Reserved a car at Autoquake

BodgeP01

I spoke with them today and I am going through the standard process for lodging a complaint.

The person I spoke to said they had been made aware what has happened and said that Care Care plan were paying claims until the end of the month and that the fund had been frozen.

When I challenged them on the points in below especially around the fund being protected so how can it be frozen or returned to the administrators they said they would have to look into it and asked my to fill in a form....

I also called Car Care Plan who said they were no paying for any claims after 17th but would honour anything before.



5.1 The product literature will clearly state that the product is a non-insured product.

5.2 Claims funds are protected by a trust, statutory trust or similar mechanism to protect claims funds for the payment of claims. The product literature will clearly state that a protected claims fund is in place.

5.3 In the event that a retailer ceases to trade, we will continue to pay all claims from the protected claims fund, for as long as funds remain in place.

5.4 You have a right to cancel the product within fourteen days from the date of receipt of the product literature. This will apply where no claim has been made and accepted. Where a claim has been made and accepted the right to cancel will usually not apply. In the event that you cancel the service contract or guarantee during the cancellation period you may be charged a pro rata fee for the services provided up until cancellation. Any fee will be proportionate to the duration of the contract and may include any reasonable costs incurred by us as a result of the cancellation.

5.5 If the service contract or guarantee was concluded at a distance, a pro rota fee or administration charge will not be made if you cancel within seven days of receipt of the product literature.

5.6 The exact nature of how a claims fund is protected is available from us upon request.

5.7 Protection products offered by vehicle manufacturers will clearly state that all claims are backed by the vehicle manufacturer. Vehicle manufacturer products are not required to comply with clause 5.2



I will let you know when I get a reply.

chana7

I've just checked with CCP who have confirmed that anything with an authorisation number will be honoured, I had some work done on the 18th which is being processed luckily. They did confirm that Autoquake being the underwriter of the policy has resulted in the policy being void.

Black_Ships

I have purchased my car at the end of February, with a two year warranty, roadside recovery etc. Autoquake arranged my finance through a company called Carlyle Finance and I paid 650 pounds deposit with my debit card with the rest of payments spread over 59 months. I have just called Carlyle Finance and asked them to cut my monthly repayments by the amount of the now non existent warranty but they refused, saying that they do not know how much of the total amount financed was the cost of warranty. I have then called autoquake who have emailed me my itemised invoice on which additional costs of two year warranty was 519 pounds, plus 150pounds "Platinum Lifetime Protection". I will email Carlyle Finance with that information, again asking them to lower my monthly repayments but I suppose that they will refuse and the only option will be trying to claim this money back from MCR, who are in administration of Autoquake. Am I correct in my assumption or should Carlyle cut my repayments? Is there anything else I can do?

mikeouk

Black_Ships wrote: »

I have purchased my car at the end of February, with a two year warranty, roadside recovery etc. Autoquake arranged my finance through a company called Carlyle Finance and I paid 650 pounds deposit with my debit card with the rest of payments spread over 59 months. I have just called Carlyle Finance and asked them to cut my monthly repayments by the amount of the now non existent warranty but they refused, saying that they do not know how much of the total amount financed was the cost of warranty. I have then called autoquake who have emailed me my itemised invoice on which additional costs of two year warranty was 519 pounds, plus 150pounds "Platinum Lifetime Protection". I will email Carlyle Finance with that information, again asking them to lower my monthly repayments but I suppose that they will refuse and the only option will be trying to claim this money back from MCR, who are in administration of Autoquake. Am I correct in my assumption or should Carlyle cut my repayments? Is there anything else I can do?

as i understand it,,carlyle finance own the vehicle, not you, so they have an obligation to refund the proportion of the original invoice cost that was for the warranty. you are now paying for something that you havent received. They will of course try to wriggle out of this, but they should now be the ones who have to chase the debt with mcr not you.
Autoquake must have used several finance companies, my finance is with barclays, im still waiting for confirmation but the lady I spoke to agreed that the remaining balance of unused warranty cost will be knocked off my balance, or they will honour the warranty.

gpmartin

BodgeP01 wrote: »

When I challenged them on the points in below especially around the fund being protected so how can it be frozen or returned to the administrators they said they would have to look into it and asked my to fill in a form....

Hi Bodge

Thanks for keeping us updated on this. Just to clarify, was this the Motor Industry Code people you asked about this? What's on the form they've asked you to fill in?

