Car key and tyres insurance....................good idea???

[Box Brownie]

I was just wondering if anyone has taken out insurance to cover the loss of a key(s) and tyres?

Though I look after the above as best I can, replacing a key or even tyres has become an expensive exercise........................so is it worth insuring them (in the case of the tyres I am thinking of the sort of puncture that is unrepairable).

TIA for your experiences and thoughts

PS if you have covered them, who are you using and would you recommend them?

 

[Yardbent]

tyres.............no i shop around

keys.....YES YES YES.............I'm not insured - lost my 'spare' remote set ....cost me £150 to replace plus the faff of having to take the car to the key shop

 

[Nikon Ken]

As background I worked in insurance for over 36 years. I retired 20 years ago. When I was working there was no insurance for tyres and keys. Those are newer developments. We managed without them. Having said that, keys have become more sophisticated, and therefore, more expensive to replace.

My first thought when I saw your post was, how many times have I needed to replace a key in over 50 years of driving. Answer, never. On that basis, I would carry my own risk.

Tyres on the other hand, I can recall maybe half a dozen times I have had an unrepairable puncture. However, across 50 years again that is a risk I would carry myself.

I think you need to weigh the risk and decide from there. Personally, I wouldn't purchase it.

Hope this helps.

 

[boogie man]

Never lost a car key either. We took out wheel and tyre insurance when we got our latest car, working on the principle that it was bought via a pcp arrangement and they’ll inevitably knock money off for every single tiny ding in the alloys when it’s time to return it. Lo and behold only a few weeks after we’d got it I managed to clip a kerb and a huge bulge appeared in the sidewall of the tyre. A new tyre was £230 via the dealer but it was replaced FOC under the insurance.

 

[TCR4x4]

Get a quote for both, then put aside the money each month in a pot.
Should it ever happen, you’ll have money there to pay for it.
I’ve had maybe 3 punctures in 20 years on my cars.. just buy a new tyre, at £100 or whatever it is. Most people probably spend considerably less than that on Tyres though. Insurance will probably cost more. I only use chunky all terrain tyres on my 3 cars now, so they don’t puncture very often, but are very expensive new. Usually £700+ for 4.
Never lost a key so never had to pay for a new one.

 

[Yardbent]

As background I worked in insurance for over 36 years. I retired 20 years ago. When I was working there was no insurance for tyres and keys. Those are newer developments. We managed without them. Having said that, keys have become more sophisticated, and therefore, more expensive to replace....................

is it true
if your car is stolen (from your driveway) you have to produce BOTH sets of original keys when you claim for loss;
to prove the keys were not left in the car...?? thanks

 

[JonathanRyan]

Most fully comp will cover lost keys - BUT it's going to cost you your excess and a fault claim. If the insurers have reason to believe they have been stolen then they will rekey the car which can cost about £1,500 for some models. And that's not optional - if you refuse a rekey then you wont be covered for theft.

Replacement keys are expensive, but not so expensive I'd personally want insurance. You could use one of the many sites to find out how much your particular keys are worth.

 

[Jelster]

Most new cars have run flat tyres. Run flats are more prone to punctures than normal tyres, as there's less give in the sidewall, plus most places won't repair a run flat. If it's been used after losing air, then the sidewall may be damaged and therefore it's a replacement tyre.

So, you need to consider how often do you get punctures (I had them regularly on run flats) and whether it's worth it or not. I changed my tyres to traditional tyres, bought a couple of cans of tyre slime and a 12v pump. As yet I haven't had to use them...

Keys are a different matter, but some are covered on your house insurance.

 

[Sky]

I'm with Ken. I've been driving since 1975 and in that time have only lost one, possibly two keys.

Also, tyres are consumables; I just accept that I'll have to pay for a puncture every few years. Thankfully, they are few and far between with the quality of tyres we use now - remoulds and cross-ply, now they were a different ball game altogether.

 

[JohnM100]

Depends on the insurance premium

Tyre insurance
Unrepairable punctures only. Some may cover a bulge but they could argue that you kerbed it and decline. No wear & tear cover.
Dealer pushed it when I bought by car but the cost was crazy and just didn’t stack up so declined.

Key insurance
I have it as a bolt on to my breakdown cover.
I need to re-read the policy to see what it covers beyond lost keys.

Alloy wheel insurance
Most policies don’t cover diamond cut wheels and only pay for a cosmetic repair (not a proper refurb). Also usually limited to ~2 per year. I declined that also. However, if the driver is someone who regularly kerbs wheels then may be worth it.

You can get 4 years GAP cover for less than tyre or alloy insurance. Admittedly it serves a different purpose but the value of GAP outweighs all of the above.

