Before I was a Motability Customer I owned a Volvo S40, a superb car – I still miss it now.
The alloys eventually got wrecked driving over potholes (council denied any responsibility, of course, despite photographic evidence), so I looked around – ebay, gumtree etc for an identical set of wheels but not finding any, I eventually bought replica Volvo wheels, same style but two inches bigger. Doing the right thing, I called the insurance company, KwikFit, and told them about the wheels.
They more than doubled my premiums – £400 to £900 a year, as I was now a Modder.
So…. back on ebay, found a kerbed set of original wheels, with tyres, drove to Blackpool to collect them, drove home, put them on the next day, called KwikFit to tell them I’d restored the wheels and they reduced the premiums back to…… well, they didn’t. They said I’d been marked (not the word they used, can’t remember exactly) as a High Risk due to Modifications.
But I’ve put the original wheels back on! I cried.
Doesn’t work like that, they said.
So, come the end of the year, took my business elsewhere – back down to £400 ish.
Robbing *******, all of them!