[psp62in]

There is a separate thread on this forum on the Rat menace and Havoc the Rodents can play on the electrical system of a vehicle. Its very evident that quite of few of t-bhp members have faced the problem some time or other. Also the repairs at times can cause a bomb. ( A neighbour of mine recently spent over Rs. 10K to get the wiring changed). There are reports under that same thread that the normal car insurance does not cover such kind of damage.

Questions to the Insurance Experts:
1. Is it true that the normal "comprehensive" insurance does not cover the damage to the electrical system due to Rats or other reasons beyond the customers control? (If true, then it is incorrect to call it "comprehensive" policy).
2. If yes, can such a cover be availed by an extra premium? How and under what head?

[GTO]

Rubbish, I don't see why an insurance firm would not cover damage caused by rats. They are as much as natural menace / disaster as floods (as an example) are.

If a rat chewed up your wires, messed up your electrical system and led to the car catching fire, you will obviously be covered. On the other hand, if you want to replace your wiring system that's been damaged by rats, I am not so sure about insurance companies willing to host your complaint. Reason? Prove it. They might just as well dismiss off the damaged wires as wear & tear.

[rjvora_2000]

Originally Posted by GTO

Reason? Prove it. They might just as well dismiss off the damaged wires as wear & tear.

You are Right!!!

One has to prove the damages. Otherwise insurance company will say that these part's are replaced. - I know this is foolishness.

[sumeethaldankar]

Has anyone calimed insurance for rat related damage ? I am facing the same issue now. Rats bit off wiring harness which Honda says costs around 15k. I am trying the insurance way but dont know if claim will be honoured.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Has anyone calimed insurance for rat related damage ? I am facing the same issue now. Rats bit off wiring harness which Honda says costs around 15k. I am trying the insurance way but dont know if claim will be honoured.

Unfortunately the Insurance claim will not be honored by the Insurance co. The loss will be categorized as wear and tear loss. It will be worthwhile to challenge Insurance co on the wear and tear loss but I doubt if you will be able to get an approval for the same. The Insurance co expects you to protect the car from rat infestation.

[sumeethaldankar]

My insurance claim for rat chewing up the main engine harness which was costing around 20k was approved by my insurance co. However all is not rosy as Honda showed damages as close to 31k which means i have to pay roughly 16k still. Rest will be borne by the insurance co. On the brighter side i would have had to pay close to 20k if only i was changing the harness but this way i get the engine harness and the dashboard wiring changed along as part of standard procedure as per Honda in case of claim made through insurance.

Car is still in workshop awaiting parts but survey was done and the insurance was approved. Will post more details later as i get more info on the parts replaced and insurance process.

[souravdebiswas]

HI. I know the following topic about RAT problems have been discussed on this forum. I needed a bit of different help. My friend lives in Bangalore. His 2014 Honda Accord had RAT problems and ofcourse the wires in engine bay were chewed. Now AC has stopped working and various other dashboard lights have also stopped working / started blinking / alarms keep sounding. Honda ASS says that it will cost at least Rs. 50,000 to replace wires and will take 2-3 months to source them. Is that kind of true? Any recommendations if apart from Honda ASS, there are any other reliable places in Bangalore where wires can be replaced at a cheaper cost?

[antz.bin]

I have had rat bite damage on my car recently. Twice in 2 weeks.

Insurance company surveyor (Reliance General insurance) flatly refused to cover the damage. I have a Zero Depreciation insurance with them.

Luckily for me, there haven't been issues ever since, and the total bill for 2 visits was just ~₹2000.

I have already used the 3M anti rodent spray and also have brought some tobacco to sprinkle it inside the engine bay.

I know that rat still moves about freely in my housing society and I want to switch to an insurance company that does cover this damage. Any ideas will be helpful.

[ashutoshb]

Finally, the rats got me

My 2021 Skoda Kushaq had started showing an Airbag error last month.

I then took the car to the local dealer in Noida.

They inspected the car, and showed me that the wiring harness was bitten by rats.

I asked them about the monetary damage, hoping it wouldn't be much, and I shall get it fixed on my own. They said, it can be anywhere between 10k-80k.

Upon hearing this, I inquired whether I can claim insurance. They were not sure of it.

I googled, searched tbhp and found that it can be claimed.

My insurer is Tata AIG. I filed a claim and the claim got approved.

Only after the insurance survey was done, they gave me an estimate, of ₹93,880. I am being told that I shall only pay file charges.

