[vivekrvcse]

Dear TBHpians

Does it make sense to put the car in a full plastic cover ? Is it possible that a full balloon type cover will protect the car from even a flood like situation?

[vnabhi]

@shekar.ca---i am deeply sorry for your loss! Your detailed pictures and narration were so similar to my loss in October 2020 when there was a deluge in Hyderabad. My cellar also was covered with 11 feet of water for nearly 10 days. Details are in the last few pages of my LTO thread in the link below:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...owning-69.html (My Ford Fiesta 1.6 SXI completes 13.7 years and dies by drowning!)

In my case, there were 21 cars in the cellar including a 3-series Bimmer, a Merc S Class, a vintage BMW, an XUV500 and few other hatchbacks. The sun roof of the Bimmer got opened automatically for the same reason as yours--it is a feature to help people trapped inside the car to get out of the flooded car. Luckily my Fiesta was more than 13 years old, and did not have so many electronics.

I too have pictures of the stairs leading to the cellar covered with water, and of the flooded cellar, but I did not have the heart to post all of them, save a few.

I got the full IDV after deducting Rs 2000 as compulsory deductible. The process took around 45 days from the date the survey was done--the survey could be done only after 2 weeks as the cellar was fully flooded and not approachable. Reliance General Insurance, Ford ASS and the RTA were very quick and professional. The only challenge I had faced was to get a welder to visit my apartment and weld out the VIN from the floor of the Fiesta with a portable welding torch.

I did not face towing problems because the car did not have an electronic brake, nor did it have a push-button start. However, the tow hook was in the boot and we could not open it as the button on the dash and the one on the remote key were both not working as the battery was shorted. Luckily I also have a Figo, so we used the hook from that.

I hope you get over your ordeal soon. RTI is a good add on, and it will help you immensely. Good luck to you!

[shekar.ca]

Originally Posted by RT13

Dang, really sorry to hear that. This is painful to hear.

Let us know about how much RTI qualifies you for.

When we recently picked up our Hector Plus, I went to great lengths to understand what would be covered and I was clearly told it is only the invoice amount and does not include registration and insurance cover, let alone the extended service packages. In our case, we ponied up just shy of 25L but the amount we would recover was just over 18 in case of a total loss.

Hope you get a better deal than I was given to understand.

Thanks RT13. I don't have a formal confirmation yet from the insurer or the workshop that it will be full loss. It seems fairly straightforward, but I would not want to assume until actually confirmed.

In my case, the ICICI Lombard policy has the following wordings:

Return to Invoice Coverage: Sum Insured under this add-on, determined as the difference between the Insured's Declared Value (IDV) and the total actual expenses incurred towards acquisition of a new vehicle of same make and model, as specified in the on-road price listed by the manufacturer/dealer upon the occurrence of Total Loss including Theft/ Constructive Total Loss as defined in the Policy

So if everything goes ok, I will recover what I paid + I will have to ensure registration is cancelled like lamborghini explained. Lets see how it pans out.

Originally Posted by Somz

After reading & seeing all pictures of car, my heart sank. What an ordeal you have to face for 10+ days and the stressful situations. Assuming it as a total loss, hope you can get your insurance claim soon.

Thanks Somz.

Originally Posted by Sran

Horrendous situation and I can only imagine the sleepless nights you had. What has happened has happened and do take care of yourself mentally and physically and try to take a day or two off without thinking about this ordeal.

It means that the RTI add on pays OTR value and not only ex-showroom price. Do check again with your insurer.

Thanks Sran, I have tried to keep myself busy as much as possible. It looks like the OTR will be covered - please refer wordings of policy mentioned above.

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Oh dear god, my heart sank seeing the compass
I feel very sorry for your loss of a new car Shekar. While insurance and such process will take care of the situation do consider installing pumps in basement to remove the water in such disasters. I understand nothing much one can do when it comes to flooding but something is better than nothing.

Thanks Akshay6988. We do have two pumps in the basement, but this was a case of unexpected flooding in an already low lying area, where the flood barrier at the basement entry couldn't be put up before the deluge. In retrospect, it may still have not helped for the kind of water that was on my street!

Originally Posted by askrahul

Car is like a family member for most of us in the forum. I will not able to sleep if something like this happens to my car.

Thanks askrahul.

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Firstly, really appreciate documenting (for the benefit of others) what is undoubtedly a heart wrenching sight of one's prized possession. Gives a lot of clarity to us folks, any of whom might be subject to such a situation.

