AA Repair Cover Complaint

Anonymous1

Hi All I was recently upsold by the AA to add repair cover to my package. I am normally sceptical about this sort of thing but felt the AA were reputable and having just had a bad experience they obviously called me when I felt vulnerable. My scepticism has so far proved to be more than warranted so thought I would share my experience, see if any of you have had similar experiences and if you have any advice.

Here is a bit of background so it all makes sense. A while back and not directly linked to my experience with the AA I had a power steering fluid leak which was fixed. Then about a month or two ago I foolishly filled my diesel engine with petrol and had to call the AA. They explained they did not cover user error which I guess is fair enough but I had to pay something like £2-£300 for the AA to send someone out to take the fuel out, put some diesel lubrication in the tank (or something) and then he put enough diesel in the car to get me to the garage where I had to refill the tank. When he finished he pointed out to me some fluid behind the engine and that there may be a leak of some kind. He could not confirm where from but to keep an eye on it. I kept an eye on it but there was no further evidence of a leak. After the insidence when the paying of £2-300 was still fresh in my mind the AA called and upsold me with breakdown repair cover, which of course seemed more attractive than normal at that point. A few weeks later I noticed a rattling noise when I was steering. Having had a steering fluid leak before and with the AA guys comment about a potential leak I put two and two together and felt it might be power steering fluid again. I called the garage and explained the noise and that I felt it could be power steering fluid, they said I should not drive it and should get it recovered in to them. I called the AA explained all of this and they said they would need one of their guys to inspect it first and sent someone out. The AA guy that came out confirmed that in-fact there was no evidence of a leak whatsoever so we went for a drive to try to replicate the issue. We did that and having heard the noise he felt it was either the Top Arms or Suspension Bolts (I know nothing about cars). He said it was nothing serious and not dangerous so he said he would follow me to the garage and give me a lift back. When he dropped me back he said I should make a claim on my repair cover and wrote the number on my receipt for me. The garage then emailed me to confirm the steering rack, top arms, suspension bolts and rack bolts needed replacing and with labour that would cost £1,700 (Nothing serious ???) I called the AA to make a claim and they said they would need to speak to the garage and listen to the recorded conversation I had when raising the claim. So I called the garage and asked them to ring the AA. I then got an email from the garage saying the AA had declined my claim. I called the AA to ask why and they said it was because I had told their operative that the AA guy that helped me take petrol out of my engine had advised me there was a power steering fluid leak. Naturally I was annoyed as they had twisted what I said to their benefit. I explained that first of all it had been confirmed by their own AA guy and by the garage that the issue was nothing to do with a leak anyway and also he had not said that, I had just made the assumption that could be the case from my limited experience. The lady I dealt with just kept asking why I had said that then, to which I replied because I am not a mechanic, but I also am confident that is not exactly what I said they have just taken it out of context. However, as I first pointed out even if I did say that, I am not qualified and a member of their own qualified team had confirmed their was no leak anyway. I asked them to reconsider taking the second recorded conversation into account and also to speak to their own AA guy but it was clear they were not going to do that, which seems crazy to me. Anyway, she called me back again and confirmed they were not going to honour my claim and still felt I knew there was a power steering fluid leak ( When I first rose the claim the garage called them and would have confirmed what the issue was which would not have included a power steering fluid leak??) I asked how to complain and that they send me their decision in writing outlining the reasons for their decision and the recordings they based their decision on. They told me I would have to email AA triage for the recordings. Then a day or two later I received a letter explaining they were not going to honour my claim and the reasons (In what felt like quite a sarcastic tone). Then I received another letter telling me if I wanted the recordings they would have to instigate a search to find them??? (They already had them if they had listened to them to make their decision, unless they were lying about that) I would also have to send proof of id and a £10 cheque. They are clearly trying to make this painful and hope I will go away. I am very reluctant to pay the £10 however, I fear I will be playing in to their hands if I get in to that dispute so feel I am going to have to swallow that and follow their process so I can show I have tried to meet an amicable resolution before proceeding to complain to the Financial Ombudsman. That is where I am at this stage, I will keep you posted. Anyone with similar experiences and or advice, I would be happy to hear from you.

benham3160

Anonymous1 wrote: »

Hi All I was recently upsold by the AA to add repair cover to my package. I am normally sceptical about this sort of thing but felt the AA were reputable and having just had a bad experience they obviously called me when I felt vulnerable. My scepticism has so far proved to be more than warranted so thought I would share my experience, see if any of you have had similar experiences and if you have any advice.

