No Fire cover on car insurance !!

dannyboybath

my car suffered an engine bay fire , albeit a small one , fire brigade attended etc , witnesses to actual flames, plumes of smoke etc, burnt plastic on road , in engine bay etc etc .
Called insurance co who wanted me to get the car to my home address via my RAC policy. Then to re contact them to get claim started & salvage assessor to view car. After 5 attempts & nearly 3 weeks to recover my car , eventually it was taken away ( they kept turning up in a 40ft truck & no access) after the 1st attempt the window drivers was broken , so inside is wet & damp now .
After 2 weeks I'm informed it's a total loss due to fire & offered XYZ amount after a little negotiation I accept. I get paperwork from insurance declaring car is a write off due to fire & no interest held in my private number plate , so I can retain that through DVLA & cease the road tax , they also cancelled my policy as no vehicle on it .
Now after getting all documents back from DVLA , the insurance are saying that there was NO fire , just a failure in the electrical system which caused the fire BUT that's NOT covered as per my policy in section whatever ,sub section abc . Therefore my vehicle will be returned to me to get repaired at my own cost.
I've checked my comprehensive policy and on page 34 ! It states ...
What is covered...
Loss or damage to your car by
Theft or attempted theft
Fire and lightening

HOWEVER then there is this little gem

What is not covered....
Failures ,breakdown or breakages of mechanical ,electrical ,electronic or computer equipment .

It is this statement that they keep stating is the reason for not settling the claim. I obviously disagree and feel that is an unjust blanket statement to have in a policy to avoid paying out.
All fires are caused by a failure or breakdown of something unless you actually put a match to it.
I interpret the statement , for instance , if your electronic control system failed , then yes that's NOT covered but if your main power feed cables catch fire then yes it's a fire and they should pay out.
(That's what's happened to my car)
I think it's ridiculous to have this policy because it's a reason to weasel out of any claim, so if your steering fails & you cause a head on collision , they won't pay out .
Not very comprehensive insurance , sounds more like third party to me !
Wonder what other people's views are ?

AdrianC

dannyboybath wrote: »

What is not covered....
Failures ,breakdown or breakages of mechanical ,electrical ,electronic or computer equipment .

Seems like an open-and-shut case. Your car suffered an electrical failure, the damage from which has rendered it beyond economical repair.

The fact that one of the symptoms of that electrical failure was a fire, and that fire damage is what is expensive to repair, doesn't affect the cause.

If your car engine died, would you expect insurance to pay out?
If your car electrics failed in a less melodramatic way, would you expect insurance to pay out?

so if your steering fails & you cause a head on collision , they won't pay out

They would pay for the third party claim, but not for the damage to your vehicle.

Quentin

dannyboybath wrote: »

Now after getting all documents back from DVLA , the insurance are saying that there was NO fire , just a failure in the electrical system which caused the fire BUT that's NOT covered as per my policy in section whatever ,sub section abc .......
What is covered...
Loss or damage to your car by
Theft or attempted theft
Fire and lightening

HOWEVER then there is this little gem

What is not covered....
Failures ,breakdown or breakages of mechanical ,electrical ,electronic or computer equipment .

These are standard conditions you will find in most if not all policies

Nobbie1967

I think it is worth referring this to the insurance ombudsman for an adjudication. Yes, the failure of an electrical component would not be covered in isolation, but IMHO the damage caused by the subsequent fire would be. Maybe a payout minus the cost of the faulty part would be in order. Do they know what part failed?

If a tyre fails and you roll the car, I'd be reasonably confident that the insurance would pay out even if the cause was repeated kerbing of the wheel. Comprehensive insurance pays out even when you are at fault.

Definitely worth pursuing.

gabitzul

Oh yes, pursue them to high heaven. What an outrage.

Most car fires start BECAUSE an electrical fault these days; arson and lightning strike I am sure must account for an extremely small number of cases.

I think the whole point of insruance is that you are insured against losses caused by a third party (if fully comp), fire and theft (if specified in the policy). And that means exactly that. Let's not play with words.

Norman_Castle

I would expect this to be covered. The exception clause seems to be being used in a way it was not intended for. If insurers want to insure in this way the policy should be specific.

The electrical fault is not covered but the resulting fire should be. Contact the insurance ombudsman.

HappyMJ

My view is the same as yours.

The electrical item failing is your responsibility to fix.

The resulting fire damage should be insured.

What do they mean there was NO fire? Can't they see the melted plastic, the scorch marks from the fire? Sounds odd to me. The fire brigade would have a record of putting out a fire.

londonTiger

this seems BS, escalate to an insurance ombudsman/adjudicator

londonTiger

out of interest, what insurance company is this and is it a french car?

I can understand their stance if you're a barry modder doing unqualified electrical work. But not if it's factory condition. I would think if it's down to how the car was manufactured your insurance needs to cover it and the premium of the car reflects the risk associated with said car.

oldhand

Id agree insurance should cover that.If it was due to you using an electrical component in the car to power an add on where it wasnt intended to be used they would have a case.Interesting cases at present of vauxhall cars,(not sure if its the safira) catching fire due to alleged electrical problems and in many cases burnt out...

londonTiger

oldhand wrote: »

Id agree insurance should cover that.If it was due to you using an electrical component in the car to power an add on where it wasnt intended to be used they would have a case.Interesting cases at present of vauxhall cars,(not sure if its the safira) catching fire due to alleged electrical problems and in many cases burnt out...

Likely the insurance knows about this issue and will still take your money and "cover you" but wont inform you of the risk of that vehicle catching fire.