Highways damage liability cover

stator

Anyone know of insurance products that will cover you for the potential bill you receive if your car breaks down on a Highways Agency road/motorway and they send you the bill for cleanup/repair of any spills and damage?
Normal car insurance only covers accidents, so if there's a breakdown you might have to pay it yourself.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19833237

Retrogamer

Surely the fees are only enforceable if the driver was negligent.

I.e if you were driving and the engine suddenly failed badly and dropped oil on the road randomly and without warning, i can't see how the clean up repairs would be enforceable as the driver wasn't negligent.

InsideInsurance

Your normal motor insurance will cover your third party liabilities.

stator

Retrogamer wrote: »

Surely the fees are only enforceable if the driver was negligent.

I.e if you were driving and the engine suddenly failed badly and dropped oil on the road randomly and without warning, i can't see how the clean up repairs would be enforceable as the driver wasn't negligent.

I think there is a law that allows them to charge motorists but I'm having a hard time finding it.

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Your normal motor insurance will cover your third party liabilities.

Are you sure they'll cover breakdown related incidents and not just accident caused damage?
I think I've read insurance companies have refused claims in these circumstances and the motorist is left with the bill.

Aretnap

By law a car insurance policy must cover all liabilities to third parties arising out of the use of a vehicle (up to certain limits) - that would include liabilities arising out of breakdowns/oil spills etc as well as from more conventional accidents.

Obviously if the driver doesn't have any liability for the damage then the insurer doesn't have to pay, but then neither does the driver.

What your insurer won't generally pay for is the cost of towing your own car away after a breakdown - for that you need breakdown insurance.

InsideInsurance

stator wrote: »

Are you sure they'll cover breakdown related incidents and not just accident caused damage?
I think I've read insurance companies have refused claims in these circumstances and the motorist is left with the bill.

Yes, if you are liable for it.

Had a fire case where the PH had been an idiot and was their negligence that caused the car to ignite whilst parked in a carpark. We had to pay out for the damage to the two adjacent vehicles and the damage to the surface of the carpark.

Insurers wont pay for a breakdown but will cover the consequences of it. So the other example is if your brakes siezed whilst driving causing you to crash, the cause of the damage to your vehicle is really the breakdown issue but the insurer would still have to fix the panel damage etc just not the brake issue that caused the crash.

stator

Might have been some bad reporting by the BBC then.
Found another thread related:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4059879

InsideInsurance

stator wrote: »

Might have been some bad reporting by the BBC then.
Found another thread related:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4059879

The BBC doesnt say insurance wont cover it. In the example in question the woman even had an accident.

The other thread unfortunately has a link to an audio file to hear what was said and there seems some dispute on if the cost was for cleanup or recovery.

Of course the other factor is that front line insurance staff are never going to be the highest trained people in the world and so will occasionally give wrong advice on if things are covered or not. There is nothing in the thread to say if there was an FOS complaint or not into the Admiral initial comment to say it wasnt covered byt them.