UK Insurers who allow wrapping...who do you use?

[Slowboydickie]

I just spoke to my insurer, Directline, about new wheels and in passing mentioned we were planning on getting the car wrapped because my 3 yr old daughter did a "drawing" on all four panels and the trunk lid with a rock and its cheaper to wrap than spray. Directline told me they will not cover the vehicle if wrapped.

So, I have seen a load of UK wrapped Teslas on the internet therefore some insurers must do it. If you've got yours wrapped please can you let me know your insurer?

Thanks
Richard

 

[Radders]

my 3 yr old daughter did a "drawing" on all four panels and the trunk lid

Ouch!!!

 

[Ant M3]

I’m about to use Richard at PPProtect for PPF, I’m sure they do full wraps too


On a side note, does anyone know if insurance companies care about PPF? I don’t want to tell them if I don’t have to as I think that they’ll think it’s a colour change wrap and hike my premium

 

[meavydev]

I’m about to use Richard at PPProtect for PPF, I’m sure they do full wraps too


On a side note, does anyone know if insurance companies care about PPF? I don’t want to tell them if I don’t have to as I think that they’ll think it’s a colour change wrap and hike my premium

Look at the Paint Protection Film thread... yes they care as Direct Line won't cover you if you have it.
I can sort of understand, as while it helps for scratches and stone chips (which insurers don't care about), if you have an accident then presumably you would want the PPF replaced too, which increases repair costs.

 

[asherwood]

Nova seemed to understand ppf, ceramic coatings etc... when I spoke to them.

 

[interbear]

I just spoke to my insurer, Directline, about new wheels and in passing mentioned we were planning on getting the car wrapped because my 3 yr old daughter did a "drawing" on all four panels and the trunk lid with a rock and its cheaper to wrap than spray. Directline told me they will not cover the vehicle if wrapped.

So, I have seen a load of UK wrapped Teslas on the internet therefore some insurers must do it. If you've got yours wrapped please can you let me know your insurer?

Thanks
Richard

Ouch, that's a sore and expensive one. Reminds me of when my daughter - 3 at the time - decided to draw on my plasma TV screen with a biro. Scratches galore. Although I was secretly pleased because it gave me an excuse to upgrade the TV

On the wrap / PPF insurance front, is it not reasonable to get the car insured with anyone - LV, Direct Line whoever - without telling them about the wrap? It's more of a cosmetic rather than performance upgrade after all. And, in the unfortunate event that an accident occurs requiring repair, have the insurer pay for the base car repair and pay for any PPF/wrap element of it separately yourself. Is this not a feasible approach? I'd have thought a discussion with an insurer to add a clause on the policy to note that the insurer is not responsible for any PPF/wrap repair/replacement would be reasonable.

 

[Medved_77]

Look at the Paint Protection Film thread... yes they care as Direct Line won't cover you if you have it.
I can sort of understand, as while it helps for scratches and stone chips (which insurers don't care about), if you have an accident then presumably you would want the PPF replaced too, which increases repair costs.

I think I have a problem if that's the case

 

[Durzel]

Can confirm Novo are fine with PPF. Don't know about full colour wraps though.

On the wrap / PPF insurance front, is it not reasonable to get the car insured with anyone - LV, Direct Line whoever - without telling them about the wrap? It's more of a cosmetic rather than performance upgrade after all. And, in the unfortunate event that an accident occurs requiring repair, have the insurer pay for the base car repair and pay for any PPF/wrap element of it separately yourself. Is this not a feasible approach? I'd have thought a discussion with an insurer to add a clause on the policy to note that the insurer is not responsible for any PPF/wrap repair/replacement would be reasonable.

I think expecting a "high street" insurance company like Direct Line to do bespoke policy features is probably not going to happen. If you have a conversation about PPF with them they'll just say "computer says no", and if you don't tell them at all they could - with some legitimacy I would think - claim it was a modifcation/material fact that was not disclosed, and attempt to disclaim liability in the event of a claim.

 

[dakaix]

Admiral confirmed to me that they will accept a car with PPF as an "External Decorative Modification", it's not insured (so won't be replaced) but they'll document it so it doesn't affect the rest of the policy.

 

[interbear]

Admiral confirmed to me that they will accept a car with PPF as an "External Decorative Modification", it's not insured (so won't be replaced) but they'll document it so it doesn't affect the rest of the policy.

That's exactly as I was suggesting above. Makes sense.

