A friend of ours recently put petrol into their <12mth old Renault Senic TDi and the silly cow ran it for 25 miles before it was foobared..

Anyhow Renault have had a look and it's going to cost £4k to repair..!

However, this is where this story gets interesting, their insurance company are picking up the tab..!

Does this mean if I forget to top the oil up on my scoob and it goes into meltdown I can claim for a new engine..?

To say I'm gobsmacked is an understatement..!

 

My mate, driving his mother's Porsche, ignored the oil pressure warning light for many, many miles (warning lights are for other people he seems to think) and inevitably it all went bang. The ins. company said initially that they were not going to pay up for failing to top up the oil, as they said it was self inflicted, until a friendly garage said that a stone had flicked up and knocked a pipe off leading to a rapid loss of oil and thence boom. They then paid up without a flicker.

 

hmmmmm..!

I wonder how many people, like me, never thought about claiming for a mechanical failure on their insurance..?

Have to remember that one..!

 

Mate of mine got a new engine for his citroen xantia from his insuracne co- about 3ks worth.... Because he drove through a flood and locked it up! They didnt even question the claim!

 

I've just had a look at my policy.

One section says "We will indemify you against loss of or damage to your car." - which could be interpreted as "Filled with the wrong fuel, therefore damage, therefore pay up, please".

However the "Exceptions" bit says "We will not be liable to pay for: Mechanical, electrical, electronic or computer failures, breakdowns or breakages" - which could get them off the hook.

It sounds like they've been lucky.

 

Arguably they'd be obliged to pay out for an engine failure caused by a high speed impact with a lamp post... maybe filling with the wrong fuel counts as accidental damage too?

 

Embarassing as it sounds, I work in Insurance.

They generally pay for diesel in a petrol car as "accidental damage".
However, some companies repudiate these claims cos the policyholder has
" failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent a loss ".

By the way, avoid Admiral if you have any mods. They said they could cover em at first, then when I asked a bit more about it they said they meant they would cover the car but wouldn't pay for the non standard bits if they were damaged. Bad if you have prodrive lights, kit, exhaust etc !!

 

That's what I think, I'll have to find out who their ins with as a matter of interest..!

I thought they would have just claimed undue care/irresponsible action etc and said F@@K off..!