Does car insurance cover misfuelling claims?

I have car insurance with LV and it claims to cover misfuelling. However, having recently accidently done this, I tried to claim the £210 cost back. 

LV rejected my claim on the basis that I had first called Green Flag, my breakdown cover company, and not LV. 

I can’t recall reading this specific requirement in my policy. Anyway when sputtering to a halt on a dark side road it seemed obvious to call my breakdown service and not my insurer.

Am I correct to be a little surprised by this? I would expect most people in similar circumstances would contact their breakdown company… Via email 

Pumped up: Putting the wrong fuel in your prized motor means an expensive bill

Sam Barker, of This is Money, replies: Putting the wrong fuel into a car is something all drivers dread.

A moment of distraction at a forecourt and our petrol car could end up full of diesel, or vice versa.

Depending on how much of the wrong fuel you put in, the best-case scenario is your tank needs pumping out, which normally costs £150 to £300.

The worst-case scenario can also cause serious engine damage and a bill for hundreds or thousands of pounds.

To make matters worse, most car insurance cover does not pay out for misfuelling claims.

Only 13 per cent of car insurance policies cover the cost of draining the wrong fuel from a vehicle as standard, according to financial information firm Defaqto.

Another 3 per cent of these insurance deals let you pay extra to cover the cost of draining fuel from an engine. 

When it comes to engine damage from misfuelling, only 42 per cent of car insurance deals will pay out. 

Your LV policy does cover mis-fuelling claims, but LV staff made a mistake when you called them to make a claim.

The LV claims handler wrongly said the insurance policy would only pay out if you used the insurer’s own mis-fuelling service.

However, that is not the case, and LV can also pay for the costs you paid to Green Flag.

The sticking point is you have a voluntary excess of £300 and a compulsory excess of £100, meaning it is cheaper for you not to claim at all.

LV has apologised and given you £25 for the inconvenience. 

An LV spokesman said: ‘We’re sorry our customer is unhappy with the service he received from us. 

‘LV car insurance customers who have cover for mis-fuelling are able to make a claim on their policy in the event they break down. 

‘If they decide to use another company to recover their vehicle, they are also able to make a claim to be reimbursed for the amount they’ve paid but the excess on the policy needs to be paid. 

‘In the case of this customer, although he is able to claim reimbursement for the costs that he paid to recover his car after misfuelling, the cost of his claim was £210 but his voluntary excess of £300 + £100 compulsory excess on his car insurance policy is £400, so if he decided to make a claim then it would cost him more. 

‘When he initially called us, we recognise we could have been clearer with him about the situation and as an apology we’ve compensated him £25.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk