In May 2009, I bought a five-year-old Peugeot 607 saloon car from a motor trader for £4,750, and included was a Motorcare 12-month warranty against major mechanical failure. It had a claim limit of £1,000.
In April, the automatic gearbox failed and the recovery service took my car to the main Peugeot agents, Warners of Tewkesbury. A few days later, Warners' mechanic confirmed total gearbox failure and offered me three repair options, all of which would cost more than the claim limit. I phoned Motorcare, whose call centre person said he would need to speak to the garage to "set up the claim".
A week later, nothing had happened. Having been told a new box would cost £4,000, a reconditioned one £2,500 or a used unit £1,600, I opted for the latter.
When I finally got Motorcare to look at my claim it was turned down because the repair was "unauthorised" and because the gearbox had not been stripped down and a cause of failure determined. You wrote recently about insurers being premium-gathering organisations that find ways to avoid paying claims, and I feel this has happened to me. I've complained, but the underwriter Axa has declined again. DM, Herefordshire
Car warranties that come with used cars have long been a source of consumer problems, not least because they have so many get-outs that you wonder whether anyone successfully claims. The terms of your cover say it won't pay out if the clutch fails due to wear and tear – perfectly reasonably – but make no mention of automatic gearboxes. What is odd in this case is that Axa originally stuck to the idea that the gearbox had to be stripped down, even though this would have added to the cost of repairs, which already exceed the claims limit. Given that the autoboxes on these cars – which cost more than £25,000 new – would be expected to last longer than six years, you had a reasonable claim.
Fortunately, Axa has since reviewed your case and has decided it will pay you the £1,000 as per the terms of the policy. In a statement, it said: "We are not sure why the main dealer went ahead and repaired the vehicle without our consent. As the vehicle was six years old and had done 103,000 miles at the time of failure, 'wear and tear' needed to be ruled out as a factor in the failure of the gearbox as the policy would not cover this. However, in this case, as a gesture of goodwill and clearly as this was not his fault either, we have agreed to pay the £1,000 claim limit." A very happy outcome.
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