 

[Box Brownie]

Thanks all for the insights and feedback.

The reason this came to my attention was that I am looking at trading in my Focus (65 plate that I bought in 2016) for a Kuga (69 plate with very low mileage)

The dealer guy at first presented me with a "package" that had those added in and other 'insurance' based products......but he accounted for a much lower PX figure that I had been quoted sight unseen ~ suffice to say my Focus has pristine alloys and other than scuff on the front bumper that I missed noticing it is in darned good condition......the best 65 plate he had seen in ages

I pointed that out and told him what price I wished to get close to, he went off to get the manager to review it. They both came back with a revised figure PX up by £800 and none of those package extras.......though £500 higher than my request figure. NB the original 'package' price difference from my target price was a shade over £2500 !!!

I have been driving since 1971, though from 1980 to 2016 was with company cars.....the later of which had more sophisticated keys as does my Focus. I don't recall ever having lost anything that allows one to access & drive the car........I don't want to tempt fate

Edit ~ just found the right paragraph in the Policy and "ignition devices" covered if lost or stolen, though caveat being not if such loss occured within the range of the ignition device (and other such proximity caveats). NB personally I will be disabling the 'keyless entry', which from my reading up can be done by the car user/owner.

As for tyres, yes over the years I think it might have been......5 tyres with sidewall punctures. The Kuga tyres cost approx 2x the Focus ones.

So, I will check with my insurance whether keys are covered though could not readily see mentioned in my documents. Though on the website on the FaQs it says (without details) that keys are covered. As for the tyres, re above comments......it is a cost of ownership, put a few £'s more per month aside to mitigate such costs

PS as for GAP insurance, this is a new one to me so had to look it up...... possibly a good idea with a 69 plate for 4 years??? Any insight as to the costs?

PPS I have no idea how insurers calculate their figures but I got a quote and to switch to the Kuga added £1.68 to my upcoming renewal (they do charge a £15 switch admin fee on top!). Oh, and the original renewal quote I had, I asked and they reduced it to about £1 above what paid last time

 

[broc]

Bundling extras such as tyre, alloy wheel & key insurance, GAP insurance and paint/trim protection is all part of the game played by car dealers. I would imagine there are plenty of incentives for the salesman to push them.

I always ask for them to be removed from any deal. I look after my keys carefully and regard tyres as consumables, as for the wonder treatments on paint & trim I can do that myself at a fraction of the cost.

I took GAP insurance on my current car as it is on a PCP and I didn't want the risk of any shortfall in insurance payout in the event of total loss. I negotiated on the price, I think it was under £300 for a £26k car, bear in mind you don't have to take the GAP insurance offered by the dealer but you may be able to get them to reduce the price.....

 

[JohnM100]

...
The dealer guy at first presented me with a "package" that had those added in and other 'insurance' based products......but he accounted for a much lower PX figure that I had been quoted sight unseen ~ suffice to say my Focus has pristine alloys and other than scuff on the front bumper that I missed noticing it is in darned good condition......the best 65 plate he had seen in ages
...

Dealer add-on products are expensive and usually poor from a coverage/quality perspective. Dealers get commission on selling those.
Also avoid the paint / upholstery protection. A professional detailer will do a better job with a much better product for a similar price, if you decide to do it.

...
PS as for GAP insurance, this is a new one to me so had to look it up...... possibly a good idea with a 69 plate for 4 years??? Any insight as to the costs?
...

Yes - good idea. Try ALA for a quote (no affiliation). I’d be surprised it it was more than £300. As your car is not brand new I don’t know if are limited to ‘return to invoice’ as opposed to ‘vehicle replacement’.

Enjoy the new car!

 

[boogie man]

Most new cars have run flat tyres.

I think “most” is an overstatement, as far as I know it’s mainly BMWs, Mercedes and a few VW models.

Also be aware that if you use tyre slime to do a temporary fix on a puncture, a lot of tyre places won’t repair them afterwards.

 

[mj4456]

I worked in a main dealer, keys now can be very expensive, ‘smart’ keys £400+, we supplied more than I expected perhaps since they are easier lost than traditional keys with a long blade on a key ring? Dealer add ons, No, all these can be purchased elsewhere cheaper, eg paint protection sold at £399 cost me £56 to buy in!

 

[Box Brownie]

Dealer add-on products are expensive and usually poor from a coverage/quality perspective. Dealers get commission on selling those.
Also avoid the paint / upholstery protection. A professional detailer will do a better job with a much better product for a similar price, if you decide to do it.



