Fire in Car Insurance Won't Pay Out

dancelikenooneiswatching

Hello, I do hope you can help me please.
My partner has a car which recently set on fire when he put his mobile charger in to the Cigarette Lighter. The fire started in the Fuse Box next to the glove compartment and completley melted the Fuse Box. As a result of this the car would not start and we towed it to a local Auto Electrical garage.
We asked about claiming on the insurance but were advised that as our Excess was £500 that the job would only cost £160. The garage advised my partner to get a 2nd have Fuse Box and part of a Loom, the plug bit that is wired to the Fuse Box) and they would fit it. They are a reputable garage so he did as asked and they fitted it. Once fitted the car did not start and the mechanic advised us that we now needed to send it to Fiat as the Fuse Box needed De-Coding.
We took the car to Fiat and called our Insurance company to see if they could help. My partner logged the claim with them and the Fiat mechanic did the diagnostics and sent the report to our insurance company.
The insurance company arranged for an investigator to go out to the car and they reported that there was no damage as a result of the fire!!! But there was because the car worked then there was a fire then it didn't work.
I was talking to the the Insurer who said they werent aware that the car had been to another garage before Fiat and apologsied and said they couldn't see why it wouldn't be paid out which was great news.
Today I called the Insurer and was advised that the case had been passed to someone else within the company and put me through. The guy I spoke to was arrogant, horrid and repeatadly told me to be patient with the claim and that it was an electrical fault and under the terms and conditions it wouldn't be paid out if it was found to be that by the independant investigator.
I am so worried, scared and annoyed. The car was bought in March 2011 at a car dealership, it was 2nd hand and a 2006 plate. We have £5000 Finance outstanding on the car and we have been advised that the cost to get the car fixed would be £5,500.
We just don't know what to do, if the Insurance don't pay out is there anything we can do? Will the Finance company do anything? My partner has just sorted out his credit and this was his first purchase with positive credit but we dread paying out £170 a month on a car that is wrecked!
HELP PLEASE!!!!!

Thank you

alistair.long

what is the fault that the dealer has found?

I would just try a simple fix, get the key from the person you got the fuse box from and see if that transponder in that key starts your car. put that key near the ignition or into the ignition then remove it and keep it close while you start the car with the normal key

vax2002

Nothing unusual here for an insurance company, get the contract read and if you are covered begin court proceedings for the contract to be enforced, you know, like the insurance companies do if you break it.

huckster

If there was actually a fire and signs of this, you will be covered for any damage cost above the £500 excess. The Insurers won't pay out for just an electrical fault. There must have been flames and not just sparks.

Being that you only purchased the car in March 2011, you may have legal rights against the dealer you bought the car from. Suggest that you make enquiries with Consumer Direct. They will guide you about consumer rights and how to follow this up with the dealer.

dancelikenooneiswatching

Thank you.

The Fuse Box was bought from Ebay so no key with it sadly :-( the dealer has said that because the previous garage have tried to fix it and rewired the loom from a scrapped car in to this car then it now won't work and the only way to fix it would be to get a new wiring loom.

vax2002

The fuse box is not a coded part ?
Who did this work ?

vax2002

vax2002 wrote: »

The fuse box is not a coded part ?
Who did this work ?

The reason for the loom will be because the 70 amp cable in the loom acts as a fuse of last resort to prevent the car going in flames.

dancelikenooneiswatching

The car is a Fiat Punto Grande, the work was done at an Auto Electricians in West Yorkshire and they stated that the car needed to go to Fiat to be de-coded after the fitting of the Fuse Box and the part of the Loom which was also replaced as it was fused in to the Fuse Box. Fiat said that when they ran diagnostics on the car nothing seemed to talk to the computers within the car.

vax2002

The first company has told you in good faith they could fix the car, and they have not, instead choosing to pass the buck with some coded twaddle explanation which is rubbish, the fuse box is a box of plastic with connectors and relays + fuses, it holds no coded parts.
However, the blame lies with the people who made the car charger .
On insurance, you should have informed them once you had the fire, they would have repaired the car or written it off, its a bit lame to contact them once the repairs have failed, mind you it is well know, you let the !!!!er burn...

dancelikenooneiswatching

Thank you for your response, we didn't call the Insurance as the Garage stated it would only cost £160 to fix so didn't feel the need to go through the insurance.
Also with regards to letting it burn, a part of me wishes I had but I would be too worried about people in the vicinity getting hurt but I understand your comment.

dancelikenooneiswatching

The car invoice reads as so:

Rewire Fuse Box after melted fuse.
Vehicle Punto Grande Reg No XXXX XXX arrived at our workshop with a melted fuse box after cigar lighter shirted and battery was still connected.
New box connected and new multiplug fitted and rewired in the Main computer fuse box.
Reconfigured the connections and reqired in.
Car dead as the box needs de coding.