Tyres and Your Car Insurance

As a car owner and driver it is your responsibility to make sure that your vehicle is fit for purpose. This includes making sure that your tyres are both safe and legal.

Make no mistake about it. If your tyres are in a dangerous condition or are illegal and you end up damaging your car, someone else's car or causing an accident in which somebody is injured, you might not only end up with penalty points on your license and a fine - or worse, you will also be potentially invalidating your car insurance.

Here are some key areas to be aware of in making sure your car is legal and does not compromise your insurance cover:

• If your car is fitted with run-flat tyres, be wary about switching to standard tyres. Check with your insurance company first to check you aren't invalidating your insurance.
• Don't mix radial and cross ply tyres on the same axle or to have radial tyres on the front axle and cross ply tyres on the rear. It is both illegal and dangerous
• Make sure correct tyre pressures are maintained. Both over and under-inflated tyres can have a major impact on handling safety and tyre life.
• Make sure that the tread depth of all your tyres is above the legal limit. The legal minimum tread depth for car tyres in the UK and the rest of the European Community is 1.6mm throughout a continuous band in the centre ¾ of the tread and around the entire circumference.
• Check your tyres for any damage , which might compromise the tyre's performance or render it illegal. In particular look out for a) Cuts in the tyre. Tyres must not have a cut or tear in excess of 25mm or 10% of the section width of the tyre, whichever is the greater, and which is deep enough to reach the ply or cord b) lumps, bulges and tears caused by separation or partial failure of the tyre's structure c) exposed plies or cords

The penalties in the UK for offences related to faulty tyres are severe. For every offence there is a fine at level 4 of the standard scale (around £2500) and 3 penalty points. Disqualification is also possible in some cases. Each faulty tyre is considered a separate offence. Offences can relate to tread depth, mixing, inflation and tyre damage.