Swift Dzire Vdi accident leads to major engine damage - Royal Sundaram/Maruti Insurance refuses claim
Hi Guys,
I have been facing a huge problem since the last few weeks. What started as a minor accident with me going over an ill fated stone has turned out to haunt me as full blown engine damage. The worst part of the above statement is I did nothing wrong, in fact I did what I have learned over the years being a part of this forum. Our family has a history of driving cars for more than 15 years and it is well-known understanding to stop the car and the engine immediately in case of a front end accident. My car is around 4 months old and is insured by Royal Sundaram/Maruti insurance. Let me run you all through the incidents.
On 16th May 2009, at roughly around 13.00 hours my car met with an accident on the road towards Mulund (from the Eastern Express Highway). I accidentally went over a stone lying on the road which hit the underbody of the car and I stopped immediately. Similarly, even here as soon as I hit the stone I stopped the car immediately and turned the engine off. After coming out to assess the damage, I saw that oil was leaking from the underbody and I realized the damage was serious enough not to drive my car any further.
I immediately called Maruti 24/7 helpline and then called Spectra Motors (Ghatkopar), where I had done my 1st service, and asked for their towing van service to take my car to them. They suggested towing the car to Spectra Motors (Thane) instead, citing that accidental repairs are not undertaken at their Ghatkopar branch and I agreed. After around half an hour of waiting at the same spot the towing van came, did the paper work and took the car to Spectra Motors, Thane.
At the outset, I had been told by the service advisor that there are damages to bumper, oil sump and oil strainer. Everything had to be replaced and I had to pay 50% for the bumper and rest all will be paid 100% by the insurance company since the car is under 6 months old. There was some shortage of parts and parts had to be ordered from Delhi. This led to an initial delay but the parts were replaced and I was to be given delivery of the car around 10 days back.
After this started my nightmare, I was told that the car is ready but the engine is knocking and it seems there is some mis-alignment or damage to internal components. He questioned whether I had driven my car after the accident. He mentioned that insurance companies are extremely vary of settling such engine damage claims since such damages are referred to as consequential damages (Driving after an accident leading to increased damages).
I clearly mentioned to them what had happened and that I had turned the engine off immediately and not moved even an inch from the accident spot. He spoke to the Royal Sundaram and they said that they would comment after assessing the damage. I was informed that only opening the engine to check damages would cost 5k. Since, we had no idea of the damages I told them to go ahead.
A week back the engine was opened and it has come to their/our knowledge that there is substantial engine damage as well due to the accident.
The rationalization given to me by Mr. Vipul Khamkar (Asst. Works Manager) at Spectra Motors, Thane is that at the time of impact, along with the oil sump the oil strainer (the part which carries the oil to the engine) also broke off and that caused an instantaneous stoppage of oil to the engine leading to an immediate damage (due to heat buildup and expansion). He mentioned that modern diesel engines are extremely complex and delicate and have a very large quantity of oil present in engine circulation itself (compared to the sump) and hence the damage. As per his experience, he assumes that since the car had run for around 4-5 kms before the accident, the engine was already at an optimum temperature. Hence, a stoppage of oil to the engine may have caused an immediate damage.
He also mentioned that there may have been some manufacturing defect as to why the engine got damaged so soon.
We spoke to the Royal Sundaram guys and they are adamant that the damages done cannot be covered under insurance. My question is what the purpose of insurance is if it doesn’t cover purely accidental damages as well. I told them that I have pictures with me showing the exact accident location where my car was stationary till it was towed away to Spectra. I have sent a mail to them with all the pictures and explanation.
Now I am at cross-roads, Sundaram tells me to get started with the work since they will take around 10 days to decide on the claim. If they don’t cover the claim the expenses are expected to be around 1 lac or even more!! I have told Spectra to wait for Sundaram’s final official reply to the claim and then I will take a call.
I have sent a mail to Royal Sundaram’s customer service and also to Maruti customer service at
contact@maruti.in and am awaiting reply. I desperately need some guidance as to how do I go forward with the issue. There is no way I can easily cough up that amount for no fault of mine.
I am attaching the pictures which I have sent to them. Please take a careful look at the amount of oil below the car and also see that no oil is spilled behind the car on the road. The car was stopped and turned off immediately after the accident and towed from this very location. This also nullifies your argument that the car was run without the oil and that this was a consequential damage. The pictures clearly show that the car was stopped the moment the accident happened and that the oil loss happened while the car was stationary at that place for around 30 minutes while we were waiting for the towing van.
Please guide me as to how I can go forward on this and whom should I contact for a faster response.
Regards
P.S. The pictures show the place of the accident and towing, the damage to the oil sump, amount of leaked oil, damage to the engine camshaft. The eighth picture shows the kinf of stone that went under the car.