Expert: Bennie719 - 3/4/2008

Question
I am in the US Military, and I just got back from deployment.  My car had been sitting the whole time I was gone.  I checked the battery and changed the oil and made sure I had enough antifreeze.  Then I go out for a drive because I missed my car, as I was gone for 6 months.  I am a 24 y/o male, married with 1 dep. and a conservative or non spirited driver if you will. So I am driving along, and smell some smoke, not sure if it is from outside or my car, I pull the car over and popped the hood.  I usually carry a small fire extinguisher just in case, and man did I sure need it that day.  I opened the hood and the fuel rail started ablaze.  I grabbed my mini fire extinguisher and put the fire out.  Had the car towed to a shop, and had them look at the car for me.  They said that my #2 cylinder coil pack had exploded and caught the wires to the fuel rail on fire.  The mechanic said that it was just a freak accident, he wasn't sure what would cause that.  The fire melted a jumble of wires and shorted the ECU and the stereo doesn't work now either. I took care of all maintenance with the car as I am a BMW enthusiast.  The car had just had its last major service at 123k miles when I purchased the car in '04.  At the time of the fire the car had 156k miles.  I understand that insurance isn't a warranty, but should this be covered under my policy somewhere?  I have State Farm Insurance and I have full coverage, whatever that equates to?  Thank you very much for your time.

Answer
Hi Justin,
Welcome home and thanks for the job you are doing.
The comprehensive portion of your policy also covers fire.  Your insurance company will NOT cover the part that malfunctioned, but will cover the resultant damages caused by the fire, less the amount of your deductible.  
If the mechanic was correct in his statement that the fire was caused by the explosion of the #2 cylinder coil packet, then you will need to pay the full cost of parts and labor for that item and State Farm
will pay for all the other damage (less your deductible).
I hope this information will be of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area