Could the interior damage have been minimised if the boot hadn't opened? While the safety feature unlocking the car makes sense, it is not clear how the boot could open (after unlocking), the one 'door' which is not only the heaviest but also also requires the most effort to open.

Thanks GeeTee TSI. I would think yes, assuming the door seals in such a well built car would hold up. But the technician said water would have still flooded from the AC vents and other minor openings, so am not able to judge that with clarity. He said "On a lighter note sir, its built like a tank but that doesn't mean it is IPxx rated" .

Originally Posted by vnabhi

@shekar.ca---i am deeply sorry for your loss! Your detailed pictures and narration were so similar to my loss in October 2020 when there was a deluge in Hyderabad. My cellar also was covered with 11 feet of water for nearly 10 days. Details are in the last few pages of my LTO thread in the link below:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...owning-69.html (My Ford Fiesta 1.6 SXI completes 13.7 years and dies by drowning!)

In my case, there were 21 cars in the cellar including a 3-series Bimmer, a Merc S Class, a vintage BMW, an XUV500 and few other hatchbacks. The sun roof of the Bimmer got opened automatically for the same reason as yours--it is a feature to help people trapped inside the car to get out of the flooded car. Luckily my Fiesta was more than 13 years old, and did not have so many electronics.

I too have pictures of the stairs leading to the cellar covered with water, and of the flooded cellar, but I did not have the heart to post all of them, save a few.

I got the full IDV after deducting Rs 2000 as compulsory deductible. The process took around 45 days from the date the survey was done--the survey could be done only after 2 weeks as the cellar was fully flooded and not approachable. Reliance General Insurance, Ford ASS and the RTA were very quick and professional. The only challenge I had faced was to get a welder to visit my apartment and weld out the VIN from the floor of the Fiesta with a portable welding torch.

I did not face towing problems because the car did not have an electronic brake, nor did it have a push-button start. However, the tow hook was in the boot and we could not open it as the button on the dash and the one on the remote key were both not working as the battery was shorted. Luckily I also have a Figo, so we used the hook from that.

I hope you get over your ordeal soon. RTI is a good add on, and it will help you immensely. Good luck to you!

Thank you vnabhi, just read up your thread and yours was quite the ordeal too. More tech means more trouble in such situations I guess, but have to live with it.
By the way, have you got around to buying a new car subsequently, so are you still holding on to the Verna and Figo?

[lordtottuu]

Oh boy, this just brings back a lot of bad memories from 2015. And a little PTSD too!

I hope you're able to get out of this situation with as small a financial hit as possible. Being completely under water for an extended time likely means this will be written off as a total loss.

[Vitruvius]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Could the interior damage have been minimised if the boot hadn't opened? While the safety feature unlocking the car makes sense, it is not clear how the boot could open (after unlocking), the one 'door' which is not only the heaviest but also also requires the most effort to open.

I've had my fair share of flood experiences, and I can tell you that the boot door opening would not have mattered one bit. Had the boot remained shut, the flood water would still have found its way inside the car, and the interiors would've been exactly the same as they are now.
I appreciate you sharing your experience here, it is indeed difficult.
As the years have passed, I'm starting to feel we have to start getting used to these extremes of weather.

[White-taurus]

Hi,

The same happened to me during the 2015 floods. My Scorpio was in water for four days. I requested for total loss, but Bajaj Allianz (My Insurer) was not ready and asked me to get it repaired, as the showroom has notified that it is repairable. But I was not interested, as the car was fully submerged for four full days. I asked them to provide me a letter stating that "Even though customer is not willing to repair the car, we are forcing them to repair and use the same car. If anything (other than accident caused by driver's negligence) happens to anyone who is driving and/or travelling in this car due to electrical short circuit. We will take the full responsibility and pay the requested compensation at that time depending upon the damages and/or the loss occurred. They immediately accepted for total loss.

So, I request you not to accept anything other than Total Loss.

[Dr.Carguy]

So sorry to see your car in this condition.

I have recently had a car flooding incident of my own...one which left me very distraught for the whole time period of 2 months for which my car was in the workshop. In fact,me being an avid reader of TBHP almost everyday when i get some free time,I had stopped coming onto the site altogether because everything that i read here,i somehow try to relate to my car and my way of driving and while the car was in workshop without any idea of when it would be returned to me,it pained me a great deal every time I read something that i could relate to and that would remind me of my ongoing situation with my car.

