Tesco won't insure my Catloc!

[BigRedSwitch]

Title says  it all really.  I'd rung Tesco Insurance because I had two "mods" to my Auris that didn't fit into the pre-defined categories in the online proposal form -these seem to be common to many insurance companies nowadays.  Anyway, the mods were first, black plastic "rubbing strips" to prevent damage to doors in close-parking situations and the second "mod" was a Catloc!  Tesco say they will cover the rubbing strips but not the Catloc. 

I think this is absolutely incredible.  Be warned!  Avoid Tesco like the plague.

[Parts-King]

39 minutes ago, BigRedSwitch said:

Title says  it all really.  I'd rung Tesco Insurance because I had two "mods" to my Auris that didn't fit into the pre-defined categories in the online proposal form -these seem to be common to many insurance companies nowadays.  Anyway, the mods were first, black plastic "rubbing strips" to prevent damage to doors in close-parking situations and the second "mod" was a Catloc!  Tesco say they will cover the rubbing strips but not the Catloc. 

I think this is absolutely incredible.  Be warned!  Avoid Tesco like the plague.

I am sure the Tesco underwriter would like to hear that, what a ridiculous statement by Tesco 

[TonyHSD]

Yes, many insurers these days are non sensual at all. Have you cancel your Tesco and move to another provider? 

[BigRedSwitch]

27 minutes ago, Parts-King said:

I am sure the Tesco underwriter would like to hear that, what a ridiculous statement by Tesco 

Tesco are the underwriters!

[BigRedSwitch]

4 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Yes, many insurers these days are non sensual at all. Have you cancel your Tesco and move to another provider? 

No. I did consider it but the price I paid was good and I hate being on the renewal time roundabout so I thought I'd take the risk.  I've made a promise not to put any more business the way of Tesco Insurance ever again.

Don't the Catloc manufacturers have some sort of warranty against the Catloc being breached?  I seem to recall having to register online for some reason.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Tesco car insurance is underwritten by a range of underwriters including: Tesco Underwriting (Ageas UK and Tesco Bank in a partnership arrangement); Axa Insurance; Aviva Insurance; Sabre Insurance; and Zenith Insurance.

Tesco Insurance acts as a broker, so one's Tesco insurance policy could be underwritten by any of the above.

As regards Catloc, the registration is to enter the specific security marking on the exhaust with the International Security Register.

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[mrpj]

I had a similar, strange, thing with another insurer. I phoned them up, after using a comparison site, to take out fully comp. with them. After going through the process I declared a Dashcam is fitted (front and rear). The questions about that were unbelievable - how much was it, where was it purchased from because we will need a copy of the receipt, make/model, who fitted it, is it removable? etc.. After answering everything she said that she would speak to the underwriter. About 2 minutes later, sorry we can't insure the vehicle because of the Dashcam!

The then current insurer had refunded £10 a few weeks previously when I advised them of the camera. It now seems to be a common question too, on some comparison sites. I renewed with the existing after a bit of haggling over price.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

From what I've seen, if a Dashcam is hard wired into the vehicle, it is a modification. If it is removable (for example plugged into the 12v socket), it isn't a modification.

[flash22]

As a rule the insurance don't actually cover a modification, in the event of an accident they will return it to factory specification - you will have to do something major to damage a Catloc that will more than likely write the car off - also be aware, some underwriters now have a catalytic convertor clause in the fine print due to the high number of claims

[MyOpinionIsWorthless]

Bizarrely enough. When I had my tow bar fitted I enquired with my insurance company how this would affect my insurance. They said if it was fitted by a dealer it would be classed as a “Factory Fitted option” and therefore would not affect the insurance. If I had a garage fit an after market unit it would be classed as modification  and there would be an increase in the policy. 
go figure ….

[mrpj]

19 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

From what I've seen, if a dashcam is hard wired into the vehicle, it is a modification. If it is removable (for example plugged into the 12v socket), it isn't a modification.

That wasn't the question I was asked though, Mike. The dashcam(s) is/are removable (both of them) by just unplugging at the cameras and removing from their respective mounts. I therefore answered that specific question honestly. "Yes they are removable." No mention of hardwiring. At the time the power was supplied from the 12v socket. Therefore they were removable by that definition.

And when using a comparison site the only question I have encountered is "is a Dashcam fitted to the vehicle?"(or words to that effect.

As I said, one insurer will offer a discount and another will not insure!

[mcntosh]

I'm online to my insurer right now asking about how a catloc would affect my policy. Guy on the other end seems a bit unsure of what I'm talking about. I assumed this wouldn't be a problem given that insurers seem to be jacking up premiums for Toyota hybrids.

Edit: Apparently they're referring it to their underwriters. Great...

[Belucky22]

Are hybrids dearer to insurance than petrol ?

[mcntosh]

7 minutes ago, Belucky22 said:

Are hybrids dearer to insurance than petrol ?