They filed an order for the harness on March 30th.

And then the wait for the parts started.

And today's update has been that they will 'get to know when will the parts come, on the 20th'.

At the time of purchase, upon reading about 90% localisation levels of Kushaq, I was pretty confident that it shouldn't take much time.

I guess, the wiring harness is still being imported.

One thing, I didn't like, was that the final delivery slip, which states that the work was done to my satisfaction, was also in the papers at the time of filing the insurance claim. I was told that if I sign it beforehand, the handover time after the work is done will be lesser. Otherwise, I will have to wait a little longer. I said I do not have an issue in waiting and did not sign it.

Never knew that it will take this long

Attaching the estimate, they have given to me.

[Guna]

I have seen 'rat damage' as a separate add on in one of the quotations I saw. If the normal insurance covers it, why does it exist?
I had 2 instances of rat bites which resulted in the repair charge of Rs. 5000 (i20) and Rs 15000 (Tiguan Allspace). In both the cases, service advisers discouraged me to go for insurance, and therefore I could not test if the regular policies do cover rat related damages.

[The Mechanic]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Finally, the rats got me


Upon hearing this, I inquired whether I can claim insurance. They were not sure of it.

I googled, searched tbhp and found that it can be claimed.

My insurer is Tata AIG. I filed a claim and the claim got approved.

This is the correct and standard practice.

Originally Posted by Guna

I have seen 'rat damage' as a separate add on in one of the quotations I saw. If the normal insurance covers it, why does it exist?
I had 2 instances of rat bites which resulted in the repair charge of Rs. 5000 (i20) and Rs 15000 (Tiguan Allspace). In both the cases, service advisers discouraged me to go for insurance, and therefore I could not test if the regular policies do cover rat related damages.

Quoting myself from following thread

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ver-claim.html (Car ripped off & bitten by dogs in hospital parking | Will insurance cover the claim?)


Post No. #3

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5519675 (Car ripped off & bitten by dogs in hospital parking | Will insurance cover the claim?)

Originally Posted by The Mechanic

The claim is payable under most motor policies(Unless you have some specific policy excluding such losses).

This type of loss will come under "Accidental External Means". The animal's name or type is immaterial.

A dog biting your car's bumpers, an elephant poking a hole in your car with its tusks or a rat biting your car's wiring - All these will fall under "Accidental External Means".

So, unless the standard policy specifically excludes rat bites, you shouldn't need any separate add on to cover such damages.

[Arctsian08]

Had faced a similar issue on my 10 days old Baleno. While driving all of a sudden I noticed that the ABS light has turned on. Luckily I was nearby to the dealership from where I had bought the car. It helped that the ASC was in the same premises.
Called up my sales advisor while they were assigning the service engineer to look at it. He was in the premises and came quickly.
Meanwhile the service engineer popped the hood and I was shocked to see all sort of food scraps in the engine bay. The engineer quickly deduced the cause of ABS light to be Rat bite.

What I liked about the ASC was that the Service engineer was very transparent. He said that they will try to repair it and it would cost Rs. 1500 and if unsuccessful they will change the entire harness for Rs. 15,000. And under both options I will get back the car within 24 hours.

I was ok with both options as long as there were no issues later on. They repaired it for Rs. 1500. The work was good. It’s been two years to the incident now and I haven’t faced a single issue with the vehicle till date.

[manub22]

With a recent incident of rat & dog bites on my car, I came to know that how much certain addons are very important while buying/renewing your car insurance.

My ordeal: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ver-claim.html (Car ripped off & bitten by dogs in hospital parking | Will insurance cover the claim?)

As rat bite was included, so there was no problem on insurance claim approval.
Also if I didn't had consumables add-on then I had to pay around 6k from my pocket.

[sundarsarma]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Finally, the rats got me

My 2021 Skoda Kushaq had started showing an Airbag error last month.

I then took the car to the local dealer in Noida.

They inspected the car, and showed me that the wiring harness was bitten by rats.

Hi Ashutosh, You may try this jugaad as this has helped me worry free for the last 1 year in-spite of visitors (rats) in the engine bay. I have suggested to few of my friends and they too have started trying this with positive results.

In the image you can spot the outer flexi-hose was bitten and i have covered this with calendar/diary metal spiral as shield.

[iron.head]

Rat chew wires on my 2012 Royal Enfield Classic. I soldered the wires and put heat shrink on them. Later covered them up with this tape. Been good since then.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00034650/