Motor burnout cover (also known as fusion damage) is designed to cover you if the wiring of a household electrical appliance’s motor burns out. It’s typically offered with home and contents or contents only insurance policies as an optional extra.
Appliance motors can burn out because of power surges or fluctuations in the electrical current, like lightning strikes and overloaded circuits. Luckily, motor burnout cover can insure the damage to your valuable appliances should any accidental damage occur.
This way, you can rest assured knowing you’ll have financial protection for any necessary repairs or replacements.
The specifics of what’s covered for motor burnout may differ between policies and insurance providers, so you should always read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the full details of your coverage before you buy a policy.
However, these are some common inclusions and exclusions of motor burnout cover.
| What’s covered | What’s not covered |
| Fridges and freezers | Appliances over a certain age (usually over 5-10 years) |
| Microwaves | Appliances under warranty |
| Washing machines | Appliances used for business purposes |
| Air conditioners | Televisions |
| Vacuums | Computers and laptops |
| Fans | |
| Ovens and cooktops | |
| Motorised garage doors | |
| N.B: Some items may be covered if you have motor burnout cover added to a home insurance policy, and others if it’s added to contents cover. | |
Some motor burnout policies may also include a benefit for food spoilage. Should your fridge or freezer experience motor burnout, you can make an insurance claim for any perishable food that’s spoiled as a result, provided your policy covers this.
Like any insurance policy, there are exclusions to your motor burnout cover. Some instances in which you wouldn’t be able to claim for motor burnout include:
Exclusions may vary between policies and insurance providers, so it’s always important to read the target market determination (TMD) and PDS of any insurance product before purchase.
If your fridge suddenly stops working, or if your washing machine unexpectedly breaks down in the middle of a cycle, it may be due to the wiring of its motor having burnt out. Covering the loss and repairs of these kinds of appliances yourself would be a hassle, let alone expensive.
As such, cover for electric motor burnouts is a crucial benefit to add to a contents or combined home and contents policy.
Motor burnout is a more common problem than you might think. It can affect a variety of often-used household appliances, such as washing machines, refrigerators and dishwashers – anything that has an electrical motor and wiring.
Say your air conditioner unit stops dead in the middle of a hot summer or an insured event such as a storm causes a power surge, frying your appliances’ wiring. Could you afford to fix or replace these appliances out of your own pocket? With motor burnout insurance, you may not need to ask yourself that question, provided you’re in a position to pay any applicable excess on your policy.
Since motor burnout insurance is an optional cover, adding it to your home and contents insurance policy will, in turn, add to your premiums. How much it increases will vary between policies and providers.
If you’d like to compare home and contents insurance providers, you can head over to our comparison service. Our service can help you easily search, compare and purchase insurance right here and now, for free.
