Insurance claim for engine repair

BRM

A friend of mine was having trouble with his car a while back and he brought it into an approved dealership to be serviced.

He found out the car had damage to the engine (bottom end) and would need extensive repair work to fix it.

He is considering making an insurance claim as he doesn’t have the kind of money needed to repair it and he needs the car for work.

Its a 4 yr old car out of warranty but has a FSH, he has it just over a year its still worth a few quid but its no Ferrari.

He tried asking for it to be done under warranty but he was told its not covered for the particular problem.

crosstownk

He should be able to claim provided it was accidental damage, e.g. a stone hitting the sump, kerb, speed ramp, etc. If the damage was caused by an engine fault or manufacturing fault then that will not be covered as an insurance company will most likely consider it a maintenance issue.

Hotwheels

Why not try and source an engine for it? it would in the long run be a cheaper option. And the insurance would not take a hit..
there's plenty of salvage yards round the country and ye might find an engine..
What make is it?

BRM

Its a 2003 saab 93 2.0T nice car and still worth a few quid, hes not the salvage type to be honest cant see him going around looking for an engine, and to fit a new one would prob work out the same as getting his existing one repaired.

Im not totaly sure on the exact damage but It may have been accidental due to speed bumps or a stone as you mentioned.

I told him to get a garage report and bring it to his insurance if the garage were to know he was making a claim it might help his case in their report.

bazz26

The insurance company may well send out their own assessor/engineer just to assess that the damage was not done through owner neglect or manufacturer's defect.

Rudolph Claus

Even if the (ill assume 3yrs) 3yr warranty is up, surely a 4yr old car shouldnt need a new engine. So if it wasnt caused accidentially like speed bumps/kerbs etc,,, surely he should still have some comeback as goods should be fit for their purpose and be of a reasonable quality to fulfil that purpose?? So is it not reasonable to expect an engine to lst more than 4yrs old? What mileage is on the engine by the way?

crosstownk

Nuttzy wrote:

Even if the (ill assume 3yrs) 3yr warranty is up, surely a 4yr old car shouldnt need a new engine. So if it wasnt caused accidentially like speed bumps/kerbs etc,,, surely he should still have some comeback as goods should be fit for their purpose and be of a reasonable quality to fulfil that purpose?? So is it not reasonable to expect an engine to lst more than 4yrs old? What mileage is on the engine by the way?

Correct, in theory. But the reality is much different. If the OP insists on warranty, it will most likely be refused as it has expired. He may get some goodwill applied whereby the manufacturer will make a 'contribution' towards the repairs. He may get no assistance whatsoever. Then the only course of action is to proceed down the legal route which will cost both time and money with no guarantee of recovery of costs. I'm not trying to be negative, but thats the way these things usually pan out.

AFAIK, Saab have a 2 year warranty - that makes things a little more difficult, tbh. But worth making the call to OHM if it turns out that it wasn't accidental damage.

BRM

Im not sure on the mileage but I would imagine the damage was caused by some sort of shunt to the sump area as it would be highly unlikely for a low mileage Saab to go bang for no reason. Stranger things have happened and it is a turbo engine but I seriously doubt it was caused by the owners driving style.

Id be interested to hear if the insurance company send out an assessor considering the report would be coming from a main dealer.

I guess there would be a few factors in that decision, the particular insurance company, the amount being claimed and the garage report etc.

I doubt the car would be declared a write off but the repair work could amount to almost a quarter of the cars open market value which is shocking to consider if it was the result of a speed bump or road debris.