bobdee

Didnt work like this in the case I had a connection with. The car had passed the CT on the previous occasion, fitted with American Style headlights that dipped straight down instead of to the right. This year the rules had tightened, or at least the CT station's rules had tightened. Now the headlights had to dip to the right. The CT inspector said the insurance should cover the new lights. The insurance Co was contacted, situation fully explained and a quote was requested for the new headlights. This was duly passed to the insurance comapny, was accepted. The work was done, bill submitted to the Insurance and a cheque received by return. All very proper, no fraud, just the way things are done..Also it seems, some insurance companies actually like to pay out occasionally. I have found that with household claims here. We had an electric blanket fire and of course we didnt have receipts for the matress that was at least five years old. The insurance company huffed and puffed and took ages to make up their minds but eventually sent me a payment that more than covered replacement costs. Thus they kept my goodwill and my business and I go about saying nice things about that particular company. It's different here, thank God!

Many thanks SD. It will be interesting if the local Sous Prefecture spots the difference. Regs BobD

Just be honest and ask. Some policies definitely cover headlamps and not just for glass breakage. For the cost of a call, nothing to lose especially if you have an old classic car where headlamps could be €600 plus.

A friend of mine was having difficulty in getting a certificate of conformity for his Hyandai Van. Large amounts of money were being asked by Hyandai for a Certificate of Conformity but when on advice, he asked for the Barre Rouge document this was sent without charge by return. This document is a full manufacturers spec for the vehicle in French and surprisingly has a red diagonal stripe across its front. Question, Are these documents just for commercial vehicles or availble for cars as well? Its a few years now since I re-registered my cars so perhaps things have changed BobD

Bugsy, It cant be fraud, if you call the insurance company, explain the circumstances and they agree the claim! BobD

A couple of points. I have used the cut flanges and turn method perfectly succesfully for a few years now and the CT station has always been quite happy with the result. I have an old E class Mercedes which has the luxury of being able to unclip and replace just the front glass section of the headlights. I have tried both LHD and RHD glass fronts versions and can definitly state that if you use the correct lens with the bulb in say the LHD position, you get a more clearly defined beam pattern. With the the wrong lens fitted, the beam of course is still deflected but the pattern is slightly diffused. The other more basic and important point, call your insurance company. Most policies cover headlights along with windscreens on a fixed excess basis. Its quite normal for lights that fail an CT to be covered as failed (Could be from the plastic crazing and cutting the light down. The CT man told me about this , and the insurance company said OK. It would seem it wouldnt be allowed for a straight failure on intitial presentation, but if it passed one year and failed the next time then the Insurance seem to be happy. Saves a lot of loot!