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In the current state of affairs, relatively few insurers make any reference to misfuelling in their insurance policy clauses, and when they do, it is to specifically reject this as a possible insurance claim. Many other insurers, including some of the household names, have stated that they would refuse to pay for claims made on this basis, even though there is no specific mention of such cases in their terms and conditions.
Some insurers confirm that misfuelling is covered under clauses relating to ‘accidental damage’, but this should be checked in each case, and your insurer is unlikely in any case to reimburse you for the lost time, missed appointments and total aggravation that misfuelling can lead to. Whatever the case if you misfuel your car yourself, lending it to someone who then misfuels it is unlikely to help matters. This is where FuelSure can really help.
What can you do about it? When the misfuelling and the damage because of it have already happened, if you then ‘bite the bullet’ and pay for the repairs yourself, you may find yourself paying out the equivalent of several months’ salary to get things fixed. With car repairs potentially running into thousands of pounds, this is a shock for many people. At this point and ‘better late than never’, many people get an effective diesel misfuelling prevention device fitted. Those in the know choose FuelSure.
Another option is to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If there is no specific mention of this in your insurance policy; in this case, it may be considered as an exclusion that was not notified to you when you signed the contract for your insurance policy. The Financial Ombudsman Service has stated that it would expect an insurer to meet a claim against misfuelling, if there was no clear exception to this in the insurance policy.
The logic is that people who are insured cannot be expected to guess about what the insurance does or does not cover, and therefore any specific cases must be explicitly stated by the insurer. If you feel that you are not being treated fairly by your insurer if this happens, then you can find further information ‘Biba’, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.
On the other hand, insurance is very unlikely to cover ‘intentional damage’. It’s the fine line between misfuelling as a genuine accident, and misfuelling and then knowingly driving your car, even just a short distance to get it off the road. In the first case, insurers may be understanding of your predicament, but in the second, they can invoke the notion of intentional damage that would not be covered by their guarantees. As a crumb of comfort, any breakdown services such as getting your car towed to the nearest garage that were already part of your insurance deal, should still be valid, whatever the outcome of a claim concerning misfuelling. It’s surely better to avoid all the hassle with FuelSure.
With estimated costs nationwide running into millions of pounds per year to repair the costs of misfuelling, insurance companies tend to take a cold, hard look at each case before letting go of any money. Note that if you’ve decided to only insure your vehicle with third-party insurance to save money, then you automatically pay for repairs for any damage that you have caused to your vehicle anyway, so in this case, trying to claim for misfuelling damages is out of the question. Save yourself the frustration, fit FuelSure today.
Prevention, as the saying goes, is better than cure. Rather than risk being significantly out of pocket or having to fight a long and protracted battle with your insurer, you can save both time and money by not misfuelling in the first place. The surest way to this is to fit FuelSure, a device which effectively yet inexpensively prevents the risk of misfuelling. Find out just how simple and cost-effective it is by contacting us or by picking up the phone and calling 0845 475 8397 now.
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