No Fire cover on car insurance !!

thescouselander

The insurance company is obviously taking the P here. Obviously cars don't generally spontaneously combust unless there is a fault of some sort.

The clause refered to is there to stop people claiming for electrical repairs due to wear and tear or other degredation. Clearly since this failure resulted in a fire you have a valid claim

There is a process to go through however. You need to raise a complaint with your insurer and follow the complaints procedure until they give you their final response. If you still get no joy you can then take it to the ombudsman.

bigjl

londonTiger wrote: »

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.

What is your problem with French Cars?

Yes some have electrical issue but to be honest they are no more or less reliable than other cars. Most of the issues are caused by neglect and failure to replace parts due to the car having little value.

And haven't you been moaning about your Golf recently?

I have lost count of the number of French cars I have owned over the years, one did 350k without any mechanical issues another nearly 200k.

The case that have me the most problems was a Seat Toledo that I had new, clutch problems, AirCon problems, suspension problems causing uneven tyre wear, poor fuel consumption, smoked badly when driven hard from new and gearbox problems (a vibration at 1700/1800rpm)

All those problems with German engineering, it got so bad I bought an Omega diesel and got rid at 2years.

French cars also tend to be very comfortable aswell.

Even the Berlingo is comfortable, ride comfort is especially good, handling is best described as "relaxed".

mgfvvc

Sounds to me like household insurance which excludes leaks, i.e. they don't pay to repair the leak, but they do pay to fix damage caused by the leak.

By that analogy, I would expect the fire to be covered.

dacouch

mgfvvc wrote: »

Sounds to me like household insurance which excludes leaks, i.e. they don't pay to repair the leak, but they do pay to fix damage caused by the leak.

By that analogy, I would expect the fire to be covered.

According to the OP the fire was small and contained to the engine bay.

Your correct in your reference to a Home Insurance leak, hence my earlier question for more information about the fire and what was damaged.

If it was the typical fire in the wiring loom and that's all that's damaged, it may well be fair that the Insurer is declining the claim, although it may well not be fair.