Will misfuelling leave you spluttering?

Research from GoCompare Car Insurance has found that 80% of comprehensive car insurance policies provide no cover for misfuelling.

Out of 302 comprehensive car insurance policies, 241 were found to provide no specific cover for misfuelling, with many just providing accidental damage cover. Only 37 policies provide misfuelling as standard and 24 offer misfuelling cover as an optional extra.

Misfuelling occurs when the wrong fuel is pumped into a car, such as putting petrol into a diesel engine or vice versa. As well as causing a huge amount of damage to a car’s engine, repair costs can stretch into the thousands.

GoCompare Car Insurance are encouraging drivers to take time when reading through their policy information, to make sure they have appropriate cover from the get-go, as misfuelling can do serious damage to your vehicle as well as your bank balance.

Despite some policies covering misfuelling, the level of cover for different costs involved varies widely.  Depending on each policy, cover may be available for: reimbursement for some or all of the cost of the wasted fuel, the cost of draining and cleaning the fuel tank, associated towing costs, and/or damage to the engine function as a result of misfuelling. 

Matt Oliver, from GoCompare Car Insurance, said: “Misfuelling can be an easier mistake to make than you think. If you’ve recently changed cars, borrowed your partner’s car or drive more than one vehicle, a lapse in concentration when at the pump is all it takes to leave you and your wallet spluttering.

"With misfuelling becoming an increasing mishap for motorists, it can be easy to assume you’ll automatically be covered by your car insurance and/or breakdown policies. It’s important you check each policy for specific details of what you’re covered for.  If your comprehensive policy excludes misfuelling, there are also options to purchase a specialist, standalone policy.”   

Matt Oliver continued, “If you have made the error of misfuelling, a couple of automatic reactions could actually invalidate your policy and any claim you make. Simply unlocking your car or turning the key in the ignition could engage fuel to the car’s engine and potentially cause thousands of pounds worth of damage, while driving your misfuelled car any distance, is considered intentional damage. It’s important to stop in your tracks, and call for assistance away from the forecourt. If you haven’t started the engine, draining and cleaning the tank of the wrong fuel should help fix the problem without damaging your car." 

For more information about car insurance and misfuelling visit: http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/misfuelling-cover/

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For further information please contact:

Anders Nilsson or Martyn John at Gocompare on 01633 654 054 / 01633 654 725

Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845

Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare

Notes to editors:

*Source: *Defaqto Matrix of 302 comprehensive car insurance policies - instant and unbiased market and competitor intelligence, from independent financial researcher Defaqto (13/02/2018). Percentages are rounded up to the nearest whole number.

Gocompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

About GoCompare

GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.

GoCompare does not charge people to use its services, and it does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. Gocompare.com makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.

GoCompare does not sell its customers’ data.

When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest, and has teamed up with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.

GoCompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

For more information visit www.gocompare.com and www.gocomparegroup.com