[Bit]

Aditya, owner of a 2 month's OLD BYD Seal seems to be having one of the worse nightmares any car owner can have: The car's battery got damaged by Flood and neither insurance, nor BYD seems to be bearing the cost and demanding 18.35 Lacs for battery repair.

As posted by Aditya on Facebook:

2 months ago i bought BYD seal from Landmark BYD - Noida.

I bought the insurance from them only and i asked them to add everything available in the addons given by insurance company so that this car is protected in every way, I even confirmed numerous times about the battery protect where they stated that zerodept covers everything and they do not have any any addon for this exclusively.

My car recently became pray of flood in my hometown and it's battery died, the BYD india said that the warranty does not cover water related damage and upon checking insurance they are saying you don't have the battery protect as an addon.

I bought the insurance from the showroom because they said "Sir, its a battery car and we only knows best about it so don't buy from outside."
I filed insurance under flood as my car got damaged being parked in the street and my insurance does cover the flood related damages, i have been asking for written confirmation with their reason to reject the claim but neither the BYD nor ICICI is giving me anything in written.

Today they have given me 18.35 lakh rupees estimation to repair the car.

Please HELP!

@Mods feel free to edit the title of this thread to reflect the situation better, should you feel the need.

[dhanushs]

Someone had earlier posted about a damaged charging point and BYD deniying warranty. And now this. Looks the worlds best selling EV manufactuer isnt going places with customer service!

The EV sentiment which is already not in favour of the users is now becoming even worse. Ideally a leading EV manufacturer like the BYD should set a precedent on buying and owning an EV.

[Axe77]

This is worrying indeed. If he was assured a fully comprehensive, zero depreciation insurance cover, covering all bases, then it really should not have come to this.

I’m curious to know from other EV owners from MG, Tata, Hyundai etc whether their insurance policies cover flood damage, battery damage and battery damage due to flood etc. For an EV where one of the largest costs is the battery, to have such a big lacuna in its coverage would be a serious cause for concern.

[Ajitcherian2]

I own an MG ZS EV. In my experience, the insurance agents have no clue about battery and motor protect add-ons. They say everything is covered in zero zep addon. But in reality it's not.
For an EV we need to take battery and motor protect add-ons. Some insurance companies sell these add-ons as one and some separately.

[rkv_hunter]

This is absolutely concerning for anyone owning or planning an EV. From BYD side, the battery is supposed to be waterproof it’s a car supposed to be used outdoors not a mobile phone to be used indoors so warranty not covering water damage to battery is not right and questions the usage of EV. What about the IP ratings.

From the insurance side, substantial value of the EV car is its battery so what are they taking premium for if battery damage is not covered.

Hope the customer has some resolution in this case from BYD or insurance company.

[Shreyans_Jain]

This post got me checking my Nexon EV’s insurance policy. I had also directed the dealer to add ‘everything’ at the time of purchase. Now that I re check it, specific battery protection add on is not mentioned! My policy is due for renewal next month, and I have directed my agent to add the same. I think this is similar to engine protect or hydrolock protect add on for ICE cars, which is worth its weight in gold in case of water damage.

I will not blame BYD here. This seems to be a mistake at the time of buying the insurance policy. The agent didn’t add it, and the customer didn’t re check it.

[GTO]

No car manufacturer will cover any parts damaged by floods, unless it is a manufacturing defect. I have read about Tesla batteries too, being damaged by floods.

This is a failure by the car owner for blindly trusting the salesman. As they say, Caveat Emptor. Should have called the insurance company directly and got the battery protect add-on. Sure, the salesman from the dealership gave the wrong information, but we all know they do it frequently. The onus is on us to protect our assets.

A simple Google search would have kept the gentleman informed. This is from ICICI-Lombard:

However, insurance companies offer electric car battery coverage as an add-on feature or rider. This additional coverage extends the insurance policy, addressing the inevitable need for battery replacement.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Ajitcherian2

For an EV we need to take battery and motor protect add-ons. Some insurance companies sell these add-ons as one and some separately.

Have you taken it? If so, how much do you pay year-on-year for the ZS? Is there a age restriction of how long you can take these addons?

[KryptonMonkey]

Originally Posted by Bit

Aditya, owner of a 2 month's OLD BYD Seal seems to be having one of the worse nightmares any car owner can have: The car's battery got damaged by Flood and neither insurance, nor BYD seems to be bearing the cost and demanding 18.35 Lacs for battery repair.