Yes - good idea. Try ALA for a quote (no affiliation). I’d be surprised it it was more than £300. As your car is not brand new I don’t know if are limited to ‘return to invoice’ as opposed to ‘vehicle replacement’.

Enjoy the new car!

I worked in a main dealer, keys now can be very expensive, ‘smart’ keys £400+, we supplied more than I expected perhaps since they are easier lost than traditional keys with a long blade on a key ring? Dealer add ons, No, all these can be purchased elsewhere cheaper, eg paint protection sold at £399 cost me £56 to buy in!

In regard to the cars "status" I have yet to see the V5C so I surmise even the used sales manager cannot remember every car. I seemed to know more about its "dates" (from public .gov available info) than he did

So it is was unclear if the car started out as a dealer demo car that was then interdealer transferred (its reg plate code in from the north of England) i.e. was it never sold or was sold and returned within weeks for some reason e.g. unsuitable Mobility car supplied to user. Apparently, it never had a PDI but did have a PSI when received into this dealership. So, if it was indeed only retained dealer pre-registration stock........will I be the "First Registered Keeper" for the purposes of GAP insurance.

I have been reassured that lack of a recorded PDI on the Ford service database is of no consequence!

I like to cross the T's & dot the I's before parting with my money

PS its mileage is the level one might expect to see on a demonstration vehicle.

 

[Mozthecat]

Gap insurance, I have never claimed, but third party policies have been about a third of the dealer quoted prices on my last two vehicles. They were in the £200 to £300 cost but as cars were second hand was return to invoice value.

 

[broc]

If it has already been registered you will be the second keeper as far as the V5C is concerned. We have bought several low mileage pre-registered cars in the past with 'delivery' mileage on them. We were always 2nd keeper.....

One of our previous cars came from a national dealer network who 'rounded' up all their slow moving dealer stock from around the country and sold them from one dealership. The car was 6 months old when we bought it ,originally a £52k car, sold to us at £40k with 36 miles on the clock.

 

[boogie man]

In regard to the cars "status" I have yet to see the V5C so I surmise even the used sales manager cannot remember every car. I seemed to know more about its "dates" (from public .gov available info) than he did

So it is was unclear if the car started out as a dealer demo car that was then interdealer transferred (its reg plate code in from the north of England) i.e. was it never sold or was sold and returned within weeks for some reason e.g. unsuitable Mobility car supplied to user. Apparently, it never had a PDI but did have a PSI when received into this dealership. So, if it was indeed only retained dealer pre-registration stock........will I be the "First Registered Keeper" for the purposes of GAP insurance.

I have been reassured that lack of a recorded PDI on the Ford service database is of no consequence!

I like to cross the T's & dot the I's before parting with my money

PS its mileage is the level one might expect to see on a demonstration vehicle.

Ours was a few months old and very low mileage too and I wondered where it had come from. From what the sales guy told us, car companies dish out vehicles for their own head office staff to use. When they’re a few months old they’re put into a pool where the dealerships can bid on them to bring them into their own stock. Might just be BS of course.

 

[broc]

Ours was a few months old and very low mileage too and I wondered where it had come from. From what the sales guy told us, car companies dish out vehicles for their own head office staff to use. When they’re a few months old they’re put into a pool where the dealerships can bid on them to bring them into their own stock. Might just be BS of course.

Last year when we were shopping for a car for my wife we were told much the same story, hard to prove (or disprove) of course. You need to get hold of the V5C to see who the car is registered to, if a dealer is reluctant to show you chances are it could be an ex rental car which not everyone would want.

 

[JohnM100]

In regard to the cars "status" I have yet to see the V5C so I surmise even the used sales manager cannot remember every car. I seemed to know more about its "dates" (from public .gov available info) than he did

So it is was unclear if the car started out as a dealer demo car that was then interdealer transferred (its reg plate code in from the north of England) i.e. was it never sold or was sold and returned within weeks for some reason e.g. unsuitable Mobility car supplied to user. Apparently, it never had a PDI but did have a PSI when received into this dealership. So, if it was indeed only retained dealer pre-registration stock........will I be the "First Registered Keeper" for the purposes of GAP insurance.

I have been reassured that lack of a recorded PDI on the Ford service database is of no consequence!

I like to cross the T's & dot the I's before parting with my money

PS its mileage is the level one might expect to see on a demonstration vehicle.

You need this (and DO pay for the full version of the report)

Vehicle History Check | Salvage History | Ex-Taxi Search

Reveal if vehicle is financed, stolen, recorded as write-off or was sold as lot at salvage auction. Our mission is to reduce fraud in the automotive industry.

www.vcheck.uk

Again - no affiliation.

