So, what do I do next?
Discussion
Long story:
About 6 weeks ago my E93 335i started over heating, so I had it recovered to my local guy, he diagnoses a failed electric water pump.He quotes a £1000 to fix...a week later the water pump is on his bench ready to go, but now he had doubts and wants to take it for a test drive as he thinks it may me a leaking radiator. OK I say, just do what ever you need to diagnose the issue, ideally before you fit the £1000 pump (OK £400 pump + associated bits+time+VAT). he gets it back and tells me he's not sure, so I tell him to go ahead and fit the pump and if it turns out not to be the issue we can sort it out later, but I really need to have the car on the road. 30 mins later I get a phone call. They had the car over the pit....and it caught fire
I go down to look at the car, it has been pushed outside and is in a pool of blue powder and water, they hit it with a few buckets of water and a fire extinguisher. Apparently there was a lot of smoke. They put it back over the pit and the wiring harness has burnt out as far as they can trace it.
Call insurance company, they tell me as soon as its reported as a fire they just refer it to a salvage company....so a week later it gets picked up.
4 or so weeks (of paying for a rental car) later the salvage company phone me and report that its not a fire....its an electrical fault...can I pick my car up from Bristol (a good 80 miles away) please and if I don't ASAP they are about to start charging me a daily rate to store it.
The car cost me £7k a year or so ago, its worth maybe 5-6 now...ideas? Can I ask the insurance company to deliver it back to the place they picked up from? When does a burning out a loom become a simple electrical fault? Is t worth considering fixing it?
Any advice appreciated.
About 6 weeks ago my E93 335i started over heating, so I had it recovered to my local guy, he diagnoses a failed electric water pump.He quotes a £1000 to fix...a week later the water pump is on his bench ready to go, but now he had doubts and wants to take it for a test drive as he thinks it may me a leaking radiator. OK I say, just do what ever you need to diagnose the issue, ideally before you fit the £1000 pump (OK £400 pump + associated bits+time+VAT). he gets it back and tells me he's not sure, so I tell him to go ahead and fit the pump and if it turns out not to be the issue we can sort it out later, but I really need to have the car on the road. 30 mins later I get a phone call. They had the car over the pit....and it caught fire
I go down to look at the car, it has been pushed outside and is in a pool of blue powder and water, they hit it with a few buckets of water and a fire extinguisher. Apparently there was a lot of smoke. They put it back over the pit and the wiring harness has burnt out as far as they can trace it.
Call insurance company, they tell me as soon as its reported as a fire they just refer it to a salvage company....so a week later it gets picked up.
4 or so weeks (of paying for a rental car) later the salvage company phone me and report that its not a fire....its an electrical fault...can I pick my car up from Bristol (a good 80 miles away) please and if I don't ASAP they are about to start charging me a daily rate to store it.
The car cost me £7k a year or so ago, its worth maybe 5-6 now...ideas? Can I ask the insurance company to deliver it back to the place they picked up from? When does a burning out a loom become a simple electrical fault? Is t worth considering fixing it?
Any advice appreciated.
phil4 said:
swisstoni said:
It sounds like someone somewhere is trying hard to make this not a fire as a way of not paying out.
I’d hold to the line that there has been a fire (what with all the burnt stuff and everything) and that the insurance company have to deal with it.
As above. My Dad years ago had an wiring fault which caused a fire under the bonnet. The cost to rewire was quoted at £5000+ The insurance company claimed it was a wiring fault, but no fire and so refused to cover it.I’d hold to the line that there has been a fire (what with all the burnt stuff and everything) and that the insurance company have to deal with it.
swisstoni said:
phil4 said:
Liokault said:
Interesting, did you ever get the insurance company to cover it?
Sadly, no. They insisted there was no fire, so no cover.But I’d still keep on his insurance co’s case.
I guess if I want to go that route it means small claims court, which I'm not going to do.
At what point is or isn't a burnt out wiring harness a fire?
Pupbelly said:
Was the water pump failing due to the mechanical aspect of the pump (failed blades, shaft etc) or was the pump not working due to a potential wiring issue causing it not to work / work intermittently?
If the water pump was failing due to a wiring fault how at this stage would you ever be able to establish it?
Proper s
tty situation for you OP. Fingers crossed it comes good!
Not sure. Water pumps do go on the e9X, fairly frequently (I was fully expecting to have to do one during my ownership of the car), I have never heard of one failing due to wiring. If the water pump was failing due to a wiring fault how at this stage would you ever be able to establish it?
