What Would You Do If You Put The Wrong Fuel In Your Vehicle? |
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Melanie Kamdar
May 31, 2013
Putting the wrong fuel in a car, lorry, motorcycle or van (or misfuelling as is it commonly known) happens more often than you may realise. However, despite the regularity of putting the wrong fuel into a vehicle, most people don't know what they should do. They certainly don't have the number of a fuel draining company to hand.
So what would you do?
Simply drive off and hope for the best? Don't! Driving your vehicle with the wrong fuel in it can cause devastating damage to your engine. At best; you'll be met with a huge repair bill, at worst; your vehicle may be written off. Not all insurance policies will cover you if you've driven with the wrong fuel in the tank so it'll be down to you to pay the price for your mistake.
Add the correct fuel to your tank, drive off and hope for the best? Don't! Even a mix of fuels in your tank can cause irreparable damage to the engine.
Maybe you would call your breakdown recovery service if you have one? However, you may find that your policy does not cover breakdowns or accidents resulting from human error. Putting the wrong fuel in your tank classes as human error and so you may not be covered. They will outsource the fuel drain to a specialist company very often and they will charge you a premium for this. Read your policy carefully and if you have the human error clause in it, finding a specialist fuel drain company yourself will help reduce the amount you have to pay.
How about your insurance policy? Well again, callings the insurance company is the first thing many people do. However, unless you've paid extra, specifically to cover you for this sort of incident, the insurance policy may not cover you for human error but, once you've notified them of you predicament they may insist that you use a dealer to do the fuel drain, or risk voiding your policy, which again may end up costing you more than is necessary.
So what is the best course of action?
Inevitably the best course is often the simplest one. Have a reputable fuel drain company's mobile phone or have their card in your glove box. That way if you ever make this common mistake, you have the right people to contact to fix your problem. Just make sure you have a reputable fuel drain company.
It is imperative therefore that in order to ensure that you cannot be held accountable, that you only use companies who are fully risk assessed, and accredited with ISO9001: 2000 & PAS-43-2008, with documented working practices and health and safety procedures. In other words, all the things that are just as imperative as in your own business. Many fuel drain companies scrimp on these standards because they are expensive and high maintenance. However, a reputable one will hold these and will be pleased that you have called to check.