AA Breakdown Repair cover. Is it legal?

goonarmy

spartadomingo65 wrote: »

what are you on about?

Ain hard is it? Im stuggling to believe you had the car recovered for a wiper motor.
And i also think that when the very very nice man from the aa said it will clear after a few journeys he ment a few journeys; 4-5ish. So if you continued to ignore it then thats you problem. Also in repsonses above n below; the esp is like a traction control however sudden steering input such as a "moose test" type manovuer will result in it stablising the vehicle using the electronic program:T
But yep skillfull driving will mean this is not needed. Old cars never had it, cars dont need it. But it helps.

AdrianC

spartadomingo65 wrote: »

First of all, for those who have offered reasonable advice and comment , I thank you and for the other wannabe experts who have been a bit patronising and unhelpful to say the least ,do me a favour and please go and read your policies from cover to cover and have a good hard think.

It seems that your mind is made up, and no amount of information that doesn't agree with your preconceptions will penetrate.

(1) I misguidedly took out a breakdown repair warranty with the AA in the obviously incorrect assumption - as the facts suggest - that if my car was not able to be driven (whatever the cause ) then if it was included under the AA WARRANTY, then I would have no problem getting the defective part replaced? Wrong!!!!!

ESP is merely an electronic bottom-wiper. If you over-cook it, and start to lose traction, it applies counter-measures to get you back on the straight and narrow. The vast majority of cars don't have it, and the vast majority of drivers in cars with it will never use it.

For example air conditioning compressors are covered, I have never heard of anyone being recovered to a garage because their aircon stopped working - so what is the liklihood of you being able to claim for a replacement?

So you can picture no scenario where it seizes and takes the serpentine ancillary belt off, taking the alternator, power steering pump and potentially even the water pump out?

plus my car was due a service - something I forgot to mention earlier - where other warning lights are routinely extinguished .

There are no "other warning lights" that come on without a fault being present. There are no warning lights that should _need_ "routinely" extinguishing.

The steering rack was the cause and it cost me £486 to have it repaired.

Potentially the position sensor is inseparable from the rack, but that doesn't sound particularly expensive for a complete rack.

2nd point.I still feel the AA FAILED IN IT`S DUTY OF CARE to me their client!

We noticed.

at least the patrol man should have run a diagnostic check before advising me to carry on driving.

And, if he had, it would almost certainly have flagged up a steering position sensor fault, along with a stack of others - to be expected with low voltage.

I invite the Official AA poster to pm me with hopefully their proposals to do the right thing

Perhaps the foam flecking your screen obscured their reply earlier?

Rover_Driver

spartadomingo65 wrote: »

Although all steering is covered under the warranty, the AA would not authorise the repair as - wait for it - The car had been recovered for a faulty wiper motor so under there small print that rendered my steering problem inilegible.

The AA breakdown warranty is not like other car warranties, it only covers items that cause a breakdown and recovery, eg. the steering is only covered if the breakdown and recovery were as a result of a steering fault.

As the breakdown and recovery was as result of a faulty wiper motor, only repairs to the wiper motor could be considered under the warranty.

JimmyTheWig

Rover_Driver wrote: »

As the breakdown and recovery was as result of a faulty wiper motor, only repairs to the wiper motor could be considered under the warranty.

I agree. In some ways the patrol man was doing you a favour. He could have taken you to the nearest garage and left you to pay the bill as it wouldn't be covered by the warranty as that wasn't what the call-out was for.
Or he cuold have said what he said. Then after "a few" journeys you could have called them back out about the light still being on. In which case (can the AA rep on here confirm) it would have been covered?

spartadomingo65

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I agree. In some ways the patrol man was doing you a favour. He could have taken you to the nearest garage and left you to pay the bill as it wouldn't be covered by the warranty as that wasn't what the call-out was for.
Or he cuold have said what he said. Then after "a few" journeys you could have called them back out about the light still being on. In which case (can the AA rep on here confirm) it would have been covered?

Oh really? A sunday night in january , I am just about to start a journey from the North to london where I work during the week, HEAVY RAIN and wipers won`t work. I have full breakdown cover including home start and relay so I call the AA, fair play they`re there within an hour and almost immediately the patrol guy tells me my wiper motor is beyond repair but I am in luck according to him, as I qualify not only to be transported with car to London but my breakdown repair warranty will cover a replacement.

To save cost I volunteer to forgo the Transport to London, in favour of dropping my car at a local garage where I could also collect a hire car the following morning

Like I have already tried to establish, that local garage then informed me that I also had a potentially dangerous fault with my steering rack!

Like I said, will the wannabe experts on here read the document before offering their opinions

Jimmy please re - read , 2 separate call outs!

spartadomingo65

AdrianC wrote: »

It seems that your mind is made up, and no amount of information that doesn't agree with your preconceptions will penetrate.



Perhaps the foam flecking your screen obscured their reply earlier?[/QUOTE]


:rotfl:

you`re hillarious

ILW

spartadomingo65 wrote: »

AdrianC wrote: »

It seems that your mind is made up, and no amount of information that doesn't agree with your preconceptions will penetrate.



Perhaps the foam flecking your screen obscured their reply earlier?[/QUOTE]


:rotfl:

you`re hillarious

I would say witty.

JimmyTheWig

spartadomingo65 wrote: »

Jimmy please re - read , 2 separate call outs!

Ah, yes. The wiper issue was the second call-out.

But if you apply my post to the first call out then what I said still stands.

Rover_Driver

spartadomingo65 wrote: »

Like I said, will the wannabe experts on here read the document before offering their opinions

Normal warranties, may cover the steering problem problem as it is a maintenance problem not a breakdown problem.

From the AA claim guide:

'What claims are covered?

You can claim under your Breakdown Repair Cover for any vehicle you have previously nominated and for which the cover has started.
The nominated vehicle must:
a) break down as a result of an unexpected mechanical or electrical failure, and
b) have been attended by the AA under Your AA Membership, and
c) be unable to continue its journey safely, and
d) as a result, need the repair or replacement of the insured part(s) to enable thee journey to be resumed or, if applicable, started.'

Your two breakdown call outs were for a flat battery and defective wiper motor, not a steering problem, that was later diagnosed by the garage.

As you didn't break down as a result of the steering problem or the ESP warning light, that is why it is not covered by the Breakdown Repair Cover.

spartadomingo65

Rover_Driver wrote: »

Normal warranties, may cover the steering problem problem as it is a maintenance problem not a breakdown problem.

From the AA claim guide:

'What claims are covered?

You can claim under your Breakdown Repair Cover for any vehicle you have previously nominated and for which the cover has started.
The nominated vehicle must:
a) break down as a result of an unexpected mechanical or electrical failure, and
b) have been attended by the AA under Your AA Membership, and
c) be unable to continue its journey safely, and
d) as a result, need the repair or replacement of the insured part(s) to enable thee journey to be resumed or, if applicable, started.'

Your two breakdown call outs were for a flat battery and defective wiper motor, not a steering problem, that was later diagnosed by the garage.

As you didn't break down as a result of the steering problem or the ESP warning light, that is why it is not covered by the Breakdown Repair Cover.

First of all

The Policy in no place says the breakdown can be limited to one cause!

The Battery may have been flat but If I had known the resulting warning light - indicating a fault on my steering mechanism - was potentially dangerous if driven, then that in my humble opinion would have constituted a breakdown in itself?

Yet surprise surprise, the non costing flat battery was deemed to be the sole cause!

I have every right to expect a duty of care from the AA and therefore why did the patrol man opt not to do a diagnostic check ?