Momentum Warranties - troublesome claim

baldmosher

I bought my car on 3rd November 2010 with a third party 3 month warranty provided by Momentum Warranties (and underwritten by Fortis).

The turbo blew (bearing failure) on the M6 Toll early evening on 31st Jan.

RAC arrived after 2 hours, and reported likely bearing failure at the scene, I stupidly hadn't paid the extra for recovery (I have now!), but thankfully they were able to tow me to a nearby garage in Walsall, who could provide me with a courtesy car to get me home.

Overall cost was £736 for a reconditioned turbo. Ouch, but at least I didn't also have to pay £200 for a tow back to Manchester, could have been worse. And I saved £500 by not buying a new turbo.

I didn't even consider until this weekend that it might be within the warranty period. I checked, and it is!!!

:j

The problem I have is that Momentum can't backdate a claim as the warranty has now expired (totally understandable) so I'll have to write in to head office "for their advice".

I am considering that most (not all!) insurance companies will generally try to avoid paying out if they can. So I'm preparing to nullify all likely retorts with my initial letter:

- They will say I didn't call them to report it at the time. I will say that since I was stuck 100 miles away from home in Walsall, the exact date of the warranty expiry (and, in fact, the warranty in any respect) wasn't foremost in my thoughts, getting home was. The following day, the panic from finding the money to cover a £736 bill out of the blue was also a bit distracting! Of course, I should have considered the warranty at the time, but I called them today, as soon as I realised it was in-date.

- They may say it was outside the warranty period (which they have confirmed expired on 2nd Feb 2011). I will say it clearly wasn't outside this period. The repair invoice is dated 3rd Feb (so the repair was paid for outside the warranty period) and I will be able to get confirmation from RAC that I was towed from Norton Canes on 31st Jan. (Unfortunately the breakdown receipt they gave me isn't dated otherwise that would be a foregone conclusion.)

- They will say I didn't ask the garage to contact them to approve costs. They will perhaps say that because they couldn't get an independent inspector to assess the damage, they could argue the price I paid isn't justifiable. I'm guessing they'd have to prove that. I have two written inspections, the first from RAC confirming "bearings noisy" and the invoice from the repairing garage, so both confirming turbo faulty. Also, because I didn't realise it was under warranty, I opted to paid £400 less (!!) for a reconditioned turbo instead of a new one. Also I have an itemised breakdown of the costs from the garage, so they can always get another quote now if they want to.

- They may try to say it's "normal wear and tear" and so not covered by the warranty. I will say that is ridiculous, that a major parts failure isn't normal wear and tear whichever way you look at it.

Anything else I should put in my opening gambit?

I am well aware that if they are obstinate, I may eventually have to pursue my claim via the small claims court, but I don't think I should go in all guns blazing so I wasn't going to mention that outcome in my first letter - I can always send them a letter of claim later. But maybe I should be doing that in my first letter and get it over and done with?

What I would appreciate from the forum is some advice, if anyone knows whether these warranty Ts & Cs are superseded by any kind of common sense/law, i.e. I hope since I've already mitigated costs and this clearly is a genuine claim, that the exact procedural Ts & Cs are harder to enforce and my claim should be upheld.

I'd even be willing to settle on a reduced payout - especially if anyone has been through a similar process and thinks I haven't got a chance.

I have never in my life (I'm 31) had a third party warranty before, so I have no experience of this at all. But it seems to me if I pay for a 3 month warranty, and the turbo fails within the warranty period, that I should be perfectly entitled to make a claim.

I'm initially planning to email them as it's easier and quicker and more auditable than writing them a Signed For letter, and they may just pay out if I state my case properly. But I doubt they will.

Also any tips or links to standard form letters I can amend would be much appreciated.

thenudeone

It's not a foregone conclusion that they will reject your claim but you might have to fight it. I once successfully persuaded a warranty company to pay for a new brake master cylinder even though they hadn't authorised it in advance. I couldn't get authorisation on a Saturday morning when my car was in the garage because their office was closed. So give it a go.

baldmosher

I've written to them now (by email). Will send it by post if I don't get a response by next week. It's largely the same content as above (although rewritten, obviously) with all documentation including vehicle and warranty purchase on 3rd Nov, full Unipart service in late Nov, RAC recovery on 31st Jan, and the repair invoice. Hopefully that should be enough.

I reckon the worst stunt that they could pull (having donned my schemer cap and given it a lot of thought) is try to argue that because I only had a recon (not new) turbo fitted, whilst that was £400 cheaper, it was an unauthorised repair, and therefore they won't pay for it.

That would be a sneaky thing to try, but I'm certain an SCC magistrate would class my own actions as "self-mitigation for the cost of repair" since the garage's warranty on both repairs was the same (12 months). And, since I was told at the time of purchase that I could use my own chosen garage, I don't think they could reduce the payout, unless they find the same repair a lot cheaper elsewhere in Walsall. (Incidentally, the garage who sold me the policy said they had a Ford Galaxy turbo replaced for about £500, but even a reduced payout would be better than the zero I currently have in my pocket.)

I'll pop back here and post the result.

burnleyfan4life

Without wanting to appear negative there is a lot stacked against you . Its April the 18th - why wait 2 and half months??? Surely you cant go back that far???? Your quote ' I will say that since I was stuck 100 miles away from home in Walsall, the exact date of the warranty expiry (and, in fact, the warranty in any respect) wasn't foremost in my thoughts' - its months ago!!!! - not the day after or anything - This in itself would nullify your claim I think.

