SteveG

I am sick to death of alarms but I have another question.

I am looking for a new alarm and I would also like a turbo timer. I have been told by numerous installers and one alarm company now that an alarm achieves it's Thatcham approval based on it's specification when tested. If you add an after market turbo timer then the alarm is drawing more current than when tested and does not meet the Thatcham standard as tested, potentially invalidating your insurance.

Even adding extra sensors invalidates the Thatcham approval. Apparently the alarm would need to be re-submitted for approval with the extra sensors/turbo timer etc.

Is this true?
Can anyone throw any light on this? Craigamungos can you help?

Steve

Adam M

Thatcham is just a body regulated by a large group of insurance companies which decides on a standard of performance they expect from their alarms.

VSIB is a similar body which verifies installation quality.

these companies provide a certificate which you hand to your insurance company to either allow you insurance or get a discount. Once noted by the company, I cannot see them giving a damn what happen or how indeed they would ever find out.

If your car is stolen they would never know.
If your car is smashed up, is the assessor going to verify that your previous thatcham alarm now has a turbo timer on it and then deny you a pay out.

I think you are being over cautious. Dont worry about it.

Get yourself a concept 300 or something and have the turbo timer feature enabled. The product is a thatcham product which is all the companies care about, regardless of whether or not it would pass the tests if it was resubmitted.

Which by the way costs around 20k per product.

chiark

What about...

Your car is stolen
You have a courtesy car provided by insurance
Car is recovered 20 days later in perfect order (awaiting ringing/whatever...)
Turbo timer noted by police/garage/upon inspection...
Insurance company gives you a bill for 20 days of courtesy car hire and removes cover due to invalidating terms of cover

Just a (cheerless) thought.

Nick.

Adam M

Police are going to see turbo timer and think, oh better tell insurance company?

or.

assessor is going to say, look he has a turbo timer, to my knowledge the sigma m30 does not have that facility therefore I assume he has invalidated his thatcham cover, oh and he has a microwave senor but I know it should have an ultrasonics sensor as only cliffords concept ranges have successfully put a micropwave sensor through thatcham testing.

But, what if he puts a clfford microwave on a sigma alarm? what happens then?


oh no, I don't know.

Nick, you could always say, the thief put it in!

they couldn't prove otherwise.

Boost II

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I looked at getting the automatic window closure option added to the Sigma system. I didn't bother because even that can invalidate the thatcham rating. In fact if technology simply moves on or thieves become a little more cunning thatcham can delist your system which was previously listed.

Seems they are a bit fussy!

TRIGGER

Honestly, wise up guys - inspectors dont even argue over the model of the car - they arent employed to invalidate the claim, only to check the requested repairs are within reason. Over cautious I'd have to say.

SteveG

I guess then, that it doesn't matter what I buy (whatever combination of bits) as no-one will evr check with anybody else.

I don't know, I ask a simple question, does it invalidate Thatcham approval or not and end up feeling like as though I'm acting like someones granny.

Mind you, when your car catches fire because of the alarm, you tend to be a little cautious about buying the next one.

I guess I'll take the plunge....valium on standby!!

Steve

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by TRIGGER:
<B>Honestly, wise up guys - inspectors dont even argue over the model of the car - they arent employed to invalidate the claim, only to check the requested repairs are within reason. Over cautious I'd have to say.[/quote]

Would you employ this rationale to other mods, espec. performance enhancing ones?

I know a true story about an insurance company trying to get out of paying for a crash because someone had "go faster stripes" on their otherwise bog standard car and had not declared them. because of this i tend to air on the side of caution.

Stef

Clifford Concept alarms have a timer facilty built in, which I use as a turbo timer. It is undetectable unless you have a Cliffnet Wizard, which most insurance inspectors probably won't.
Besides, the car would not be able to be stolen without the keys in, so what's the worry?

Stef.

navigator

steff
i have a concept 50x on mine and the bloody things locked me out more than once.Once when the car was only 3 months old and we were 2 miles up a welsh forest track,i jumped in started the engine jumped out to put my wet coat in the back. The door blew shut.. clunk clunk clunk clunk all the doors all locked !!!! i had to break a window to get in and turn the engine off.
anyway my point is does the 300 have the same nasty antihijack facility built into it?

Karlos

Navigator,

I believe it does, but this is a feature you can have switched on or off by the fitter. It's not compulsory.

Karlos

Stef

Nav.
I think the feature you mean is the simple auto-lock. The new Concepts do have it, but it can be turned off.
Mine now only locks when the revs reach 3000 which is fantastic, as I have been locked out twice in the past as well. It's a feature on the Intellistart I recently had fitted.

Stef.