A lot of people are attracted to the plethora of auto repair insurances which have come onto the market over the last twenty years. At first inspection they seem to be good value and offer to save the motorist a fortune in repair bills when things go wrong with the car. The insurer is hoping to sell you peace of mind.
What are the pros and cons of this kind of insurance? The pros are if you have a major malfunction, like for example a gearbox seizing up, the insurance will pay towards the cost of repairs. The same is true of other major repairs. The motorist will have to satisfy the insurers this is normal ‘wear and tear’ and not damage caused by abuse.
Unfortunately, there appears to be more cons than pros. Firstly, the insurer usually will only pay for repairs to a set fee, which may not be enough cash to complete the repair. The motorist may still need to find some cash for the repair work to be completed.
There are many things that can go wrong with your car that the insurance company will not pay for. The list of repairs not covered by the insurance companies can be quite extensive.
The auto parts not covered by most auto repair insurers are the parts that mostly go wrong. These can be termed consumables the parts of a car that need to be changed periodically during a car’s life. The list may include the exhaust pipe, brakes, body damage, interior trim damage, tyre damage, water-pump and belts including camshaft belts.
As one might imagine these are the things you would expect to go wrong with your car during its life. How many of us who own a young car will expect the gearbox to fail or the clutch to go? These things can happen but are rare this is how the insurance company makes its money on the premise you won’t have major mechanical problems.
Conversely, one will expect to have brake problems, or an exhaust blow. Indeed there are many other things that will wear out and go wrong with your car from time to time. Unfortunately, few of the normal repairs to your car will be covered by your auto insurance.
If one agrees few parts of the car are covered by the auto insurance, then will it offer the peace of mind one would expect from insurance cover and is it true value for money?