The previous parts will be long gone so would not be able to be inspected in lieu of an inspection??.

There are some grey areas from yourself? You haven't said how many miles your car had upon it? You also havent said what the problem was? likely bearing failure you said , but why - had the bearing collapsed? or worn out? - someone must have told you when the car was repaired -Is it high mileage (worn out more likely if so) - again if so -could it have been reconditioned or was there further damage??

Does the warranty state anywhere in it that it is invalid without approving costs? (most do) Does it give a time limit to retrospectively backdate a claim (it does seem an awful long time ago)(most do). Thenudeone mentions ref a problem he had on a sat morn and approving it on the monday as the office was closed - (that I think maybe ok?) a bit different than remembering almost 3 months after it expired me thinks - If the warranty does have clear time restrictions you would be wasting your time in the small claims court

I may be wrong but would suggest the best money saving thing to do now would be to save yourself a postage stamp - your own doubts probably show you already know the outcome - sorry

burnleyfan4life

Without wanting to appear negative there is a lot stacked against you . Its April the 18th - why wait 2 and half months??? Surely you cant go back that far???? Your quote ' I will say that since I was stuck 100 miles away from home in Walsall, the exact date of the warranty expiry (and, in fact, the warranty in any respect) wasn't foremost in my thoughts' - its months ago!!!! - not the day after or anything - This in itself would nullify your claim I think.

The previous parts will be long gone so would not be able to be inspected in lieu of an inspection??.

There are some grey areas from yourself? You haven't said how many miles your car had upon it? You also havent said what the problem was? likely bearing failure you said , but why - had the bearing collapsed? or worn out? - someone must have told you when the car was repaired -Is it high mileage (worn out more likely if so) - again if so -could it have been reconditioned or was there further damage??

Does the warranty state anywhere in it that it is invalid without approving costs? (most do) Does it give a time limit to retrospectively backdate a claim (it does seem an awful long time ago)(most do). Thenudeone mentions ref a problem he had on a sat morn and approving it on the monday as the office was closed - (that I think maybe ok?) a bit different than remembering almost 3 months after it expired me thinks - If the warranty does have clear time restrictions you would be wasting your time in the small claims court

I may be wrong but would suggest the best money saving thing to do now would be to save yourself a postage stamp - your own doubts probably show you already know the outcome - sorry

gogsboy

I think your chasing rainbows here personally and in a sense think it would be quite ridiculous for them to even give it a second thought

Plenty of examples where people will slate such companies for trying to wangle out of things, on the flip side this is an example of a customer (yourself) trying to wangle in.

The fact you said about not even considering until this time is quite damming.

The comment about the warranty not being in your thoughts etc is not their problem.

It's simple really, you should have had the initiative to keep the warranty paperwork (original or scanned) in the car or at least a copy of the claims number, after all is your engine, gearbox or turbo likely to blow in your driveway or street.

Then the garage would have called and obtained authorisation to get the work done and you would not have been out of pocket (dependant on claim limits)

Simple case of someone having a product but taking no time to see further ahead than the next day and later trying to pedal back on a whim.

masterlumps

i think they will tell you where to go myself

you are out of warranty now, but even if you had been within it i think you would be hard pushed to get them to pay out on work you had carried out yourself months ago

darrenperry1

I would just like to warn ANYONE who is interested in purchasing an Momentum Warranty, to NOT DO SO. I feel for this gentleman who is looking to email them to understandably negotiate with them, but I can assure you then will not do so. I had my manifold split in my Range Rover (not that old) and not only did they refuse to cover it, they wasted 3 weeks of my life having me email them pictures and proof of service history etc, so that they could see if they could worm themselves out of the repair. In the end they couldn't find anyway, so they just simply said no! ...answer, it isn't something that falls into the warranty conditions. Even though they initially said, yes as long as everything checks out with pictures etc. Complete bunch of crooks. DONT EVER USE THEM. p.s Take your claim to the ombudsman, they take their time, but are pretty good at resolving issues like yours and mine, especially when it is a clear cut case.

baldmosher

I did go to the Ombudsman, but because I didn't follow the warranty procedure and tell them about the claim until after the event, they couldn't do anything about it and sided with Momentum.

You might have a better chance as it sounds like you've followed the process and still been turned down, although "wear and tear" does give them room to worm.

Lum

A bit late for the OP, but all these aftermarket warranties tend to exclude anything that actually breaks, and a turbo is usually pretty high on the list of things that are excluded.

My favourite example is the warranty that only covered "all lubricated moving parts". So if your crankshaft snaps you'll be covered but if you blow a headgasket or have a cracked brake master cylinder, not covered.

The best form of aftermarket warranty is to just put that money into an easy access ISA.

baldmosher

I guessed as much, which is why I didn't pay extra for the "upgraded" warranty at time of purchase. This one came free. Although I suppose I could have asked for a discount without the warranty.

That said, the turbo would not have been covered if they'd asked me for service history - there was none - but that wasn't in the Ts & Cs anyway. Only that it had to be "sudden" failure and not wear & tear. With hindsight and a bit of research, it seems the turbo often goes on these cars around 120K miles so technically that could be viewed as wear and tear. The only pain was that it happened in Birmingham with only breakdown cover, no recovery, so I was stuck with the nearest garage that the RAC could tow me to who had a courtesy car... presumably not the cheapest around. (Long story sorry)