One of the most frequent problems we encounter during the course of a busy working week is the customer (whose car has broken-down) that has a warranty in force. Sometimes given free when they bought a used car, but often they’ve paid handsomly for it, a Mechanical Breakdown Warranty (as they’re usually known) is designed to take the financial pain away if something breaks down. The problem, as with so many things in life, is that the customer doesn’t read the ’small print’ about what’s actually covered, and the selling dealer is hardly likely to tell you that in actual fact, they don’t really care what happens once you’e driven your new car off their forecourt.More often than not, the vital policy booklet that’s given to you by the seller of the car or the warranty provider, is simply filed away with the other car documents and often forgotten. Unless you’ve just bought a Honda Civic or a Toyota Rav 4, it’s probably going to stay in the file until it’s expired anyway. You won’t care though, as you’d bought the most reliable of used cars so would probably never need it anyway. Those of you however that bought a secondhand MGF or Renault Laguna had better keep it somewhere handy though, as there’s a strong possibility that it might be needed sooner rather than later.

So, here’s what happens in the typical event of a breakdown. The actual names and details are entirely fictional, but the scenario is one that I encounter most days!

Telephone rings..  RING RING  RING  RING  RING RING

Customer:  “Hello, my name’s Mr Jones and I’ve recently bought a 1999 Renault Laguna from a local dealer and it’s broken down. The AA are with me and I’ve asked to have it towed back to your garage. The AA man reckons that the gearbox has failed, but it’s OK as I’ve got a warranty” At this point, the sense of dread and fear arrives as I know that I’ll soon be telling the customer some news they don’t want to hear.

The car will duly arrive and be unloaded. The owner will give me the keys and the warranty ‘Policy Book’ which will contain details of how to make a claim.

Once our technician has confirmed what the fault is (and probably spent an hour confirming the likely cause, as well as the exact cost of parts and labour to repair), it’s time for me to phone the warranty company to try and get authority to repair.

Here’s where the fun really begins.  Most warranty companies (which are usually just departments of the major insurance companies) insist on using those wretched 0870 numbers for their claims departments, so I have no choice but to find a quiet time and dial them.

“Thank you for calling Worthless Warranties  - if you’re the policyholder, press 1, if you’re a repairing garage, press 2″

” To register a new claim, press 1. If you have an existing claim, press 2″

“Thank you for calling Worthless Warranties claims department - all of our operators are currently busy assisting other customers, and will be answered as soon as possible. Your call IS important to us and one of our operators will assist you shortly”

“We’re currently experiencing a very high call volume and are sorry for the delay - please be assured that your call IS important to us, and we’ll do our utmost to answer it as soon as possible”

“In order to speed up your progress, please ensure you have the policy number, current vehicle mileage, exact parts and labour costs, date and mileage of last service and date fault reported”

” Your call IS important to us, etc. etc. etc”( for another 20 minutes)

Finally, someone answers!!

“Hi, you’re through to Fred in the claims department. What’s the policy number, mileage, etc. etc?”

Having given all the details, and Fred’s confirmed that the car does in fact have a warranty, he first has to try and get-out of paying for any repairs. This can be done by any of the following means.

  • Fred: “So, when was the car last serviced?”
  • Me: Well, there’s an invoice dated 1 year and 3 days ago in the service book”
  • Fred: ” I’m sorry to say but it’s 3 days overdue for its service so the warranty is invalid. thank you for calling Worthless Warranties, and have a nice day”

Or, if the servicing was all up to date and the policy not lapsed.

  • Fred: “So, what’s the exact nature of the fault”
  • Me: “Well, the car was recovered here by the AA with the gearbox making a horrible noise. Our technician has stripped the gearbox and found that the primary gear cluster has some broken teeth and the bearing has failed”
  • Fred: “I’ll just put you on hold a minute” Cue another 12 minutes of ‘Your call IS important to us’ etc. followed by “Thanks for holding; I’ve just checked the policy and the primary gear cluster is specifically excluded under the terms of this warranty. Had it been the secondary gear cluster that’d failed, it would’ve been covered.
  • Me: “Oh, in that case, it could be the secondary gear cluster after all”
  • Fred: “Sorry, you’ve already said it was the primary cluster now. All conversations are recorded for training and fraud detection purposes. Thank you for calling Worthless Warranties - have a nice day”

I now know that I’ve got to call the customer and break them the happy news that instead of the warranty company paying in full, it’s going to be their own Mastercard that ends up taking the strain.

Of course, not all warranties are bad - some are extremely good and have no problem in authorising claims that are genuinely caused by the sudden and unexpected failure of a mechanical component. Unfortunately, there types of warranties are often quite expensive and are rarely given away free with a used car. It’s not always bad though, as sometimes the warranty company might agree to contribute a significant amount towards the cost of repairs, and some even cover a hire car, recovery, investigation time AND the true cost of labour at close to £60 per hour. Some companies will only pay £35 per hour, and you try and find a reputable repairer that’ll do a quality repair for such little money.

The solution is simply not to regard the warranty as a guaranteed solution to cover the cost of anything that could possibly go wrong with your car. Just view it as a ‘helping hand’ in case something serious should go wrong that is one of the items listed as being covered in the policy document.  When you do buy a car and the dealer offers a warranty, take five minutes to read the policy terms BEFORE you agree - it’s far easier to say no before the policy has started and to offer to pay a little more for a better product. Finally, you could just buy a Toyota Rav 4 or a Honda Civic, and not bother with a warranty at all. You probably won’t need it anyway, and the money could be better spent on a ‘proper’ service, as it’s almost certain that if the selling dealer has stamped the service book to say it’s been done, it’ll have been lucky to have the oil filter even wiped with a dirty rag! Unless you buy your next car from us, but that’s a different story…..

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