Insurance payout for engine failure ?

flashcash5

Hi,

I have a '99 saloon which passed the NCT this year and all was well with it.
Then one day when i started the car, i heard a bang, a hole blew in the engine and mechanic says i need a new one (which is very expensive). Supposedly water was leaking into my engine..

I have a fully comp policy with Quinn Direct.
What should i do? Will they pay for the repairs or anything?

Thanks in advance

Darragh29

flashcash5 wrote:

Hi,

I have a '99 saloon which passed the NCT this year and all was well with it.
Then one day when i started the car, i heard a bang, a hole blew in the engine and mechanic says i need a new one (which is very expensive). Supposedly water was leaking into my engine..

I have a fully comp policy with Quinn Direct.
What should i do? Will they pay for the repairs or anything?

Thanks in advance

Short answer, absolutely not! The best you could hope for would be to get your car recovered for free if you have that on your policy!

flashcash5

ok, thanks for the reply.
what do you mean by 'recovered for free'?

Stephen

Recovered for free = insurance company pays for the cost of towing it to a garage.

5500

Is the whole point of fully comp not that you can make a claim against the car and its covered,be it for whatever the damage may be?

galwaytt

eireal wrote:

Is the whole point of fully comp not that you can make a claim against the car and its covered,be it for whatever the damage may be?

No. The insurance is accident insurance, i.e. Road Traffic Accident.

You can buy mechanical insurance in the UK, afaik, but I don't know if anyone offers it here..........

Keith C

flashcash5 wrote:

Hi,

I have a '99 saloon which passed the NCT this year and all was well with it.
Then one day when i started the car, i heard a bang, a hole blew in the engine and mechanic says i need a new one (which is very expensive). Supposedly water was leaking into my engine..

I have a fully comp policy with Quinn Direct.
What should i do? Will they pay for the repairs or anything?

Thanks in advance

Well wear, tear depreciation is not covered. so if thats where the water came from, it wont be covered. If on the other hand you drove thru a large puddle, you might be able to claim as accidental damage. Large puddle = water in engine = hole in engine
Looking at the other thread going you might be lucky & a quinn claims rep will offer you money without even checking your car :eek:

flashcash5

Thanks for the advice lads - much appreciated. The car has been towed away so i guess that's out of the question
Yea KeithC - i think that is the only road to look at. Come to think of it, i did get caught in a flood recently Which topic? Are the assessors normally strict?
Any more tips are welcome

Tea drinker

I saw a fella outside your gaff with a huge watering can. He looked suspicious:eek: .

I can't remember what is the make of your car again???

flashcash5

yea the phantom waterboy i've heard about him.

Its a lamborghini diablo or something like that:)

JohnCleary

Burn it! Or accidently push it into your local lake

Wossack

"someone stole a small piece of my engine leaving a hole and now my car wont work - please sir, can I have another?"

craichoe

How much is the car worth ?

If its less that 4k then don't bother, your insurance will be jacked up beyond belief and you'll be stuck with quinn for the next 2 years.

Also, insurance fraud is .. err .. sort of illegal

Darragh29

Is there any chance you didn't get your timing belt replaced when it was due or you had a water pump problem (you'd hear this strange noise from the engine beforehand if you did), and didn't think of getting a mechanic to look at it???

If so, you shouldn't be looking to "claim" from someone for it. It's rare these days for an engine to end up with serious damage that you have described above without some warning, especially if the car has been serviced regularly. I've a mate who didn't bother his arse doing anything when his water pump was clearly on the way out. He drove around for a few days and then the water pump bearings collapsed, timing belt slipped and he had to have the whole cylinder head stripped and valves replaced, costing him mega bucks.

Any chance this is why you have a hole in your engine???

flashcash5

Bought the car for about 4k.
New timing belt, water pump, service & nct 3 months before it happned & receipts to prove this. Not looking to commit fraud at all - was joking about the big puddle. But there was no signs of anything going wrong and then bang..

MercMad

I've never heard of a car that threw a leg outa bed whilst cranking on the starter.

I dont feel this explaination hold water !

Either way I have heard of payouts when cars are driven through floods but not due to negligence !

flashcash5

Yea mabye i'm outta my dept or immersed in something i shouldnt be:)

Tea drinker

It's usually at the head they fail isn't it - with water?
For a piston to emerge from the belly of the engine like the alien it usually is pre-ignition/detonation or oil starvation?

MercMad

It's usually at the head they fail isn't it - with water?
For a piston to emerge from the belly of the engine like the alien it usually is pre-ignition/detonation or oil starvation?

.............normally the only thing that goes through a block is the piston or part of the con rod because the bearing has seized onto the crankshaft, and its happens at higher RPM generally, not the 3-400 rpm of a starter motor.

If a cylionder is full of water, due to an overnight leakdown, then the engine becomes hydraulically locked. The starter wouldn't even turn it a fraction.

flashcash5

Yes, i'm told that the water must have leaked in through the head.
Oil was ok but now that you mention it, the engine went when i was starting the car one day. Would there be another cause besides a leak/hole that finished it off do you think?