OK here is the problem.......

Seeing every ones DRL fog surrounds I came around to the idea of installing some as they do look good but also for the safety aspect of it.

Now before buying them I thought I would ask my insurance (axa direct ni) if they offer any discounts for having them. Of course they don't (suprise suprise) but they actually never heard of them! ????????

So they put me on hold when I explained all to them and came back with "we look at this as a modification and so you will need to get an engineers report to send to them stateing they been installed correctly and the car is still road worthy"!!!!!!!!!

I explained to them that I do all my own car work of any sort and have done for the last 12 years so I would not be leaving the car in to Pay someone to get them installed therefore I could not provide the document they want. I also ask if the car passed Mot or if I got an Mot personell to look at the vehicle after they had been installed to confirm road legal and road worthy of car but they said this would not be of any use and only a engineers report would do.

Now has any one had any issues installing their DRL lights and informing their insurance company? To be honest I'm that pi##ed of over it I have gone totally of installing them and have lost a bit of interest in the car, I was looking forward to the DRL installation like.

Any advice would be welcomed at this point

Thanks

Yep this is why you shouldnt add drls to cars not equipped with them most new cars are having the drls burn out necessitating complete new headlight units its well documented and being lobbied to stop mandatory drls personally i dont like them but besides that they must be tested road legal new cars have this but older non drl cars dont not many will have issues until they try to claim it will be classed as a modification non road legal and they wont pay out even if the drl is marked road legal its not once you fit it

It would require an engineer like hella for example to fit and test the drls to the standards set by the eu to get a report which lets be honest wont happen

sounds like they are idiots.

Get photos of the E-Marks and tell them you would take the car for a pre-MOT. if they are E-Marked, they are legal to use and passing a preMOT would mean they are satisfactorily fit and conform to the vehicle lighting regulations.

Requesting an engineers report is them panicking. you should probably call back and speak to someone else.

All my insurers ever did was make a note and say thanks for sharing. I would even cancel my policy with them and go somewhere they arent idiots lol

sounds like they are idiots.

Get photos of the E-Marks and tell them you would take the car for a pre-MOT. if they are E-Marked, they are legal to use and passing a preMOT would mean they are satisfactorily fit and conform to the vehicle lighting regulations.

Requesting an engineers report is them panicking. you should probably call back and speak to someone else.

All my insurers ever did was make a note and say thanks for sharing. I would even cancel my policy with them and go somewhere they arent idiots lol

My thoughts exactly James.

I did ring another insurance company to see their view and they said is normal to get a engineers report for engine Mods and that sort of thing but could not understand as most of the Retro DRL kits are just plugging into the existing car wiring.

I am awaiting an email back from them and then I will ring again (to a different branch) and see if I can chat to some one else about it. did you install yours first and then say to them or did you ask before installing? I don't want to buy some drl's and then be left not fitting them you know.

They are not legal because they are e marked the law states under eu directive 2008/89/ec piggybacking such as operating headlights turn signals or fog lamps as drl is not permitted the units must be ece compliant directive 87 regulation 48they must not emitt less than 400 no more than 1200 candela since only new cars are directive 87 regulation 48 compliant a retrofitted unit is not legal till it meets the above directive doesnt matter if it passes an mot or has e marks it wasnt fitted as standard to the car under those regulations retrofitting hid headlights has the same legal issues insurance companies may say thanks for telling us but in the event of a claim theyll use that directive to prevent paying out

They are not legal because they are e marked the law states under eu directive 2008/89/ec piggybacking such as operating headlights turn signals or fog lamps as drl is not permitted the units must be ece compliant directive 87 regulation 48they must not emitt less than 400 no more than 1200 candela since only new cars are directive 87 regulation 48 compliant a retrofitted unit is not legal till it meets the above directive doesnt matter if it passes an mot or has e marks it wasnt fitted as standard to the car under those regulations retrofitting hid headlights has the same legal issues

Thanks for the Information. I'm not sure on legal issues I'm just going by the fact that others have fitted them and MOT ect has been 100% and most cars after 2010 have them as standard. This is why I was thinking of installing them but if there is this much hassle over it then I may just forget it. I thought it was a simple buy , fit and inform Insurance. I also came across this article when looking up information on them:

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/daytime-running-lights.html

So I thought they would be 100% legal especially after reading this.

so does this mean that unless they came factory fitted they are and will not be legal so basically if you car has not got them don't put them on it?

insurance companies and Road Legal stuff should be made a lot clearer for drivers because every one I have ask doesn't seem to know much about it.

Really we can argue legality all day most will as theyve gone and done the mods simply put if you want to be sure you need an engineers report they must conform to the above vosa will tell you the same thing certain cars also have to have drls a certain amount of inches in from the edge of the bumper a certain height etc etc its really up to you if you do it or not but theres no gaurantee the insurance wont use it as a reason not to pay out

The article does not say its okay it tells you the regulations and states they are fitted to cars that have undergone type approval meaning if you dont have them you havent got approval therefore you dont meet the regulation and are by definition not legal an engineer would have to test that the car meets these regulations to issue a report it is a legal nightmare and full of contradictions and done so deliberately as i said fitting hid headlights to a car not equipped has the same legal issues unless fitted by a professional company many are hids in halogen cases illegal making the car illegal but they pass m.o.ts i get blinded by the sods all the time as its near the fogs its rewuired that the drls automatically deactivate if they are a certain distance from the indicator they must deactivate also many do not yet are e marked

I asked before and told them after and never had an issue. I'd they abide BT vehicle lighting regulations, are emarked and considered to be Road safe then police, vosa and insurers are happy with them. My drls flew through the mot that was a Ford dealer and after the mot got more strict

Thats the contradiction though they are legal for an mot but the car is not homoligated to have them or type approved so under eu regs they are illegal and not ece marked or fitted under article 87 or regulation 48 so the mot states it does not mean the car is road legal

Thats the contradiction though they are legal for an mot but the car is not homoligated to have them or type approved so under eu regs they are illegal and not ece marked or fitted under article 87 or regulation 48 so the mot states it does not mean the car is road legal

Thanks guys for the replies. I think I'm not going to fit them after all as its too much hasle and far to many regulations etc I think the road regulations need to be a lot clearer example if car pass mot then its road worthy in all aspects for me there are too many loop holes and known my luck I would be the one to fall through lol!.

For now I will stick to the basic mods and stay legal lol!