Battery boosting gone wrong: A potentially pricey mistake

Boosting your battery without damaging your vehicle

Boosting a battery isn’t rocket science, but you do need to know what you’re doing. You have to clamp the cables onto the right spot, in the right order. Failing to do so could seriously damage your vehicle. Here are three mistakes to avoid, and the consequences:

• Unclamping the cables too quickly can cause the voltage to spike, which can damage the electrical components in your vehicle
• Clamping the cables to the wrong spot can fry your vehicle’s computers
• Clamping a cable directly onto—or too close to—the negative terminal of a weak or dead battery can cause an explosion if the battery is leaking hydrogen gas

Use our helpful guide on boosting a car battery to do it safely and prevent costly mistakes. If you damage the electrical components in your vehicle, it could set you back $1,000 or more!

Who pays for a bungled boost?

So you damaged your vehicle while trying to boost your battery. Is it covered by your insurer or will you have to pay for the repairs? It all depends.

Your battery was boosted by a professional

Reputable companies like CAA Quebec have liability insurance. We make sure our partners are covered too. So if something goes wrong, you’ll be compensated.

You boosted the battery yourself

Si vous avez fait une gaffe, votre assurance auto va payer les dommages pour autant que vous ayez opté pour la protection «accidents sans collision ni versement», aussi appelée Chapitre B3 par les agents d’assurance. Dans la langue de tous les jours, on parle plutôt d’une protection contre le feu, le vol et le vandalisme.

Your battery was boosted by a friend or Good samaritan

Once again, your insurance will cover the damage as per your policy (replacement value or not, for example), as long as you have Chapter B3 coverage. But your insurer will want to be reimbursed. If that friend or Good samaritan doesn’t have civil liability insurance (through their home or auto insurance), they’ll have to reimburse your insurer out of pocket.

Your insurance deductible

Your insurance company will cover you regardless of the skills or experience of the person responsible, as long as the error was involuntary. But you’ll still need to pay a deductible, which generally ranges from $50 to $500, depending on what you chose when you purchased your insurance. Depending on who’s responsible, you or your friend will have to pay at least that amount. Your insurer will also ask for a professional damage assessment before paying compensation.

Of course, ideally your vehicle won’t need a boost to start. Here are a few tips on how to start your car in cold weather. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!