Nah, cleared up this morning.
Conversation went something like;
Her - so is the alarm factory fitted?
Me - yes
Her - so when did you fit it?
Me - I didn't. The factory did.
Her - right. So when did the factory fit these...Cobra alarms?
Me - From October 1997 to I think 2002
Her - Please hold..........I don't understand, the system says your car wasn't made until 1999. How could they fit the alarm in 1997.
Me - (feeling the rage coming on) They fitted them in every Elise from 1997 to 2002.
Her - ah okay. so when was yours fitted.
Me - Funnily enough, 1999 when the car was made
Her - and where did you have it fitted?
Me - ITS FACTORY FITTED!!!
Finally they agreed it was Thatcham approved... Jeez. looks like I'm insured with 'tards
In case it's of any use to anyone else on here, the details of the S1 alarm are;
1996 to October 1997 - optional Cobra Goldline 6019HF (Thatcham 1 approved)
October 1997 till End of Production - "optional" Cobra 6422 (also Thatcham 1). Although "optional", I understand that dealers didn't order cars without it...
Thatcham gave full Thatcham 1 approval for the 6422 but it was delisted (or "Normally Deleted") in December 2003 due to being unavailable from new. This is not the same as being delisted due to "not maintaining compliance" i.e they haven't shifted the goal posts so much the alarm is no longer adequate.
The following is from Thatcham's Vehicle Security National Listing;
"Recommendations to Insurers for handling Deletions:
For existing customers continue to recognize the system indefinitely as a valid system or continue to recognize it if it was fitted prior to application for insurance cover (for new customers). Normally deleted systems should still attract insurance discounts and concessions but only if installed prior to the issuing of the current listing"
Can one of the mods move this into the Insurance section? Probably more interest in there if anyone is looking for this info in the future...