating the complaint today. If nothing else it will cost them money when the ombudsman gets involved and with a bit of luck push for all the admin fees to be refunded too.
I had to be careful yesterday during all the calls and arguments, they made out like they were doing her a favour by allowing her to cancel the policy rather than them cancel it outright for undeclared modifications. I was concerned if I pushed to hard they would have just dug in and cancelled with immediate effect meaning she would have to declare having a policy cancelled !
The car is as it left the factory right down to the crappy standard radio, it is purely the aversion to some peeling black paint on the wheels that all this came about. There are no stickers on the car, I only mentioned that as they told me they would have done the same even for something as small as that.
Im not fussed about the whole black box thing, in fact with both my lads it’s been a good thing. He often tells me he wishes his back box was off now as he would be ‘razzing it’ with all his mates . Having the black box has ensured they at least drive half sensibly. It’s also the only way new drivers can get even remotely comparitive insurance. She has managed to insure a 1.4 Zetec Fiesta on her own policy after passing her test two weeks ago for a mere £1059 full comp. 3-4 years ago that was a minimum of £3500 to insure something like that when our first son drove.
I will update once I start the complaints procedure
I had to be careful yesterday during all the calls and arguments, they made out like they were doing her a favour by allowing her to cancel the policy rather than them cancel it outright for undeclared modifications. I was concerned if I pushed to hard they would have just dug in and cancelled with immediate effect meaning she would have to declare having a policy cancelled !
The car is as it left the factory right down to the crappy standard radio, it is purely the aversion to some peeling black paint on the wheels that all this came about. There are no stickers on the car, I only mentioned that as they told me they would have done the same even for something as small as that.
Im not fussed about the whole black box thing, in fact with both my lads it’s been a good thing. He often tells me he wishes his back box was off now as he would be ‘razzing it’ with all his mates . Having the black box has ensured they at least drive half sensibly. It’s also the only way new drivers can get even remotely comparitive insurance. She has managed to insure a 1.4 Zetec Fiesta on her own policy after passing her test two weeks ago for a mere £1059 full comp. 3-4 years ago that was a minimum of £3500 to insure something like that when our first son drove.
I will update once I start the complaints procedure
captainaverage said:
Well they're kind of doing her a favour as if they cancelled the policy then either she can't drive or has to declare a cancelled policy and pay a horrendous amount of money until this matter is resolved.
I guess you don't want to tell us the name of the company until the matter is resolved with the FOS but once it comes to an end please tell us who these utter tw*ts are. The more hit their business takes the better they will behave next time.
We HAD to cancel the policy yesterday, we couldn’t risk being insured a minute longer with Zurich.I guess you don't want to tell us the name of the company until the matter is resolved with the FOS but once it comes to an end please tell us who these utter tw*ts are. The more hit their business takes the better they will behave next time.
Now we no longer run the risk of them cancelling, we can start all avenues of complaints against them and their conduct.
Her new policy with More than starts tomorrow which will give me time to pick up another set of standard wheels today and not go through this whole debacle again ! As I said I can see things from their side regarding painted wheels not being ok, but to not even allow us to refurbish back to standard or even replace with another set of stock wheels is just crazy.
saaby93 said:
fastbikes76 said:
I had to be careful yesterday during all the calls and arguments, they made out like they were doing her a favour by allowing her to cancel the policy rather than them cancel it outright for undeclared modifications. I was concerned if I pushed to hard they would have just dug in and cancelled with immediate effect meaning she would have to declare having a policy cancelled !
As posted earlier yes they were doing you a favour allowing you to cancel otherwise if they cancel, wont she always have to declare she had insurance cancelled, even if the ombudsman turns it aroundIf they dont cancel, do you have a complaint with which to go to the ombudsman?
So many posts I cant reply to but just to reiterate, The car is totally standard including the standard alloy wheels it came with from new. These have however at some point in the past have been poorly painted black of which at least 40% has come off back to silver. The policy was terminated on the grounds of the car being modified. I offered to paint the wheels back to silver which they denied, so I offered to have them professionally refurbished back to factory finish...denied. Refurbished or painted wheels are still deemed a modification according to them. I then offered to pick up another set of standard wheels and fit those, this was apparently OK if done within 7 days according to the manager. Within 2 hours we receive an email stating the policy must be cancelled immediately or they will cancel it.
The wheels are no more of a theft risk nor accident risk as they are, they are purely an eye sore which we fully intended to deal with once the weather improved. The guy who fits the black boxes does NOT work for Zurich, he fits the boxes for several companies according to him, so is a proper jobsworth. I fully appreciate youngsters pull the wool over insurers eyes with their 'standard' Corsa's running C20LET turbo lumps and fart can zorsts etc. This is a bone standard car with some rattle can paint on factory fitted standard wheels, hardly trying to deceive or con the insurers.
This is a 17 year old girl who has zero knowledge of cars and took things on face value answering questions truthfully to the best of her knowledge. They say the don't cover 'non standard alloys' , well to someone new to motoring and naive they ARE standard alloys, just horrible looking ones which let the rest of the otherwise mint car down.
The wheels are no more of a theft risk nor accident risk as they are, they are purely an eye sore which we fully intended to deal with once the weather improved. The guy who fits the black boxes does NOT work for Zurich, he fits the boxes for several companies according to him, so is a proper jobsworth. I fully appreciate youngsters pull the wool over insurers eyes with their 'standard' Corsa's running C20LET turbo lumps and fart can zorsts etc. This is a bone standard car with some rattle can paint on factory fitted standard wheels, hardly trying to deceive or con the insurers.
This is a 17 year old girl who has zero knowledge of cars and took things on face value answering questions truthfully to the best of her knowledge. They say the don't cover 'non standard alloys' , well to someone new to motoring and naive they ARE standard alloys, just horrible looking ones which let the rest of the otherwise mint car down.
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