Over the last couple of months, we have been pulling apart the Product Disclosure Statement and elaborating on circumstances and events for which you are NOT covered. We received great feedback from all of you on the openness and transparency of that series and they were the most popular articles in the Campfire believe it or not!
Please be aware, these articles intend to give commentary and practical examples for claims time, but should not be viewed as a substitute for appropriately looking through your PDS before deciding to take up coverage with Club 4X4.
As a result of this feedback, we will now turn our focus to dissecting the claims process and trying to give you a clearer understanding of what you can expect. Ultimately, you pay us for the product to take care of you when you need to claim right? We find most of the anxiety comes from not understanding what the claims process looks like, so hopefully we can clarify things over the next few weeks.
This week we talk about the costs of dismantling, diagnosis and reassembly and how this may apply to different claims.
The key factor to keep in mind as you read on is this – we will only pay to repair or replace your vehicle in what is classed as an “insured event”. These events can be found on page 3 of your PDS, and include collision, accident, fire, malicious damage, storm damage and more. As we’ve noted in prior articles, breakdown, manufacturers fault or wear & tear are not insured events. This is a common theme across all motor insurance policies in Australia.
The basic premise of this part of the PDS is that sometimes as part of the claims process we may require you to authorise the dismantling of your rig to make an assessment of the validity of the claim. If the claim is covered, we will take on these costs in accordance with the terms and conditions of the policy and authorise the repairs. However, if the damage is not covered under our policy, you will be responsible for the costs of dismantling (and re-assembly) and any other associated costs if the incident is deemed not valid.
A fitting example to illustrate the above is when you experience an engine failure that you think may be as a result of picking up a bad batch of fuel – a very common issue with outback travel and rusty old petrol station tanks. You should know that at Club 4X4 we will cover you for damage caused by contaminated fuel – how could we call ourselves a fair dinkum fourby insurer if we didn’t?!
The process of determining if the failure is as a result of a bad batch of fuel does take some time. Usually you would have taken your rig to a mechanic who would have made the first assessment – if you’re pretty sure it’s a bad dose of fuel you may have called us first. Obviously there will need to be some preliminary work to diagnose the issue. The costs associated with disassembly of those injectors and even your fuel pump are precisely what this clause is talking about. You need to give us authority and be prepared to wear the cost of this disassembly and diagnosis before it starts.
It may be determined that the failure was caused by something relating to a manufacturers fault or a tired fuel pump. In this instance, clearly you wouldn’t be covered as the failure wasn’t caused by an insured event; as a result, you would be responsible for the costs associated with this process. In contrast, if it is determined that it was in fact contaminated fuel that caused the failure, you will be covered for the costs associated with this process and also for the repairs to the motor.
So, there you have it, another grey area successfully made black and white! Until next time…. Happy Touring!
