Insurance Refusing to Pay after Car Fire

AdrianC

pops23 wrote: »

So where does the responsibility for proof lie. I could equally state that I suspect that the fire was caused by someone else flicking a fag butt out their window on the motorway. It was one of the hottest driest days of the year. Whose suspicions carry more weight.

The insurance assessor (who knows what he's looking at, and looks at many damaged cars every week) has found evidence that points towards the fire starting electrically...

It also does seem really unfair as cars don’t catch on fire generally unless something is wrong with them. Therefore normal policies don’t really cover for fire?

No, you've got it the wrong way round. Policies don't normally cover "things going wrong" with cars.

pops23

Ok thanks
Still feels really unfair and I feel mislead. A well maintained car with full service history last service being just weeks before incident catches fire on motorway and insurance pays nothing.
What sort of fire would be covered? The insurance states fire and theft is covered in main part of policy then actually excludes it further down. Clearer and more honest not to mention fire being covered at all by insurance?

facade

pops23 wrote: »

What sort of fire would be covered?

It would appear only lightning strike and arson.


I agree 100%, it seems a total rip-off to take our money and do all they can to avoid paying out a few pounds to hardworking poor people, for whom those few pounds really make a difference, yet they don't even question thousands for "whiplash" to thitd parties.

Ectophile

Before you even consider giving up, make a formal complaint to the insurance company.

1. You're not claiming for an electrical fault, you're claiming for a fire.
2. They don't seem to have any real evidence that it was an electrical fault in the first place.

Making the complaint costs you nothing. Wait for their reply.



If you still don't like the answer they give you, escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. It still costs you nothing, and can be done on-line. They may well interpret the document differently.

Mistral001

Do a search to see if the make and model is prone to electrical fires. If it is, then it could help your case.

PS. Sorry I see that is not insured. Then it might help your case if nothing can be found about electrical fires on your model - maybe.

Apologies - it is Friday afternoon.

jimbo6977

You can appoint an assessor yourself for couple hundred quid.

I wouldn't necessarily take the initial assessment at face value:

1. Some "assessments" amount to no more than a quick once over by the workshop supervisor.
2. There are assessors with massive prejudices and bees in their bonnet (there is/was one who infamously would attribute any engine bay fire in a moving car to a stray cigarette setting light to the under-bonnet insulation).

However you do need to get the vehicle shifted so it stops accumulating storage charges.