Not sure but given the prevalence of thefts of catalytic converters from Priuses and Auris hybrids, I would be very surprised if premiums for hybrid Aurises weren't more expensive. 

It may also depend on your location. It seems to be less of a problem here in Scotland than in England, and more especially in London. Or at least there are fewer reports, which may simply be down to it being a smaller country in terms of population.

[TonyHSD]

Just done new cover with Adrian flux, no problems at all, high miles, cat cover, non standard wheels, no badges, all included. Highly recommend to give them a call. 👌

[mcntosh]

15 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Just done new cover with Adrian flux, no problems at all, high miles, cat cover, non standard wheels, no badges, all included. Highly recommend to give them a call. 👌

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind - not terribly impressed with my insurance's (Admiral) first-line just now but maybe they'll be OK. I only messaged them because I wanted to check they wouldn't be like Tesco. I expected some non-committal answer about the premium possibly being affected, not to be asked if it was some kind of lock I was talking about. 

[mcntosh]

On 4/27/2021 at 4:04 PM, mcntosh said:

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind - not terribly impressed with my insurance's (Admiral) first-line just now but maybe they'll be OK. I only messaged them because I wanted to check they wouldn't be like Tesco. I expected some non-committal answer about the premium possibly being affected, not to be asked if it was some kind of lock I was talking about. 

The response from Admiral was that they’ll cover the catloc against theft (I’ve gone for the Toyota one). No effect on my premium either way. Nice to know that trying to protect my car against theft counts for nothing. I’ll be calling Adrian Flux come renewal time.

[Amatyr]

Adding to an old post, but I got a catloc added to my Prius last year after a theft and I told Admiral about it, thinking they'd be happy since they just paid out for a cat theft. It has to be put down as a generic cosmetic bodywork modification and now it's renewal time they've bumped my premium by £700!

They also said they couldn't just take the damn thing off their records. Going to call Adrian Flux in the morning so thanks for the tip.

[mcntosh]

My experience of Admiral was that anything not on their standard list of modifications flummoxed them and you’d get different answers from different people - not really what you want with an insurance policy.

Suffice to say I’m now with Adrian Flux and enjoying the novelty of talking to support people who seem to be actually trained, as opposed to human chat bots. The £100 drop in premium was just a nice bonus.

[Cyker]

2 hours ago, Amatyr said:

Adding to an old post, but I got a catloc added to my Prius last year after a theft and I told Admiral about it, thinking they'd be happy since they just paid out for a cat theft. It has to be put down as a generic cosmetic bodywork modification and now it's renewal time they've bumped my premium by £700!

They also said they couldn't just take the damn thing off their records. Going to call Adrian Flux in the morning so thanks for the tip.

That's insane... they're basically saying they'd rather pay for a whole new exhaust! Hmm... I wonder how many times before they'd revoke cover (My friend's neighbour had his cat stolen 3 times before his insurance stopped covering him - I didn't even know they could just unilaterally do that!)

 

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:35 PM, mcntosh said:

My experience of Admiral was that anything not on their standard list of modifications flummoxed them and you’d get different answers from different people - not really what you want with an insurance policy.

Suffice to say I’m now with Adrian Flux and enjoying the novelty of talking to support people who seem to be actually trained, as opposed to human chat bots. The £100 drop in premium was just a nice bonus.

Hi.

Glad we could help out with your insurance.

Regards,

Dan.

[Mojo1010]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:00 PM, Amatyr said:

Adding to an old post, but I got a catloc added to my Prius last year after a theft and I told Admiral about it, thinking they'd be happy since they just paid out for a cat theft. It has to be put down as a generic cosmetic bodywork modification and now it's renewal time they've bumped my premium by £700!

They also said they couldn't just take the damn thing off their records. Going to call Adrian Flux in the morning so thanks for the tip.

More likely the premium has gone up because you have made a claim. 

23 hours ago, Cyker said:

That's insane... they're basically saying they'd rather pay for a whole new exhaust! Hmm... I wonder how many times before they'd revoke cover (My friend's neighbour had his cat stolen 3 times before his insurance stopped covering him - I didn't even know they could just unilaterally do that!)

 

Yes insurance companies can do that. There was someone on this forum with a auris hybrid that had the cat stolen 2x in 3months. £250 X2 excess and premium had doubled. Don't think they rejected cover yet. But insurance company can do this as it's just costing them too much. 

I did look into getting the auris hybrid excel 2015-16 about 2 years ago until I read the horror stories of cat theft. So stayed well clear of it. It's the reason I hanged on to my current MK3 Yaris hybrid for a few more years.....until the mk4 Yaris excel arrive next summer...probably 🙂

[TonyHSD]

I have started to see more and more debadged auris hybrids. It works really well imo, because even I got confused when I look at them. 👍

[Steven83]

I don’t think I even mentioned my cat lock to the insurance company.

I had it fitted by main dealer before I purchased it though so I’m gonna convince myself it’s factory fitted 😆