Should i claim for engine failure?

JustinBunn

Hi all,

driving back home yesterday, my 2004 peugeot 206 engine went kaput. Seems the timing belt went. Garage put it in gear, pushed the car with no ignition and there was no compression at all, so the valves are destroyed.

My question is, with it being an older car from 2004, and probably only worth £300 to £400, would it be worth trying to claim the damage on insurance and then using this to invest in a new car? I have fully comprehensive insurance with admiral, i am yet to call them up about the details and if they would actually pay out. But by doing this, I would lose my previous 3 years no claim which may increase my insurance next year (am i correct?)

The other alternative is just to scrap my car, not go through insurance claims, and get a new car.

Opinions please?

Oh, and check when you next need to change your timing belt!

Alter_ego

Motor Insurance is not a maintenance contract, it's for ACCIDENTS

MovingForwards

That wouldn't be an insurable event, its lack of maintenance which isn't covered.

Your options are:

- Scrap it, put the bit of money from that towards your next car.
- Drop a replacement engine in.

macman

As an aside, fully comp on a £300 scrapper?

JustinBunn

macman said:

As an aside, fully comp on a £300 scrapper?

Fair enough question. Actually, the fully comp was the cheapest insurance i could find. Quite a bit cheaper than the cheapest third party in fact. 

mattyprice4004

Without meaning to sound patronising, it might be a good plan to sit and familiarise yourself with what your various insurance products actually cover you for if you thought your provided cover against this.
Might save you some bother in the future! 

dunstonh

macman said:

As an aside, fully comp on a £300 scrapper?

The cross-subsidy pool on TPF&T is not what it used to be and most of the time, people find that Fully comp is cheaper than TPF&T.

MovingForwards

macman said:

As an aside, fully comp on a £300 scrapper?

I'm also FC on my runabouts, it was only the first couple of years I had TPFT. The price is cheaper now than years ago when TPO and TPFT were competitive. If anything happened I would repair with parts from a scrappy / eBay or get another old car.

TELLIT01

If you want to insure a vehicle against mechanical failure you need Mechanical Breakdown Insurance.  Even that would probably cost more than it would pay out, if you could get cover for a 17 year old car in the first place.