I had a "standard replacement" stainless exhaust (cat back) fitted to my Stilo by Longlife in Glenrothes.


I telephoned my insurance company (direct line) who cancelled my policy there and then!

They claim this is a new policy from April 2010, I tried to explain that this was a standard replacement and made no difference to the performance.

But no, no insurance and now have to state on insurance applications that I have had insurance refused!

This is bizarre!

Direct line = biggest :tosser: in the Insurance industry!

Why did you call them then?

Figured it was best to know now than later.

Didnt fancy having a claim refused further down the line,

tragushardie said:

Figured it was best to know now than later.

Didnt fancy having a claim refused further down the line,

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does longlife state the exhaust doesnt add anything to the performance?

standard replacement = standard replacement?

They also do "performance" exhaust systems, this was not one of those.

tragushardie said:

standard replacement = standard replacement?

They also do "performance" exhaust systems, this was not one of those.

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well i would push direct line on this
I would be contacting them in writing via recorded delivery
asking them why they have canceled your insurance for maintaining your vehicle
Tell them the exhaust is a OEM spec replacement
doesnt help you right now but I would still be fighting it

what a hunk of crap. Yeah defo dont be giving in, i would fight them till they give in mate

Ive had a think about this
does your system now have a nice fancy tailpipe?

custard said:

Ive had a think about this
does your system now have a nice fancy tailpipe?

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If it does then I assume he will have no case, as it would look as though it was aftermarket...

Please say it looks standard.

Oakley28 said:

If it does then I assume he will have no case, as it would look as though it was aftermarket...

Please say it looks standard.

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this is what i was thinking,however ive bought exhausts for cars that have different tailpipes to OEM
so i suppose many could fall under that

custard said:

this is what i was thinking,however ive bought exhausts for cars that have different tailpipes to OEM
so i suppose many could fall under that

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True - i think the only hope here will the invoice saying OEM somewhere on it.

What does the insurance company want you to do? Run the car without an exhaust?

jim cooper said:

What does the insurance company want you to do? Run the car without an exhaust?

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It'd certainly make it less attractive to thieves

In all seriousness though, that's ridiculous. It's one of the reasons I'm with Adrian Flux, though I hear mixed reviews about them, I've never had an issue and they don't bat an eyelid when I add another mod to the car be it big or small For Direct Line to outright cancel a policy based on what you've done is crazy. I mean, they could increase the amount you pay or at least give you another option or even just talk about other options

Hey man, im with the other guys on this one, you should deffinatley cause some ructions!
i've had sh*t experience with Direct Line, told them about my rear lexus style lights , they upped my policy by £250 and added an extra £200 onto my excess, then come March this year they informed me they wouldn't insure me any more because of the mods under 25 years old.
I would love to see this go all the way, coming out in your favour of course.

Its ridiculous, as long as it looks the same and does the same as the OEM one i don't see how they can argue their point, i mean its a just metal box really with some pipes, if its made the same, who really cares who makes it?

Hell if they want to be funny about stuff like this, my car is 5 years old now and i'll get a rolling road reading done, show them the power has slightly fallen below the original 115bhp and ask for a reduction in my premium

it just really winds me up!!!

It was a total standard replacement, no ridiculous rear tail pipe. I have lodged a complaint with their complaints procedure to which they seem to have decided to ignore my complaint.

My next step is to make a complaint to the ombudsman.

tragushardie said:

I had a "standard replacement" stainless exhaust (cat back) fitted to my Stilo by Longlife in Glenrothes.

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tragushardie said:

It was a total standard replacement

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If it's stainless steel, then surely it can't be a "total standard replacement". Fiat (the OEM) never specified or produced a stainless steel exhaust for the car.