My insurance is with LV and I have PPF but only applied to the front bumper area. I haven't informed them of this though, not sure it's worth doing so?

 

[TomD]

Out of interest what did they charge you for changing the wheels?

 

[dakaix]

That's exactly as I was suggesting above. Makes sense.

My insurance is with LV and I have PPF but only applied to the front bumper area. I haven't informed them of this though, not sure it's worth doing so?

The risk with not declaring it comes if you end up having a serious accident, and they send out an assessor. The insurer will be trying to minimize their losses as much as possible and will be looking for any excuse to void a policy. A friend of mine handles IT for one of the UK insurers and the horror stories he hears across the office from the Underwriters make your skin crawl.

Given the relative cost of the car, and the small increase for declaring modifications, I wouldn't take any risks on that front. Full disclosure is always the best approach.

 

[MrBadger]

Serious question, where do you draw the line?

I bet the front bumper PPF would take a couple of minutes to remove - I've seen how quick it is to remove from other areas. Probably much quicker than removing a console wrap, or mudflaps, pedals, many other common modifications etc.

I'm in the declare everything camp too, but you have to draw a line somewhere.

 

[Cyclone1]

The risk with not declaring it comes if you end up having a serious accident, and they send out an assessor. The insurer will be trying to minimize their losses as much as possible and will be looking for any excuse to void a policy. A friend of mine handles IT for one of the UK insurers and the horror stories he hears across the office from the Underwriters make your skin crawl.

Given the relative cost of the car, and the small increase for declaring modifications, I wouldn't take any risks on that front. Full disclosure is always the best approach.

They won’t void it because you have ppf on the front bumper. They may decline to replace it though in the event of an accident.

 

[Watts_Up]

I just spoke to my insurer, Directline, about new wheels and in passing mentioned we were planning on getting the car wrapped because my 3 yr old daughter did a "drawing" on all four panels and the trunk lid with a rock and its cheaper to wrap than spray.
Directline told me they will not cover the vehicle if wrapped.
So, I have seen a load of UK wrapped Teslas on the internet therefore some insurers must do it.
If you've got yours wrapped please can you let me know your insurer? Thanks Richard

I think the best is to look in detail at your insurance policy, in particular the fine prints.
The Directline person should had pointed out any official policy documents.

I think that in case of an accident, the insurance would repair a car to replace the parts who need to be replaced and repainted.
The most critical been the structural damages where a finder, especially a rear quarter panel, can be consider as structural.
The repair labor would be in this case a major element compare to the parts or painting.

I think from reading your posting, that the insurance would not pay the additional cost of replacing the wrapping film.
Or in the case of a cosmetic painting issue, removing the wrapping would be an additional cost that they don't want to be liable
especially if removing the wrapping might create additional damages.
So in the case of cosmetic issues, it might be simple to deal directly with a body shop, depending on your deductable.
However certain policy allow you to have additional equipment which need to be added to your policy for an additional premium cost.

Note: Most of the Tesla car body skin components are made of aluminium and cannot be fixed, so they will have to be replaced.
So I don't see the issue if there is a wrap or not on those parts. So they would be replaced, and it might be then your responsibility to wrap them again.

 

[mysp00n]

You mention wrapping (im guessing a full wrap) but what about window tints? or a de-chrome? I guess if something happened you could get the hair dryer out and remove it - obviously full wrap would be much more difficult

 

[interbear]

Serious question, where do you draw the line?

I bet the front bumper PPF would take a couple of minutes to remove - I've seen how quick it is to remove from other areas. Probably much quicker than removing a console wrap, or mudflaps, pedals, many other common modifications etc.

I'm in the declare everything camp too, but you have to draw a line somewhere.

I agree. I think PPF on the front bumper is a sensible precaution that may actually reduce the chance I claim on insurance but I may call LV and tell them anyway, based on this thread. I’m paranoid now

 

[interbear]

They won’t void it because you have ppf on the front bumper. They may decline to replace it though in the event of an accident.

I’d expect them to replace the bumper but not the PPF. I’d pay for the PPF myself in that event. Which I think is reasonable.

 

[Slowboydickie]

I’m going to call Admiral tomorrow. No other suggestions?

I’m now thinking there are quite a few wrapped Teslas out there with questionable insurance Policies....

 

[DC23]

Did anyone speak to insurance in the end about things such as if you got the windows tinted or chrome deleted yours or anything like this? I am curious as got mine booked in for tints and adding carbon spoiler....