Risks that affect insured, insurer

wish to broaden our scope to other issues that are key for the smooth running of our vehicles such as insurance.
We do not need to explain what insurance is all about but rather make reference to certain issues that prejudice the insurer on one side and the insured on the other.
The sum total in this aspect is to ensure that both parties benefit and are aware of some aspects that have been taken for granted or were presumed to be correct and ensure that blame is not shifted to wrong aspects.
The following example seeks to illustrate this issue. A truck was involved in an accident while ascending an escarpment.
The vehicle suddenly failed to negotiate the ascent and began to roll back and in the process it overturned. The owners of the truck blamed the accident on brake failure and as is the practice they put in a claim for compensation or redress for the financial loss.
Relevant quotations were obtained and submitted to the assessor. The driver’s statement was that it was a brake failure that caused the truck not to stop among the reasons.
The appointed assessor upon visiting the site of the accident concluded that while brake failure was the cause of the accident, the cause of the brake failure was due to a mixture that the company was using as brake fluid which was sub-standard.
The assessor duly noted this in his report and based on those findings the claim was declined. It was discovered that the mixture used was that of silicone fluids and polyglycol ones.
Generally, the mixing of silicone fluids with polyglycol types is not encouraged. If you drain your polyglycol fluids do not replace with silicone type, the small amount of glycol clinging to the surface will degrade the silicone as the glycol and this introduces moisture into the system, which in turn weakens the mixture.
Use of unspecified brake fluids has a tendency of damaging the system so does the mixing of different fluids. Low brake fluid levels could be indicative of brake lining wear or system leak while brake fluid applied on a hot engine can cause fire.
Silicone fluids have the ability not to absorb moisture as is the case with glycol yet the fluid will be more compressible.
Most brake fluids are hygroscopic meaning they are affected by absorption of moisture so that after putting on mileage it would have absorbed a certain amount of water.
In all cases, we recommend that you use SAE JI 703, DOT 3 or DOT 4. Incidentally, DOT means Department of Transport (USA).
The point here is for insurance to be alert and be broad-based and dig deeper in such investigations.
Vehicle caught fire: There was a claim which was submitted to the insurer after a vehicle caught fire and the cause was attributable to an electrical fault.
It was evident that there was fire that reduced the car to a shell. The assessor came upon some burnt wires that showed the trail of the fire and confirmed that electrical fault was the reason for the fire and payment was made.
There was no attempt to look at other causes of the fire. However, an independent assessor who checked the car observed that the cause of the fire was not an electrical fault but the counterfeit or sub-standard oils that were used in the engine that had caused the car to overheat and go up in flames.
This is an aspect that insurers should recognise as they assess the fire accidents.
We believe the insurance should embrace some practices that are applicable in the oil industry and incorporate the term “flashpoint”.
This is defined as being the lowest temperature of inflammation with a flame of the vapours produced by oil heated in standard conditions.
In layman’s language this is the point when the oil burns and in most cars it is between 200 and 300 degrees Celsius.
The relevance in this case is that most oils that find their way in the country from the United Arab Emirates have a flashpoint of less than 100DC.
We tested at least seven products and all of them were below the minimum. Therefore, assume a Navara or BT50 which has advanced engines operating on very high temperatures of over 300 DC and you apply that type of oil with a flash point of 95DC.
This will invariably cause the engine to heat up and then ignites fire, which will translate into an electrical fault.
There is need for insurance to embrace this aspect and help fight the importation if substandard oils. The insurance engineers should embrace and incorporate these ideas so that at least we can control and curb use of substandard oils.
Appreciating that most modern Mercedes-Benz models will only accept a specifically Benz oil, if you apply any other oil the sensor in the car will read and reject the oil.
You could be lucky if you are driving an older Benz hence the sensor might accept it.
Betterment: The Collins Concise Dictionary second edition defines “betterment” on Page 101 as “a change for the better, improvement in property law, an improvement effected on real property that enhances the value of the property”.
In practical terms let us assume you are involved in an accident and the driver’s door is smashed and requires panel beating.
If the right one is replaced it will not match the left side and you will be driving a car with a mismatch.
Please note that betterment is not applicable to third party cover. This then entails working on this section and restoring it to its original status.
But there is a problem with matching the paint of the back passenger door and the driver’s door.
Even the best panel beaters around will usually have a slight differential in matching and will require to paint the whole section and let’s say it costs in excess of US$2 000 against your cover of US$2 000.
Usually the insurance will request a contribution from the insured to pay towards the betterment.
The rationale is that you are getting a benefit above what one is entitled to. We believe that this should be payable by the insurer.
Insurance cover notes: We did write about this practice and we challenge if the authorities were aware of such practices.
There is a tendency among companies with identical trucks to obtain one insurance cover.
Instead of indicating the registered number of a vehicle they insist that the number will be produced later and TBA is indicated on the slot for the registration number, meaning to be advised.
This is okay assuming there is no problem or accident. In the event of an accident this same document is produced and submitted to the insurers. Incidentally, another accident occurs and the same is produced.
Quotations: There is an unwritten code of conduct where upon getting quotations you are normally requested if you still want some more and the practice is that the same guy will organise other quotations which are more expensive than his.
The system works as follows: The owner of the winning quotation will then share with the owners of the losing quotations.
There is need for insurance companies to address this as this will reduce the claims drastically. The general practice has been to accept the lowest quote. It does not mean then that this is the only criteria as there is need to look at the quality and not the lowest price.
Will this practice be addressed? One tends to believe that it is good to the insurer as this affects his outflows but has the insured got value for money?
Let’s meet next week. Contact us on gmbeya live.com or 0774215505 and or above our numbers.
PROUDLY ZIMBABWEAN