Worth Checking Insurance Cover for Wrong Fuel Fill

[aussiblue]

https://www.choice.com.au/transport/...ars-in-repairs

Not everybody has $20,000 that can be earmarked for contaminated fuel repairs. If a petrol station is evading responsibility, or taking too long to admit fault, a less expensive solution may be available.

Insurance providers may process a claim to repair the damage caused by dirty fuel. A handful of providers will cover the cost of repairs for comprehensive policyholders, such as NRMA and GIO, as long as a mechanic's report determines contaminated fuel to be the cause. However, check with your insurer – we found customers of AAMI and Just Car Insurance, for example, would not be covered.

.. noting incidents like this seem all too common and not all servos are willing to accept liability.

[FERG_51]

I always thought if the fuel from a service station was contaminated then they are liable for all repairs.

[aussiblue]

I always thought if the fuel from a service station was contaminated then they are liable for all repairs.

Should be but many smaller operators will deny liability and apparently it's proved very hard to win a case in court even if if you have all the receipts and can show you exclusively used one station. If there are lots of claims a servo might also just go into receivership and walk away from the mess.

As Choice advise:

How to protect yourself:

Always ask for a receipt when filling up fuel. An invoice proves a business transaction occurred at a specific time, date and place. It's also the first step in establishing a paper trail.
Take note of the bowser number – check it's on the receipt.
Other cars may have broken down nearby as a result of the same contaminated batch of fuel. Find them and exchange details. Proving it happened to more than one customer helps eliminate other factors as the cause of the damage to your car.
Tow your car to a reputable mechanic. Both the petrol station and the insurance company will ask for a mechanic's report certifying the damage to the car was caused by contaminated fuel. Request for a sample to be kept; in Ahmed Kilani's case, Metro Petroleum requested a photo of it.
Notify the service station and its head office in writing. Not only does this help to ensure no one else suffers from a contaminated batch, but it also establishes a paper trail detailing the events.
Fill up at trusted petrol stations with a high turnover of customers. The cases of dirty petrol we observed happened in areas further away from the city. Smaller petrol stations in these cases were more reluctant to cover the cost of repairs.
Check your insurance policy to make sure you're covered for contaminated fuel. Insurance product disclosure statements (PDS) tend to refer to dirty fuel as 'contaminants'.