I don't know whether its the right place to share my incident (Mods please move it if my post is digressing from the original post),but am gonna leave a short report of what happened.

So it happened on the morning of 20th September,2021...it was a monday morning and it had been raining constantly since the previous night. Now most people would say that I probably shouldn't have taken my car out that day itself but the thing is,I have driven to my hospital in worse weather without getting bogged down by waterlogging on the route that i take but thing that was different this morning was my mother could not get out of going to her office that day and so she asked me to drop her off on my way. So my mother's office is located in Salt Lake Sector V and although there were recent reports of waterlogging in that area after heavy rains,in my head i couldn't have imagined what I would face that day. So on our way to her office,we came across small patches of road under water that were probably ankle deep...car champed its way through without breaking sweat and then we came upon a stretch of road that could have resulted in my car's watery grave. I entered the road thinking it was a short stretch of waterlogged road that i could go through in no time but what i didnt know was that it was a stretch that measured about 1-1.5 km of road totally underwater (some places more deeply waterlogged than others) without so much as an alleyway to escape into on the side. As we went ahead,the level of water started to increase...the pushback of the water was such that even at first gear and 3-4k rpm the car was just about moving along . Probably would have still made it out of the whole stretch of waterlogged road without the engine going kaput on me,but the final death bell was rung by a public bus stopping right in the middle of the road wihout leaving space for me to pass it...had to stop for the bus to move along again and though i tried to keep the rev high at the cost of the clutch,I am sure that is when the water actually got in to the mechanicals. My poor car chugged me along for a few more metres after this incident before the engine gave way. The weight of the water volume was such that i could just about push the car towards the side so that i could wait for RSA. Cars going by the side would displace enough water to make my car shake about like a boat bobbing about in the waves. Called the RSA and waited for a tow truck to arrive and while waiting for it on the side walk i could see that the place where my car gave in was probably just 50metres from where the water finally abated and you could see the road...well that's a regret for another day...at that moment all i could think about was whether I would have to scrap the car or would it be fixable...and if it was fixable,what arm and leg would i have to pay for it...and even after getting it fixed whether i would be able to enjoy the punch that i have come to enjoy on my baleno RS.

Anyway,the tow truck arrived and towed me to OSL motocorps MASS after wading through another sea or two worth of waterlogged roads. Now I usually get my car serviced at Jyote motors (authorised NEXA workshop) but while waiting for the tow truck,i was informed over phone by an SA( the SA who usually handles my car while its there had apparently left the job there) that Jyote motors didnt do works that involved insurance claims and hence they suggested the OSL workshop. So now I am in an unprecedented situation (having not had to deal with on road engine failure,let alone that being cause by waterlogging) and at a workshop where i was a stranger. Anyway,the SA from jyote motors had put me through to the GM of the osl workshop and on talking with the concerned people over there i come to find out that the insurance policy that i had taken out via maruti suzuki itself in recent past,did not have engine protection cover...and the only amount that i would be able to claim via insurance would amount to 4-5thousand rupees in a total job worth of close to 1.5lakhs or more and if i did choose to go for insurance claim,they would have to wait a day or 2 for the insurance inspector to come visit the car and then give the go ahead for the work. The very thought of my beloved car sitting there in that waterlogged condition for 2 days for the cause that i may get not even 10% of the total job value made me waive it off and I told them to get started on it immediately even if it meant that i had to pay every penny out of my own pocket. They took my approval for engine dismantling and said they would get back to me with an estimate post dismantling and hence the wait began.

I recently got my car back on 18th November after about 2 months of countless phone calls,a visit or 2,the agony of waiting and my pocket having made lighter by a sum of 1.25 lakhs. The bengal festive season having arrived in the meantime didn't help with the ETA of delivery either. The car works fine enough,probably has enough punch too...but i still feel like the pre-incident "pedal to metal,zoom to glory" punch is missing...or may be its just in my head... doesn't help that they lost the tow hook cap so even though my car looks as beautiful as ever,its beauty is tainted by the square shaped hole in front of the bumper till i can source a new tow hook cap.

[Raghu M]

That is indeed so sad. I could not locate the car in the first few pics. I can imagine the pain it causes to car lovers. Now that the pattern in various cities seems to be normal, I was just wondering what sort of measures can one take to be free of such calamities? Hyd is no different, however, my area and neighboring areas are largely unaffected when there is a heavy downpour.