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

This post got me checking my Nexon EV’s insurance policy. I had also directed the dealer to add ‘everything’ at the time of purchase. Now that I re check it, specific battery protection add on is not mentioned! My policy is due for renewal next month, and I have directed my agent to add the same. I think this is similar to engine protect or hydrolock protect add on for ICE cars, which is worth its weight in gold in case of water damage.

I will not blame BYD here. This seems to be a mistake at the time of buying the insurance policy. The agent didn’t add it, and the customer didn’t re check it.

The emphasis in BHPian Shreyan_Jain's post is mine.
This is a common mistake people make when people trust their insurance agents or car dealers too much. Trust but verify should be the mantra even though going through the paperwork is tedious.
This extends to all kinds of insurance, not just car insurance. As a customer, the onus is on you to understand exactly what's covered explicitly in your insurance and what's not.

I wonder if the owner of the BYD Seal has some kind of written communication to back him up. Otherwise, it's just his word against the dealership's and he's not coming out any better apart from a very expensive lesson in due diligence.

[kiku007]

A motor-vehicle is damaged by flood and needs to be repaired or replaced for the owner to be able to use it like before the damage. If comprehensive motor-vehicle insurance isn't enough to cover this, and buyers have to buy add-on packages to get coverage for flood, ICE hydrolock, EV Battery replacement etc., then the market is going in the wrong direction.

ICICI Lombard has this gem in their website,
"Batteries have to be replaced

Electric cars draw their power from high-capacity batteries, and these batteries come with an expiry date, which means that they have to be replaced after a certain period. As mentioned, these batteries are very costly, and replacing them may run into a few lakhs of rupees. Since comprehensive electric car insurance policies cover these costs, their premiums are on the higher side.
However, if you want to reduce your electric car insurance cost, you can opt out of the battery replacement cover. But remember that you will run the risk of paying from your pocket in case your battery requires replacement in the future."

Penny wise and pound foolish. One might as well get third party insurance if the damn battery isn't covered in a Battery Electric Vehicle.

[ricky_speed]

I checked the policy wording by Zuno for my Ioniq 5, and the zero dep seems to exclude battery.

d) Any loss or damage to the battery and/or tyres of the insured vehicle will not be payable.

However the main policy seems to have no such exclusion.


At the time of purchase, they told me that the ‘battery protect’ isn’t showing on their system at all. But they told me that battery will be covered.

Now I’m scared if insurance companies are purposely putting in a loophole for battery related claims.

Also, they’re unwilling to add the cover mid term of the policy. Perhaps I just need to buy another policy elsewhere with a lower IDV (but battery itself might be >40L?) but with this cover included?

[brraj]

The customer not purchasing the battery addon is one thing, but the battery should be waterproof, whether it's from BYD or Tesla. This reflects the quality of the product.

[Raghu M]

I'll tell you from my experience. No insurance agent has a remote idea of what an engine protect is to begin with. You ask them if the engine is protected, they will say bumper to bumper sir. So, when you buy insurance, read the proposal/quotation very carefully and ask them to add everything and re-confirm. If they are not sure of anything, just tell them some other company is giving me a better deal and they will be pretty quick in responding to your queries. However, I am not very sure of the EV insurance, looks like a different world altogether.

[Chetan_Rao]

It's a horrible experience to go through and I absolutely DO NOT mean to kick a man when he's down, but EVERYONE must absolutely read the fine print in any paperwork they get.

Larger the $$$ involved, finer the comb teeth need to be. For something worth half a crore rupees(?), it wouldn't be amiss to have a professional look at the paperwork for a reasonable fee (just like we do professional PDIs these days).

The only assurances that ultimately matter are ones provided by the entity that'll eat the cost when something goes wrong (insurance provider in this case). Everything else is just sweet sales-talk, appealing to a customer's sentiments to move inventory.

[Doge]

Originally Posted by rkv_hunter

This is absolutely concerning for anyone owning or planning an EV. From BYD side, the battery is supposed to be waterproof it’s a car supposed to be used outdoors not a mobile phone to be used indoors so warranty not covering water damage to battery is not right and questions the usage of EV. What about the IP ratings.

From the insurance side, substantial value of the EV car is its battery so what are they taking premium for if battery damage is not covered.

Hope the customer has some resolution in this case from BYD or insurance company.

There is no car with a water proof battery, it simply isn't possible. The batteries are water resistant, upto a certain degree. Without any details of how much the car was submerged, it's not fair to criticize BYD for denying battery replacement. I'm sure no car maker would replace a flood damaged battery as a warranty claim. The owner needs to read the insurance fine print and see what ICICI actually covers. The dealer also messed up by probably not taking the battery cover.