What is alloy wheel and tyre insurance, is it worth it?
South African roads are notorious for potholes and in some areas, just being in a general state of disrepair. Once regular wheel and tyre kerbing is compounded by the threat of potholes, the average car's alloy wheels and tyres are at risk of damage or punctures on a frequent basis. The problem here is that tyres and wheels are expensive items, and a total replacement or repair of either can amount to many thousands of rands in unplanned expenses. This is where wheel and tyre insurance purports to offer benefits by offering a fixed monthly premium paid to an insurer, which then covers these items in the event of damage or total loss.
Is it worth it?
Having glanced at a few options online, it would appear that the monthly premiums range from roughly R39 per month to R129 per month, covering up to R1000 per tyre claim and R400 per wheel claim on the low end of the spectrum and up to R5 000 per tyre and R700 per rim for the top-end premium. The maximum claim per year on the low-end is R2 000 for tyres and R800 for wheels, while at the high-end the premium covers R10 000 per year for tyres and R1 400 for wheels, making total claims of R2 800 per year and R11 400 per year for the two policies.
The excess payable across all tyres claims on the policies we examined was a flat rate of R250 per claim. From what we could surmise from the amount claimable, there are two tyre and two wheel claims allowed per year, per policy.
If we look at the total payment for premiums at the low end of the spectrum, we see a total of R468 paid per year while at the high end, the total paid per year is R1 548. If we add the R1 000 excess to each policy assuming the maximum four claims per year, that's R1 468 per year on the low end and R2 548 at the high end. This means that if you are prone to damaging your wheels and tyres, these insurance policies will likely be beneficial to you, however, if you have not had a kerbed wheel or a damaged tyre in years, you may be better off putting R100 away per month into a savings account for a rainy tyre/wheel day.
