Hi everyone,

Is it normal for a 3-week old tyre to blow out on the motorway?

Of course its not normal for a 3 week old tyre to blow out on the motorway, if it was the hard shoulder would be littered with cars waiting for new tyres.

Most tyres bought never have a problem but they do have a very hard life. Its very easy to pick up debris, get a slow punture and without spotting it the tyre overheats and blows out.

Occationally tyres will have manufacturing defects, its unavoidable with any product and that can also lead to a blow out. The brand you bought is an "economy tyre", is there any history of problems with their products?

If the tyre is not fitted correctly that can also lead to a blowout.

But as for claiming off your insurance why would you want to do that, your excess will probably be more than a new tyre, I know mine is (probably nearer 2 tyres). Its not accident damage, punctures are part of normal life, probably just unfortunate you did not spot the problem before it became serious. I have never heard of anyone claiming off thier insurance for a tyre but I was offered tyre insurance a few years ago when I bought a car to cover against such eventualities, did not bother.

Without the tyre, it's impossible to deduce what caused it. it's unusual but best just to put down to experience on this occasion. Even a small object hit at speed could cause it.

It might be a better idea to try the tyre manufacturer or supplier, not the insurer - unless more than just the tyre was damaged. Though if the tyre came from Poland or North Korea ....

You may have hit a sharp object, or the tyre had been slowly deflating, or just possibly there was a manufacturing fault. As Bazza said, without forensic evidence, who knows?