My Fleet Tyres of Winter
Let me start by apologising, as this is a little bit of a rant! After the winter we had last year and seeing the weather over the last couple of weeks, I decided to equip my fleet with winter tyres. I thought it to be a sensible and curious move. I have to say that the main reason for doing it was not to obtain cheap fleet insurance, but to improve the handling and safety of my drivers over the winter period.
That said, you would think we would be forgiven for thinking that by fitting winter tyres to our vans and cars, we would be improving the safety of the vehicles and so surely, if we’re less likely to have an accident, our insurance premium should be reduced slightly, shouldn’t it?
Well that’s not the case. In fact, my insurer put up the insurance premium of my fleet. That’s right put it up! This was a shock. Here’s me thinking “Oh yeah, we might get a slight reduction”, but no, we end up incurring an increase. Why? Well apparently winter tyres are classed as a “vehicle modification” and as such the policy incurs a “slight increase” in the insurance premium.
The news reports that more and more motorists and fleet managers are considering replacing their regular tyres with more appropriate winter tyres. I think this is largely due to the more severe weather we are seeing. Some of the UK’s leading tyre manufactures including Goodyear, Dunlop and Continental, who make winter tyres, are experiencing a very high demand and are sometimes struggling to keep up. I remember reading a spokesman for Goodyear saying “We have experienced shortages in some sizes due to extreme demand, but are increasing our production.”
I also read in a report, Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said “I’m surprised. Winter tyres’ safety benefits are clear – I think they’d outweigh any additional costs.”
After incurring this “slight premium increase”, I spoke to my local insurance broker who told me that it’s important to realise that not every insurer will raise their premiums due to such a modification. She went on to give me a quote for my renewal (due next month) and ended up considerably beating my current insurer. So the good news is I actually did end up with cheaper fleet insurance. It’s just a shame about the pain I had to go through to get it. I urge anyone thinking of fitting winter tyres to their vehicle or fleet, to contact their local insurance broker first to ensure that their insurance premiums will not increase.”
