Insurance question - weather-related

paulb

Hi,

I'm hoping for a bit of forum advice on a weather-related incident with my car - a 01 Citroen Xsara Picasso.

The other night my wife had to collect the youngest from a sleepover (earache -wanted to come home) when really the weather and road conditions locally were bad. The road was narrow rural with a pair of tracks to follow, with 5-6 inches of hardened snow/ice in the middle - anyway on the way back the oil light came on and the warning sounded to stop - the road is little better than single track and the distance home was 2 miles, she tried to make it back - the engine died, she coasted to a halt where the road widened in front of a house.

I went to rescue both and put a liter or so of oil I had into the engine. Anyway I had it towed next morning to the local garage - the mechanic identified that the sump nut had unthreaded and was misisng- reason for the oil draining away obviously. He said that the cold may have contracted the stud, (it stands out from the sump and is definitely at the lowest point of the engine) or it hit something in the ridge of snow/ice in the middle and unscrewed). It was a good period since its last oil change and wasn't showing any signs of oil leaking where it normally stands in front of the house.

Is it possible to claim against her insurance for this? I'd like to have an idea before engaging with them (if it's a possibility). With the return to normal after xmas and the amount of car-related scrapes I imagine they will be swamped and probably not responsive to 'fluffy' requests for advice.

Appreciate any help that's out there.

If I have to source an engine - any recommendations for how I go about it - the local garage will ring around a few places but can't expect them to do so forever.

Thanks all.

Anan1

When and by whom was the car last serviced? I'm having trouble understanding how even packed ice could unscrew a properly-tightened sump nut.

beatman91

Yeah I agree, go to your last mechanic, there is your problem

Pkiernan

If it was properly tightened, then there is NO WAY it can come undone by itself.

Either someone messed with your car (very unlikely), or it was not properly installed by the person who last serviced it. If this was some time ago, you have virtually no chance of getting compensation from the garage who performed the oil change (unless the car has been driven less than 20 km or so).

As to insurance, I can't see how this would be covered by a motor insurance policy.

Voodoomelon

Indeed, if the screw was torqued to the correct spec, nothing except a wrench could make it come out again.