Probably the best £10 you will ever spend and covers significantly more than HPI. Enter the current registration plate.

All the HPI stuff, plus:
# previous keepers, dates, and mileage at each sale
Whether insurance write off and salvaged from auction (some of these do come back HPI clear when should be Cat C, D, N or S)
Ex taxi search
Whether ever reported stolen (even if recovered)
Number plate changes
.....and loads more.

The MPG/Road tax stuff is a bit off the mark but that’s been the case on car adverts for decades as they don’t factor in manufacturer option at time of build.

It will tell you more than the dealer will admit to (though not the PDI part).

 

[Brentor]

I didn‘t know such insurance existed. It seems like a move by the insurance industry to create yet more products to extract further premiums. I thought some car policies already covered lost keys, but perhaps the excess is much larger.

Personally I would self insurance for such items, however if you want cover for them, go ahead.

 

[Box Brownie]

Gap insurance, I have never claimed, but third party policies have been about a third of the dealer quoted prices on my last two vehicles. They were in the £200 to £300 cost but as cars were second hand was return to invoice value.

A judgement call to whether an appropriate expenditure?

If it has already been registered you will be the second keeper as far as the V5C is concerned. We have bought several low mileage pre-registered cars in the past with 'delivery' mileage on them. We were always 2nd keeper.....

One of our previous cars came from a national dealer network who 'rounded' up all their slow moving dealer stock from around the country and sold them from one dealership. The car was 6 months old when we bought it ,originally a £52k car, sold to us at £40k with 36 miles on the clock.

I did find a Ford price list dated April 2019 and that was an eye opener!

Ours was a few months old and very low mileage too and I wondered where it had come from. From what the sales guy told us, car companies dish out vehicles for their own head office staff to use. When they’re a few months old they’re put into a pool where the dealerships can bid on them to bring them into their own stock. Might just be BS of course.

Yup, the car trade appears to have some arcane practices!

Last year when we were shopping for a car for my wife we were told much the same story, hard to prove (or disprove) of course. You need to get hold of the V5C to see who the car is registered to, if a dealer is reluctant to show you chances are it could be an ex rental car which not everyone would want.

Unless it has a chequered history in its short life I doubt it is an ex rental??

You need this (and DO pay for the full version of the report)

Vehicle History Check | Salvage History | Ex-Taxi Search

Reveal if vehicle is financed, stolen, recorded as write-off or was sold as lot at salvage auction. Our mission is to reduce fraud in the automotive industry.

www.vcheck.uk

Again - no affiliation.

Probably the best £10 you will ever spend and covers significantly more than HPI. Enter the current registration plate.

All the HPI stuff, plus:
# previous keepers, dates, and mileage at each sale
Whether insurance write off and salvaged from auction (some of these do come back HPI clear when should be Cat C, D, N or S)
Ex taxi search
Whether ever reported stolen (even if recovered)
Number plate changes
.....and loads more.

The MPG/Road tax stuff is a bit off the mark but that’s been the case on car adverts for decades as they don’t factor in manufacturer option at time of build.

It will tell you more than the dealer will admit to (though not the PDI part).

Interesting, though as you say (seeing their sample) it might be worth doing re: car equivalent of skeletons in the cupboard......though very low mileage et Al.

I didn‘t know such insurance existed. It seems like a move by the insurance industry to create yet more products to extract further premiums. I thought some car policies already covered lost keys, but perhaps the excess is much larger.

Personally I would self insurance for such items, however if you want cover for them, go ahead.

As mentioned above my policy doc says keys covered

Re: GAP insurance ~ by degrees no different to keys, tyres, white goods cover. But will maybe get a quote or two and see what the numbers are?

 

[Mr Bump]

I have never lost a carkey but my c3 a few years ago when I came to sell it to we buy any car it was worth £150 more with 2x keys and my excess for a new key was £50 so I got anew key for £50

 

[Brentor]

Re: GAP insurance ~ by degrees no different to keys, tyres, white goods cover. But will maybe get a quote or two and see what the numbers are?

I would not get gap insurance ever. What does your car policy offer?

 

[Box Brownie]

I would not get gap insurance ever. What does your car policy offer?

Market value at date of claim. AFAIK/am aware this is a common write off claim value.

 

[gremlin16]

Having had a puncture last week and now a split tyre today this is something is should perhaps consider! Same wheel too!

 

[Box Brownie]

Having had a puncture last week and now a split tyre today this is something is should perhaps consider! Same wheel too!