Here is a bit of background so it all makes sense. A while back and not directly linked to my experience with the AA I had a power steering fluid leak which was fixed. Then about a month or two ago I foolishly filled my diesel engine with petrol and had to call the AA. They explained they did not cover user error which I guess is fair enough but I had to pay something like £2-£300 for the AA to send someone out to take the fuel out, put some diesel lubrication in the tank (or something) and then he put enough diesel in the car to get me to the garage where I had to refill the tank. When he finished he pointed out to me some fluid behind the engine and that there may be a leak of some kind. He could not confirm where from but to keep an eye on it. I kept an eye on it but there was no further evidence of a leak. After the insidence when the paying of £2-300 was still fresh in my mind the AA called and upsold me with breakdown repair cover, which of course seemed more attractive than normal at that point. A few weeks later I noticed a rattling noise when I was steering. Having had a steering fluid leak before and with the AA guys comment about a potential leak I put two and two together and felt it might be power steering fluid again. I called the garage and explained the noise and that I felt it could be power steering fluid, they said I should not drive it and should get it recovered in to them. I called the AA explained all of this and they said they would need one of their guys to inspect it first and sent someone out. The AA guy that came out confirmed that in-fact there was no evidence of a leak whatsoever so we went for a drive to try to replicate the issue. We did that and having heard the noise he felt it was either the Top Arms or Suspension Bolts (I know nothing about cars). He said it was nothing serious and not dangerous so he said he would follow me to the garage and give me a lift back. When he dropped me back he said I should make a claim on my repair cover and wrote the number on my receipt for me. The garage then emailed me to confirm the steering rack, top arms, suspension bolts and rack bolts needed replacing and with labour that would cost £1,700 (Nothing serious ???) I called the AA to make a claim and they said they would need to speak to the garage and listen to the recorded conversation I had when raising the claim. So I called the garage and asked them to ring the AA. I then got an email from the garage saying the AA had declined my claim. I called the AA to ask why and they said it was because I had told their operative that the AA guy that helped me take petrol out of my engine had advised me there was a power steering fluid leak. Naturally I was annoyed as they had twisted what I said to their benefit. I explained that first of all it had been confirmed by their own AA guy and by the garage that the issue was nothing to do with a leak anyway and also he had not said that, I had just made the assumption that could be the case from my limited experience. The lady I dealt with just kept asking why I had said that then, to which I replied because I am not a mechanic, but I also am confident that is not exactly what I said they have just taken it out of context. However, as I first pointed out even if I did say that, I am not qualified and a member of their own qualified team had confirmed their was no leak anyway. I asked them to reconsider taking the second recorded conversation into account and also to speak to their own AA guy but it was clear they were not going to do that, which seems crazy to me. Anyway, she called me back again and confirmed they were not going to honour my claim and still felt I knew there was a power steering fluid leak ( When I first rose the claim the garage called them and would have confirmed what the issue was which would not have included a power steering fluid leak??) I asked how to complain and that they send me their decision in writing outlining the reasons for their decision and the recordings they based their decision on. They told me I would have to email AA triage for the recordings. Then a day or two later I received a letter explaining they were not going to honour my claim and the reasons (In what felt like quite a sarcastic tone). Then I received another letter telling me if I wanted the recordings they would have to instigate a search to find them??? (They already had them if they had listened to them to make their decision, unless they were lying about that) I would also have to send proof of id and a £10 cheque. They are clearly trying to make this painful and hope I will go away. I am very reluctant to pay the £10 however, I fear I will be playing in to their hands if I get in to that dispute so feel I am going to have to swallow that and follow their process so I can show I have tried to meet an amicable resolution before proceeding to complain to the Financial Ombudsman. That is where I am at this stage, I will keep you posted. Anyone with similar experiences and or advice, I would be happy to hear from you.

Needs paragraphing, too difficult to read.

Regards,
Andy

greyteam1959

Well I for one can't be bothered to read that post !!!!!!!!!!

Sandoval

What I wouldn't give for a few paragraphs right about now...

Hammyman

£1700 for the steering rack? You've been well and truly robbed blind. No idea why they'd need to replace bolts unless they'd sheared which is highly unlikely and they're pence per item, not £10's, and would need to be undone when changing the rack so there would be no additional labour.

EdGasket

I have heard from insiders that the premiums for all these types of 'repair' cover, be it car or washing machine, are treated as pure profit ! i.e. they never intend to pay out on a claim and will make it as difficult as possible. At least the AA are talking to you which is a lot better than some companies. I don't know the terms of the AA repair cover but if it hinges on whether the damage was caused by a power steering fluid leak or not, can't you ask the garage to confirm or deny this? If the damage was not caused by a leak then you have disproved the AA's grounds for refusal. Usually fair wear and tear is excluded so that will probably be their next line of defense but best of luck. You can always threaten them with trading standards, the insurance ombudsman, or a county court claim if you are sure of your ground.

wealdroam

Ed, did you know your Return/Enter key is not working?

ankitadas

Can you make it easy and readable.:D

usignuolo

1. You put petrol in a diesel, called out AA, which cost you, who drained tank and took you to garage to refill. Said there might be fuel pump leak to watch for it. You did but saw nothing.

2. AA phoned and sold you engine warranty cover. (I imagine it would have excluded existing faults and fuel pump failure if AA mechanic had noted it as possibility at the time.)

3. Engine started making knocking noise. You called out garage and mentioned fuel pump concerns inc case it was related. They told you not to drive and get it recovered to them so you did this by calling AA. AA man said not fuel pump, just loose bolts and gave you receipt to get this fixed.

4. Garage then produced estimate for 1700 pds which AA rejected after speaking to them.

5. You contacted AA who referred to fuel pump issues as reason for rejecting the claim and said would need to dig out calls with garage and it would cost you 10pds to do this. Not a lot really if 1700 pds is at stake.

Reading between the lines it sounds as though the garage have told the AA the cause of the bill is a faulty fuel pump. Which is why the AA have rejected it as an pre existing fault. (I don't know is this possible anyone for the bill here?) Or maybe the garage has tried to pull a fast one. It does happen.

Before going to the Financial Ombudsman I would try one of the Consumer Money help lines in the national papers.

Good luck but do get all your paper work in order and do use paragraphs in letters and emails, to help your case.

Anonymous1

Cheers Hammyman
I know, its going to the dealership, they rape me everytime. I niaively subscribe to the idea that having a service and maintenance history with the dealership will help retaiun the cars value which it possibly will however, I will have spent more than I will have saved .... Anyway, though I am unhappy with the dealership and the manufacturer my gripe is really with the AA in this instance. Cheers bud

Anonymous1

Thanks Ed, the garage should have made them aware of this as they spoke to them but your right I will ask the garage to confirm that in writing to help validate my complaint and claim.