Proper s
tty situation for you OP. Fingers crossed it comes good!bungz said:
What a garage.
Cannot tell the difference between a dud water pump pump and a leaking radiator
Then the car randomly sets on fire.
No, it was more complex than that. They fired the car up after they got the pump and water was coming out of at least one connection to the rad. Probably a pressure issue due to the pump not working correctly.Cannot tell the difference between a dud water pump pump and a leaking radiator
Then the car randomly sets on fire.
Rtype said:
Was your insurance with Admiral?
This is lifted straight from the Admiral policy wording 24/7/19 onwards under exclusions:
We will not pay for:
cont
for any loss or damage caused by mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer failures, breakdowns or breakages
cont
Always a caveat with 'budget' policy's which a majority of the comparison websites sell.
Sorry to hear your loss OP, I would suggest you ask them how they came to that conclusion, in a formal format detailing measures undertaken to form the opinion then ask for independent review from insurance co
Hmmmm wEll, I'm not SURE if I can name the company, even though they are being complete nobs and have taken around 6 weeks to decide that there's no problem from their side and have abandoned my car 80+ miles away.This is lifted straight from the Admiral policy wording 24/7/19 onwards under exclusions:
We will not pay for:
cont
for any loss or damage caused by mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer failures, breakdowns or breakages
cont
Always a caveat with 'budget' policy's which a majority of the comparison websites sell.
Sorry to hear your loss OP, I would suggest you ask them how they came to that conclusion, in a formal format detailing measures undertaken to form the opinion then ask for independent review from insurance co
OK, up date:
Just been on the phone to the insurance company, they have sent me two reports, one from a salvage company and one from the independent assessor.
the main thrust of this is:
"the garage had the car in for a failed water pump, later noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet. NO fire was noticed only smoke"
"Upon examination I found no evidence of fire damage and suspect that smoke was coming from water pump"
But then notes required parts to fix as engine wiring harness and water pump and estimates total cost to repair as "1246.01.
In the second report, the one with pictures, its clear that no one has been under the car as all pictures are generic interior/exterior/engine bay shots...no real investigation at all.
Just been on the phone to the insurance company, they have sent me two reports, one from a salvage company and one from the independent assessor.
the main thrust of this is:
"the garage had the car in for a failed water pump, later noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet. NO fire was noticed only smoke"
"Upon examination I found no evidence of fire damage and suspect that smoke was coming from water pump"
But then notes required parts to fix as engine wiring harness and water pump and estimates total cost to repair as "1246.01.
In the second report, the one with pictures, its clear that no one has been under the car as all pictures are generic interior/exterior/engine bay shots...no real investigation at all.
Pupbelly said:
Guesswork on the pump, but if the guy is correct that would suggest incorrect wiring by the garage if that is possible, or the original pump wasn't broken at all and the issue was the wiring upto and around the pump area??
Its total guess work, he's not had it up in the air to look at the damage. No wiring was touched by the garage, the new pump was never fitted.The assessor phoned me about 3 weeks into them having the car asking what the issue was as he couldn't see anything, he's certainly not been under the vehicle.
JuniorD said:
When the insurance company said it had to go to salvage, at that point did the car not become their possession? So when it turns out it should not be at salvage, should the onus not be on them to return the car to your possession?
Also if the finding was no fire hence no cover, where do they stand on water damage?
Not sure on possession. I'm fairly confident there is fire damage, certainly a fully burnt out harness back from the engine. The local garage put it over there pit and had a look before it was picked up, they said it was just bare metal wire as far as they could trace.Also if the finding was no fire hence no cover, where do they stand on water damage?
Tyre Smoke said:
Why are you not claiming from the garage?
The damage was done while it was in their charge. It is their liability surely?
Again, surly they would have had to have done something wrong? No work was done by the garage other than a bit of a drive, ordering bits and lifting the bonnet.The damage was done while it was in their charge. It is their liability surely?
Up date:
Just been back on the phone with the insurance company. Not impressed. The assessor hasn't been under the car. The damage is under the car!!!
His wording is he "suspects" the smoke was coming from the water pump...the insurance company are taking this as gospel and don't want to do any further investigation. They don't want to acknowledge the fact that the wiring loom has totally combusted.
I have said that I will take it to the ombudsman with actual evidence of fire on the loom, and if we go that way I will be looking to get back the £600+ I have now spent on rental vehicles (looking at the first email, they have had the car for nearly 2 months).
So, now the car is being returned to the original garage who will provide evidence of fire/burning.
Any advice on how to deal with the ombudsman process?
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