Free Money Finance: Your Insurance May Cover More than You Think ...

Remember the story of my friend who put gasoline into his diesel engine? Since then, the story got worse for him. The gas had penetrated most of his fuel system to the point where he needed an additional $4,000 in repairs. Ugh. That's a HUGE amount. But the car was only a couple years old, so he had to go ahead with it.

On a whim, he called his insurance company to see if they would offer any help. They said they would cover the whole thing, less his deductible. Pretty cool for him, huh?

I asked him why this was when the problem was something he caused. He said he asked them and they said:

• They cover many situations when you do something that harms your car and is completely your fault (for lack of paying attention or whatever.) For example, if you back your car into a pole, they'll cover the repair. Same goes for the situation where you put gasoline into a diesel engine.


• They cover lots of things that most people assume they don't. People simply fail to ask if they do and thus miss many of the benefits of their insurance.

A few thoughts on this from me:

• I would never in a million years think that they would cover something as blatant as putting gas into a diesel engine. Shows what I know.


• Like mom used to say, "it never hurts to ask."


• In many (most?) cases, it's not worth making a claim. If you do something that costs $200 to repair, it's probably better IMO to simply pay for it. The hit to your premiums will likely be more than the benefit you gain.


• That said, if the cost is very high, go ahead and claim it. Sure, my friend's premiums will likely go up, but they can afford to go up a ton since he's getting way over $4,000 (the new cost PLUS the cost of work he had done previously). It will take a long time for premium increases to cover that amount.

Anyone out there ever had a problem they thought would never be covered by insurance but it turned out to be covered?

Source: http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2011/07/your-insurance-may-cover-more-than-you-think-it-does.html

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