[OffRoadFun]

What a depressing and heartbreaking scene to see the new car go like this.
Nevertheless, one can try to solace oneself by realizing it's a physical loss after all and your RTI will take care of most part of it. Wish the claim process is smooth and fast!

[shekar.ca]

Hello all,

Time for another update, this time a short one:

The car is at the Jeep workshop and has been seen twice by the ICICI Lombard appointed surveyor, once over a short video call and then in person on Nov 21. He contacted me to fill out the claim form, provide all the documentation, etc. which I have completed yesterday. As of last evening, he was awaiting a final quote from the workshop, post which the papers will be processed and a decision will be made. Neither has there been an indication yet on a total loss nor did he refer to the RTI, so I am still waiting patiently, fingers crossed.

Interceptor seems to be faring reasonably. My friend's garage has performed an engine flush 4 times over the past week, rechecked (and replaced where necessary) every bit of the electrical components & wiring. The bike has been taken out on a couple of rides and he felt it was quite good. They have also done a 3rd party evaluation of the electricals just to double check. One concern was the constantly glowing ABS warning light - in the interest of safety, he is getting the sensor/ wiring replaced. All in all, hoping to see it back in action by early next week!

Originally Posted by lordtottuu

Oh boy, this just brings back a lot of bad memories from 2015. And a little PTSD too!

I hope you're able to get out of this situation with as small a financial hit as possible. Being completely under water for an extended time likely means this will be written off as a total loss.

Thanks lordtottuu, as explained it is not been confirmed yet.

Originally Posted by Vitruvius

I've had my fair share of flood experiences, and I can tell you that the boot door opening would not have mattered one bit. Had the boot remained shut, the flood water would still have found its way inside the car, and the interiors would've been exactly the same as they are now.
I appreciate you sharing your experience here, it is indeed difficult.
As the years have passed, I'm starting to feel we have to start getting used to these extremes of weather.

Thanks Vitruvius. True, the water would have anyway entered and its high time we accept uncontrollable extremes of weather.

Originally Posted by White-taurus

Hi,

The same happened to me during the 2015 floods. My Scorpio was in water for four days. I requested for total loss, but Bajaj Allianz (My Insurer) was not ready and asked me to get it repaired, as the showroom has notified that it is repairable. But I was not interested, as the car was fully submerged for four full days. I asked them to provide me a letter stating that "Even though customer is not willing to repair the car, we are forcing them to repair and use the same car. If anything (other than accident caused by driver's negligence) happens to anyone who is driving and/or travelling in this car due to electrical short circuit. We will take the full responsibility and pay the requested compensation at that time depending upon the damages and/or the loss occurred. They immediately accepted for total loss.

So, I request you not to accept anything other than Total Loss.

Thank you White-taurus, this is a very useful input. If pushed to this situation, I will certainly use this trump card.

Originally Posted by Dr.Carguy

So sorry to see your car in this condition.

I have recently had a car flooding incident of my own...one which left me very distraught for the whole time period of 2 months for which my car was in the workshop. In fact,me being an avid reader of TBHP almost everyday when i get some free time,I had stopped coming onto the site altogether because everything that i read here,i somehow try to relate to my car and my way of driving and while the car was in workshop without any idea of when it would be returned to me,it pained me a great deal every time I read something that i could relate to and that would remind me of my ongoing situation with my car.

Thank you Dr.Carguy. So sorry for your situation and glad you finally got the car back. How old is your Baleno RS and what exactly did they do to restore the engine? Wishing it serves you well for many more miles & years.

Originally Posted by Raghu M

That is indeed so sad. I could not locate the car in the first few pics. I can imagine the pain it causes to car lovers. Now that the pattern in various cities seems to be normal, I was just wondering what sort of measures can one take to be free of such calamities? Hyd is no different, however, my area and neighboring areas are largely unaffected when there is a heavy downpour.

Originally Posted by OffRoadFun

What a depressing and heartbreaking scene to see the new car go like this.
Nevertheless, one can try to solace oneself by realizing it's a physical loss after all and your RTI will take care of most part of it. Wish the claim process is smooth and fast!

Thanks Raghu M and OffRoadFun.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by shekar.ca

Thank you vnabhi, just read up your thread and yours was quite the ordeal too. More tech means more trouble in such situations I guess, but have to live with it.
By the way, have you got around to buying a new car subsequently, so are you still holding on to the Verna and Figo?

Sorry for the delayed response--i was busy doing nothing in the past month after retirement!!

I bought an Ecosport Sports diesel in March this year---my LTO thread of the Fiesta has the picture on the last few pages.

The Verna has been sold by my son as he is moving abroad next week for an assignment in Malta. I'd have certainly thought of buying it, but it was an AP-registered car and i did not want to cough up 1.6 lakhs as life tax.

The Figo is with my wife and doing good.

I hope you get your claim soon.

[Dr.Carguy]

Thank you Dr.Carguy. So sorry for your situation and glad you finally got the car back. How old is your Baleno RS and what exactly did they do to restore the engine? Wishing it serves you well for many more miles & years.

Its a 2017 baleno RS...i bought it preowned in 2020...and going by the list of parts that they replaced(including piston rings,part of the engine head and eberything),felt like i have a whole new engine on my hand except for the engine block... initially they said they might have to replace the turbo as well,but thankfully they didn't have to finally,or it would have been another set of pretty penny drained out of the pocket...i dont have the bill handy at this time...will post a pic of the replaced part list later. And thanks for the good wishes...hope i can enjoy driving it for some more years to come too!


Mod Note : Please avoid typing with excessive dots.........like................this.
Thanks.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Just to add my 2 cents here is during the FY15 floods in Chennai, in my same compound, we had a Dezire, a City and mine a Polo. Since the water logging was around 4.5 feet to 5 feet, it was a typical category A submersion where the water level covered the dash board. All the other two cars (the Dezire and City) came back after repair and are still being used by the owners, while mine was classified as total loss. All parked near to each other and so cant have different level of damages. When I asked about the same to VW, the cost of repairs came to INR 7.1 L which was more than my IDV at that time which as around INR 3.5 L and also the original costs that I purchased in 2010 (INR 6.2 L). When, I asked about the costs being high, the service manager told me that VW policy is to replace all parts in fully submerged vehicle and labour costs on the above was around INR 2L. I was thinking that these guys did not want to repair the car due to the huge volume of cars which were impacted and hence gave an estimate which was high. I was curious how the other two cars came back after the incident while mine alone was declared a total loss. Can this be a brand specific issue and what is the best option in the members view. With so many electronics in a car, it may be a better option to claim total loss. While I still miss the fun driving the 1.6 Polo, which was discontinued and hence was not able to get my hands on that again. I would have loved to have had the car repaired, but dont really know if it would have performed in the same way before submersion

[shekar.ca]

Hello everyone,

Been a while since I updated this thread with progress, as there hasn't unfortunately been too much to report on!

To talk in terms of time, it has been:

63 days since I filed the claim
54 days since the car was towed away
50 days since the first survey was done
25 days since ICICI Lombard mentioned it was a total loss
22 days since the Bank gave a foreclosure statement

and yet neither has the Bank loan been paid (and EMIs debited thrice since the claim - Nov 10, Dec 10 and Jan 10) nor has there been any settlement to me. ICICI Lombard says they are still working on it and that multiple prospective buyers made offers to buy the car for prices ranging from ₹ 10-12 lakhs before backing out.

Finally (I hope that is), yesterday night, ICICI has promised to nevertheless pay (this after a fair amount of escalation through their team).

Fingers crossed even now that this saga ends soon and I get the money.

Meanwhile, couldn't hold on for much longer without a car, so have booked another Jeep Compass but the Limited (O) variant this time and expect delivery later this month. Whilst insurance again will be the comprehensive one with RTI cover, I don't want ICICI Lombard again. So now left to choose amongst the other options presented - Reliance, Raheja & Future Generali, none of whom I am able to find great reviews. Any suggestions on this pls?

Finally, on the bike, its been quite the opposite of the above experience. My friend managed to revive it and I have been riding for a few weeks now without any hassles. Here's the beauty again

[arun_josie]

A very horrible experience to go through and its a pain to handle these insurance guys anytime. Hope this ordeal ends soon.

Meanwhile Congratulations on your new Compass booking.

Regarding the insurance part, you can check with Royal Sundaram, Tata-AIG as well. But make sure they have cashless tie up with the Chennai Jeep service center. At the end of the day, when it comes to total-loss/salvage loss, almost all insurance guys respond the similar way and will test our patience.