crazy insurance/breakdown - advice please!
Discussion
ok, here's the background....
driving along the M40 in my BMW Z3 2.8, during the massive downpour...doing about 65mph in the middle lane. Suddenly, there's (and i kid ye not) an explosion from the front of the car, and huge amounts of smoke start pouring out from under the bonnet.
I jam the stick into neutral, just before i hear the engine seize up completely, and manage to pilot it safely to the hard shoulder.
It went into the BMW dealer today, and the report i've had back is not good. It threw a piston, which then made a bid from freedom through the engine casting. Whole new block needed...cost just over £5k.
To their credit, the BMW dealer has said he will talk to BMW, as this kind of failure shouldn't happen (and hasn't ever happened before to anyone elses) to my 6 year old, lowish mileage, dealer-maintained car. They are not obliged to do anything though.
My insurance covers me for accidents...this counts as a breakdown. So i can't claim there, correct?
However, it all seems a bit crazy. If my engine had failed, and instead of being competant and on-the-ball enough to get the engine out of gear and over to the hard shoulder before it all seized up, i had panicked or such....well...the rear wheels would have locked at 60mph. I would have gone into a spin and collected a few other road users, and there would have been a nasty accident.
Which my insurance would have covered me for, and replaced/repaired my car for me...and i'd probably have some valid (?) claim for compensation for any injury caused for something which wasn't my fault....
At the moment, because i acted responsibly, unless BMW step in and help (they are only being informed today) i'm on my own, staring at a massive bill. If i had stuffed the car into the barriers in the central reservation I'd be deciding what trim i wanted in my shiny new Z4 paid for by my insurance...does this not seem a little crazy? Being £5k worse off for doing the right thing?
driving along the M40 in my BMW Z3 2.8, during the massive downpour...doing about 65mph in the middle lane. Suddenly, there's (and i kid ye not) an explosion from the front of the car, and huge amounts of smoke start pouring out from under the bonnet.
I jam the stick into neutral, just before i hear the engine seize up completely, and manage to pilot it safely to the hard shoulder.
It went into the BMW dealer today, and the report i've had back is not good. It threw a piston, which then made a bid from freedom through the engine casting. Whole new block needed...cost just over £5k.
To their credit, the BMW dealer has said he will talk to BMW, as this kind of failure shouldn't happen (and hasn't ever happened before to anyone elses) to my 6 year old, lowish mileage, dealer-maintained car. They are not obliged to do anything though.
My insurance covers me for accidents...this counts as a breakdown. So i can't claim there, correct?
However, it all seems a bit crazy. If my engine had failed, and instead of being competant and on-the-ball enough to get the engine out of gear and over to the hard shoulder before it all seized up, i had panicked or such....well...the rear wheels would have locked at 60mph. I would have gone into a spin and collected a few other road users, and there would have been a nasty accident.
Which my insurance would have covered me for, and replaced/repaired my car for me...and i'd probably have some valid (?) claim for compensation for any injury caused for something which wasn't my fault....
At the moment, because i acted responsibly, unless BMW step in and help (they are only being informed today) i'm on my own, staring at a massive bill. If i had stuffed the car into the barriers in the central reservation I'd be deciding what trim i wanted in my shiny new Z4 paid for by my insurance...does this not seem a little crazy? Being £5k worse off for doing the right thing?
DL23 said:
At the moment, because i acted responsibly, unless BMW step in and help (they are only being informed today) i'm on my own, staring at a massive bill. If i had stuffed the car into the barriers in the central reservation I'd be deciding what trim i wanted in my shiny new Z4 paid for by my insurance...does this not seem a little crazy? Being £5k worse off for doing the right thing?
Yup. That's about the size of it I'm afraid. Insurance are not going to cover you.
If you'd lost control and planted it into a barrier and written the car off, they'd probably have paid out.
Hope BMW come through with a goodwill gesture for you...
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