Guess I'll give them a call myself as it would be best to keep all the options open at this stage. What number did you call them on?

Many thanks.

Black_Ships

Thanks mikeouk :beer:
I've written to Carlyle Finance and will keep you posted.

BodgeP01

gpmartin wrote: »

Hi Bodge

Thanks for keeping us updated on this. Just to clarify, was this the Motor Industry Code people you asked about this? What's on the form they've asked you to fill in?

Guess I'll give them a call myself as it would be best to keep all the options open at this stage. What number did you call them on?

Many thanks.

Hi Martin

Yes it was motorcodes.co.uk I rang the Advice Line on 0800 692 0825.

They normally deal with disputes between consumers and the people supplying the warranty. The form had just basic information about me, policy details & what the issue is so they could log it and give me a case reference number.

Not heard anything back from them this afternoon. I will chase them on Wednesday if I have not had anything back.

gpmartin

Cheers. Having had a look through the warranty manual and the code of practice, my guess is that since Autoquake.com is in administration, there probably won't be much comeuppance. According to the code, Autoquake should have been putting the money in trust, but it didn't (or it somehow got the money back from the trust fund), and now Autoquake no longer exists. To me it looks like the Motor Industry Code people only arbitrate between subscribers to the code and their customers in cases of dispute: if the subscribing garage has gone out of business, then it's probably too late for action.

I'm no lawyer so I may be wrong, but I'm not overly optimistic. I'm guessing that as a voluntary membership organisation, the Motor Industry Code of Practice was not expected to enforce or audit compliance with the code, so there's no case against them. If at one point the money was held in trust (by Car Care Plan or another third party), then one has to question why they would give that back to Autoquake (if indeed that's what's happened - I don't think this has been confirmed). But for me at the moment, the least hopeless route looks to be individual Section 75 or VISA chargeback etc. claims rather than anyone being held to account for Autoquake's apparent non-compliance to the Vehicle Warranty Products Code (it's at yyy.motorcodes.co.uk/images/stories/documents/vehicle_warranty_products_code_%5Bweb%5D.pdf, btw - replace 'yyy' with 'www').

moo313

gpmartin wrote: »

For what it's worth, I had no problem at all with my treatment during the buying process. I was seen about 20 minutes late, but was advised of this, got free coffee and a perfectly comfortable waiting room. Staff courteous and knowledgeable; they asked me about warranty/finance/GAP insurance but there was no hard sell. I took the warranty because it seemed reasonable value and I thought it was offered by Car Care Plan - I'm slightly peeved about that but it's hardly the salespeople's fault!

For others in the same position as me: I'm drafting a letter to my bank about Visa chargeback. Let me know if you'd like to use it to help draft yours (I know there's a template on the site, but I don't think it quite covers the complexity of our situation). I'll keep you informed of progress - fingers crossed at least some of us get success!

Can you send me a copy of the letter please. Can I claim for additional costs such as the cost of arranging replacement breakdown cover?

BodgeP01

gpmartin wrote: »

Cheers. Having had a look through the warranty manual and the code of practice, my guess is that since Autoquake.com is in administration, there probably won't be much comeuppance. According to the code, Autoquake should have been putting the money in trust, but it didn't (or it somehow got the money back from the trust fund), and now Autoquake no longer exists. To me it looks like the Motor Industry Code people only arbitrate between subscribers to the code and their customers in cases of dispute: if the subscribing garage has gone out of business, then it's probably too late for action.

I'm no lawyer so I may be wrong, but I'm not overly optimistic. I'm guessing that as a voluntary membership organisation, the Motor Industry Code of Practice was not expected to enforce or audit compliance with the code, so there's no case against them. If at one point the money was held in trust (by Car Care Plan or another third party), then one has to question why they would give that back to Autoquake (if indeed that's what's happened - I don't think this has been confirmed). But for me at the moment, the least hopeless route looks to be individual Section 75 or VISA chargeback etc. claims rather than anyone being held to account for Autoquake's apparent non-compliance to the Vehicle Warranty Products Code (it's at yyy.motorcodes.co.uk/images/stories/documents/vehicle_warranty_products_code_%5Bweb%5D.pdf, btw - replace 'yyy' with 'www').

I agree & if I could go to Visa I would do as the easiest route!

I don't hold out much hope but to me there is something about this whole 'protected fund' that has disappeared that doesn't sound right.