'Economy Chipping' - Auto Express

[Trapper]

Read an article in last weeks Auto Express regarding Economy chipping, they reckon they got a 14% decrease in consumption using one, they also said some Insurance companies accepted them others may not. The Insurer they named was Norwich Union so I contacted my insurers Churchill who, and I am being polite here, didn't have a clue, they said all chips were power chips and would not touch them.

I then sent an email to NU as below:

Dear Sir or Madam

Reading Auto Express this week I came across an article regarding fitting of an Economy chip to decrease fuel consumption and you were mentioned as an insurer who appreciated that this was not a 'Boy Racer' chip but one designed to save on fuel costs as well as helping the environment.

I have contacted my insurers, Churchill, today who wish to charge me excess as they only think there is one type of chip and that is for power! My insurance is not due until January but I do intend to fit an Economy chip unless the extra cost of insurance negates the saving to be made.

My car, a 2008 VW Passat SEL 170 is as factory supplied, with no 3rd party modifications. If I were to get a Comprehensive quote from you on this car and another with the Economy chip fitted would there be a higher cost with the chip fitted? Assuming there is no difference, if the Churchill renewal in January was lower would you match it?

Sorry to be an awkward whatsit but saving money is what's it all about these days

Many thanks

Name
Age
Living in Hertfordshire.
No convictions, 14 years + Protected NCB.
Dead Boring,,,,

The reply I got:

Thankyou for your email regarding your enquiry to performance management chips.
I have looked into this matter for you discussing this with our underwriters, there are two parts to Norwich Union so two different views on these devices fitted.

In regards to Norwich Union Direct we do not cover any management chip which increases the brake horse power of the vehicle even though this may be based on delivering higher miles per gallon, the broker side of Norwich Union will however look at each case individually hence the article statement on behalf of the company.

If you do not have a local broker then you can call the main switch board on 01603 6222 200 in office hours where they can put your call through to the appropriate department for a quotation.


Any other queries please email us again.


Yours sincerely,


Web Self Service Team
Norwich Union Direct

My email clearly states Economy the reply states Performance. What on earth does

hence the article statement on behalf of the company.

mean?

Two parts to NU? this is really confusing! Can I go with the cheaper part please.....

IS that a yes? or no?

[Lemonslap]

I can't stand NU that quote me happy bull, I phoned them one for a quote and it was £100 dearer then my renewel I then said to the indian guy that you haven't quoted me happy what are you going to do? result nothing bunch of dam idoits! i have alway used direct line as they are always helpful (I had a van scrap my last car and they sorted it quickly) and call centres in the uk! rant over sorry!

[orangezorki]

Please forgive me if I'm completely wrong here, but as I understand it these chips work by providing more power and torque low down, so you dont have to rev as much. So, there is more power available, even though the idea is to drive at the same speed an acceleration to get more mpg. The ability is there whether you use it or not to drive more quickly and have a worse crash. Having said that, I am also of the view that all insurance companies use any excuse to charge you double...

David

[Trapper]

Orangezorki wrote:

these chips work by providing more power and torque low down

I am no mapping expert but I did have a BMW530d remapped for torque and the difference was very noticable, with this I did notice a slightly better MPG figure.
I know you ought for nought, so how do you get both?

The chap who did the re-map was Simon, boss of E-Maps, a really nice guy and well thought of in BMW circles. Anyway he explained that basically the same car is sold in many countries and all are set up the same way, this means that cars being used under all sorts of conditions and running high quality, or low quality, fuels and the engine has to cope with many variations. This may mean the car does not perform at its optimum in any Country or condition. When its remapped/chipped the engine is set up to the optimum setting for the conditions and fuel used, so in our case with good quality fuel and normal 'conditions' it can be improved a lot, hence a drop in consumption and or an increase in power output. Combustion is a highly technical but simple operation with fuel being injected at unbelievably high pressures, in many cases less fuel can be injected without any detriment to the engines performance. So if the engine is set to use degraded fuel from Outer Mongolia then a large saving can be made by setting up for UK fuels.

[hongkongstuey]

just did a quote through autotrader insurance with no chip and with chip

20k a year
9+ years ncb fully protected
fully comp cover,
parked on the drive
sdp+c
350 excess

without chip £422

with chip £428

[Stuart W]

My email clearly states Economy the reply states Performance?

The reply refers to performance management chips - it doesn't say precisely HOW performance is managed; I think it basically means that the car's power output is changed, in whatever way it's actually achieved.

The reply refers to:

"any management chip which increases the brake horse power of the vehicle even though this may be based on delivering higher miles per gallon"

Thus while you may be concerned with the economy benefits, they are concerned only with the change in power output. After all, if you buy a Ferrari they won't quote you based on the fact that you'll drive it at a crawl.

Two parts to NU? this is really confusing! Can I go with the cheaper part please.....

The NU Direct side is probably just a cases of filling in some forms and loading the info onto the computer, and the software will automatically provide a premium. This works for most cars and drivers, but anything out of the ordinary will have to be subject to a more specialist procedure, and that's where the broker side comes in.

By the same token, if a 19-year-old wanted to insure a brand new Ferrari then I doubt if he could phone up Direct Line and get a quote - he would have to phone a specialist.

[Stuart W]

hence the article statement on behalf of the company.

At a rough guess I'd say the writer changed the word 'article' to
'statement', but forgot to remove the original word.

Still doesn't seem to mean anything in particular though; I suspect it's just referring to other parts of the reply.