Rodent Damage and Car Insurance

6703sam

Hi, I was just looking for a bit of advice.
I have fully comprehensive car insurance and a couple of days ago my car broke down.
On visual inspection it looks like there has been rodent damage under the bonnet. Some components have been chewed resulting in a loss of water to my engine. The garage it was towed to (reputable garage) have said the engine is seriously damaged and it will cost a minimum £2k to fix.
My question is, would I be covered under my car insurance? Does anyone else have experience of this happening?
There is no mention in the insurance booklet regarding rodent damage. I am insured with LV.
Thanks in anticipation

tykesi

If it doesn’t say in your documents I’m not sure why you think anyone here can help. Surely you would be better phoning LV to ask them?

debtdebt

No. No they won't cover it.

z1a

Very much doubt it.

Car_54

Interesting question. The esure policy documents, for example, specifically exclude damage caused by "your pet while travelling in the vehicle". It makes no other mention of animals, so I'd suggest that a court would find that rodent damage is indeed covered, unless of course the culprit was a pet.

Robisere

It really is an interesting question! I think it may be decided by whether LV can prove that you should have been aware of the rodent: for example, where is the car parked at home and work?

There may be no way that you could have been aware of the presence of a rodent in your car; please keep that in the forefront of your mind. I think you need some legal advice before contacting LV, £2k is a lot of money.

Robisere

debtdebt wrote: »

No. No they won't cover it.

Evidential proof?

Ectophile

It all seems to come down to whether a rodent chewing your pipework can be described as "accident, vandalism or malicious damage". I really don't know.

There's nothing in LV's policy document to say one way or the other.

z1a

Ectophile wrote: »

It all seems to come down to whether a rodent chewing your pipework can be described as "accident, vandalism or malicious damage". I really don't know.

There's nothing in LV's policy document to say one way or the other.

Well it certainly can't be vandalism or malicious, I suppose accident could cover it, but I still doubt it.

Iceweasel

z1a wrote: »

Well it certainly can't be vandalism or malicious, I suppose accident could cover it, but I still doubt it.

Surely it's just a 4-legged vandal.

They come in all different sizes.

Big problem in South Germany, Austria and Switzerland - where the insurance companies do pay up.

I can't see why a UK insurer wouldn't pay for such damage even if it's smaller rodents.

https://jalopnik.com/how-cute-ferret-like-animals-cause-germany-65-million-1788013196

Car_54

Car_54 wrote: »

Interesting question. The esure policy documents, for example, specifically exclude damage caused by "your pet while travelling in the vehicle". It makes no other mention of animals, so I'd suggest that a court would find that rodent damage is indeed covered, unless of course the culprit was a pet.

and the same policy says "We Will cover ALL loss or damage to your car unless it's by fire, lightning, explosion, theft or attempted theft. "

Again, no exclusion for animals.

I doubt whether the LV= policy is substantially different.