Protecting your car in a flood

If your vehicle has been damaged by the recent floods you may be in for a nasty shock when you try to claim on your car insurance policy. Around 28% of drivers in the UK do not have fully comprehensive insurance, opting instead for the cheaper third party or 'third party, fire and theft policies'. Sadly these do not cover damage caused by floods. If you have always assumed that comprehensive cover is out of your financial reach you may be surprised to discover that in the last few years the differential between policy types has been reduced.

The Internet insurance comparison site Gocompare.com offers the following advice to drivers faced with the threat of flooding:-

• If there is time, move your car to a safe place out of the reach of the flood water.
• Never attempt to drive through flood water as this is almost bound to damage your engine, particularly if you have a turbo-charged or diesel engine.
• If your car is submerged, do not try to start the engine. Instead, if possible, extract the water and allow the car to dry out. You may be lucky and find that the water has not been sufficiently deep to ruin the engine.
• As well as covering repairs to your car and towing charges, comprehensive policies will also cover damage to upholstery, carpets and stereo systems.

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