I have just done (as a test) an online tyre quote:-

£150 per tyre claim
36 months ~ max 6 claims
Cost £231.28
NB min depth on tyre 2mm across all areas.....in the past I have run tyres to wear bars = <2mm before replacement when appropriate and FWD cars will always wear outside shoulders more than any other area. So the potential that any particular claim would not be allowed due to 'out of bounds' wear & tear.

The tyres on the Kuga ~ current online price is £147

When I was still in a company car I did have a fairly new (about 1000miles on it) lower profile front tyre get side wall puncture due to road debris.

Like any insurance it is a case of value for money over just ensuring I put enough money per year aside for at least 1 tyre to offset the costs of replacement???

 

[Box Brownie]

@JohnM100

I decided to use vcheck purely to know as much as is possible to learn about the car. It gets the Green Light (so to speak) and in regard to keepers:-

There are no previous ones according the Summary Section
But under the section "Previous Keepers" that reports 1(Current) at the original purchase registration date I knew of/about.

So, there is was a registered keeper on the V5C from that original date ~ as I understand it when a dealer takes a vehicle in they do not 'register it' like a keeper so that sounds right. Therefore only sight of the V5C will reveal whether the current keeper was an individual (NB I surmise here that if it was actually sold not Pre-Registered) or for example a Mobility Leasing Company???

PS spending that much money on a new(to me) car I did not see £10 as a pointless exercise...............just a must know precaution

 

[JonathanRyan]

Market value at date of claim. AFAIK/am aware this is a common write off claim value.

Yeah that's standard. Though *some* insurers will do new for old if a vehicle is total lossed within the first 2 years. Worth checking if you can find a company that does that as it may remove the need for GAP.

GAP insurance *should* be pretty cheap - you are insuring a small fixed value against a reasonably unlikely event. It's a bit like life insurance for a fit healthy person . As others say - shop around - I bet dealer commissions are at least 50%.

Pretty much all fully comp will cover keys - but see notes above. Losing a key and claiming on your insurance may actually cost more than just buying a new one. Drop your details in here to find out what a replacement key costs

Car Keys Product Details

www.fastkeys.co.uk

 

[Nikon Ken]

is it true
if your car is stolen (from your driveway) you have to produce BOTH sets of original keys when you claim for loss;
to prove the keys were not left in the car...?? thanks

Claims were not my area, but I was never aware that was the case during my time in the industry. I worked for one of the major insurers who tended to be fair and reasonable. Insurance companies now, particularly those new to the market, tend to be more stringent.

Unless that is written in the policy, then I would fight such an imposition. Having said that the catch all is the condition that the policyholder "will take all reasonable precautions to prevent loss or damage".

My Son had a car stolen from our driveway and the Police investigated the fact that the car, having been found, showed no signs of a break in. In fact they accused him of involvement. This delayed his claim against the insurer, who tried to deny the claim. The car was damaged beyond repair and cover was for a new car as his was less than 12 months old. Some harsh words from me and use of my insurance knowledge and experience resulted in a personal visit from local PC to deliver an apology and a quickly sourced replacement car together with a cheque as compensation.

Back to the OP's original question, and commented on by others, the commission paid to dealers on add on insurance tends to be on the high side. I remember commissions of up to 40% on warranty insurance.

 

[mj4456]

Some manufacturers carry out PDI inspections at the import centres at the same times as odd things as locking wheel nuts and alarm additions are done, these then aren’t recorded on the service book, we were able to get options fitted to cars at this time too which were cheaper than dealer fit, ie towbars, roof rails and mud flaps.

 

[Box Brownie]

Some manufacturers carry out PDI inspections at the import centres at the same times as odd things as locking wheel nuts and alarm additions are done, these then aren’t recorded on the service book, we were able to get options fitted to cars at this time too which were cheaper than dealer fit, ie towbars, roof rails and mud flaps.

Ah! That sort of makes sense........as they mentioned that it was likely done and recorded on a 'different' system to Ford's DSR (Digital Service Record).

 

[Box Brownie]

Update.......collecting it today

Re: my OP
As mentioned keys are covered in the insurance policy.

Somewhat undecided as to GAP cover, did one online quote and for 4 years it was something like £349, so not a lot per year pro-rata bearing in mind how relatively quickly depreciation can reduce the "market value".......but it seems I don't have to rush to take it out......thinks??? If GAP will indeed pay the difference to cover up to value of a brand new model then might be worth doing ~ though like all such insurance you never expect to need to claim!

 

[broc]

GAP insurance is worth considering if you are financing the vehicle, as any insurance settlement in the event of total loss may not cover the balance of the finance in the early years of the agreement. You could hedge your bets & choose to purchase 2-3 years GAP cover on a 4 year PCP ......