Big Assist - Warranties 2000 Rejecting our claim

ken.irvine36

Hi all,
If anyone can help with some legal advice please, as this is getting a bit desperate now! Below is a copy of an email sent to customer service people at warranties 2000, as part of their complaints procedure, but in short, our car broke down on the 14th August and still hasn't been repaired and warranties 2000 rejecting our claim saying the car broke down due to oil starvation of the engine, even though we have a report from BMW saying no oil starvation has occurred.

Good morning

 We purchased a car from Big Motoring World in October 2019, a black BMW 320D (registration no.) and also purchased your extended warranty.

 Up until August this year, the car was everything we expected.

 On a daily commute to work, a tapping noise began which appeared to be coming from under the bonnet.

 I took the car to (name removed) autos in Ashford, who in the first instance diagnosed an issue with the front pulley, but as they did not have the tools to fully investigate, I arranged for the car, via the warranty company, to be recovered to the main BMW dealership (Barratts Ashford)

 A technician at BMW ran a diagnostic check and a partial strip down of the engine and advised that the crankshaft had cracked.

 Big assist sent their independent assessor to look at  the vehicle and said that it was inconclusive as to why the crankshaft had cracked. We were told by Big Assist that we would need to have the engine stripped down at our cost, to further ascertain what had gone wrong, which we instructed Barratts BMW Ashford to do.

 Two weeks later, after numerous telephone calls chasing for an update, we were advised by Big Assist that the route cause was oil starvation to the engine and therefore we could not pursue our claim through them.

 We have since been provided a copy of the report from Barratts BMW which confirms that no oil starvation has occurred. We also have the vehicle health check which was run by them when the vehicle was first inspected.

 The car was purchased in good faith, with a promise of anything mechanical or electrical failing would be repaired or replaced under the warranty. We cannot understand why the report from BMW is not being taken into consideration, considering they are the manufacturer.

 We have been given your details as a contact with regards to having the claim reviewed, as we are understandably not happy with the outcome so far.

 This has now been ongoing for the past twelve weeks, and we would therefore appreciate a prompt response.

 If you need any further immediate details, please feel free to call either of us on ......................................

 Kind Regards,

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if anyone is able to help, we will be most grateful.
Ken.

AdrianC

Is this an N47 engine?

ken.irvine36 said:
The car was purchased in good faith, with a promise of anything mechanical or electrical failing would be repaired or replaced under the warranty. We cannot understand why the report from BMW is not being taken into consideration, considering they are the manufacturer.

Woah up a bit...
Aftermarket used car warranties do not cover "anything". They exclude a lot of things - all of which are documented in your warranty paperwork. Wear and tear is key among them. How old is this car? How comprehensive is the service history? How often did you check the oil level? Is there any suggestion of low oil level at the time of the failure?

Also - this isn't "the manufacturer" - it's a separate company, who just happen to be franchised dealers of BMW.

Barratts are that rare thing these days - a small dealership, family-owned.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00349070/persons-with-significant-control

ken.irvine36

Yes I believe it is, the car is an F30 (2016) 320D

tacpot12

You appear to have a strong case against Big Assist: they are refusing to pay for the sole reason that the failure was caused by oil starvation, and yet the manufacturer's rep says that no oil starvation has occurred and you have this in writing and have provided this to Big Assist. 

I would write a letter before action. I would consider offering to share the cost of the repair. e.g. you pay 40%, they pay 60%. Doing so might save you the cost of going to court and the risk that the court decides in their favour. 

ken.irvine36

One of the issues we are having with the warranty company is correspondence! They said (in their last) that if BMW disagree with their report, then a joint discussion will need to take place.

BMW are happy to participate in this discussion but as yet, no further response from the warranty company for 6 days now, despite several emails from us, asking for an update as to when this discussion is going to take place.

EdGasketTheSecond

Warranty companies don't want to ever pay out. They take the premiums you pay as pure profit. You will need to threaten and possibly pursue legal action to get them to do anything; good luck.

Ani_Lajmeri

They are full of lies and unreliable.
After a year of buying my car from big motoring world. The car broke down, the mechatronic system went. Warranty (Haris Zohabe and his manager Sam Davis) assured me they will contribute to the cost as i wanted original and genuine parts and not some refurbished product.
I paid the full invoice of 4k and the warranty now are refusing to pay as they claim they have bought and sent the part to the garage. When asking show me evidence they sent the parts they now say they need to speak with their supplier to see where the part is.

KEEP AWAY FROM THEM
WHEN SPEAKING TO THEM MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR EMAIL AS FOLLOW UP.

AVOID :
HARIS ZOHABE
SAM DAVIS
MANRAJ DOGRA

I HOPE THEY GET THIS MESSAGE

TheProfessional

This reminds me of a warranty direct policy I took out on my 320D some years ago. Turbo went and they said the policy doesn't cover moving parts. It probably makes sense to keep some money aside for repairs rather than pay out for these after market warranties

force_ten

what have BMW suggested that the solution to this issue is, a new crate motor ?

they have given an estimate and the warranty company have gone sorry we are not paying that and are now trying to wriggle out of paying 

Jenni_D

force_ten said:

what have BMW suggested that the solution to this issue is, a new crate motor ?

they have given an estimate and the warranty company have gone sorry we are not paying that and are now trying to wriggle out of paying 

Perhaps look at the post dates prior to that by @Ani_Lajmeri?  

alekoz

Don’t buy BIGASSist warranty at all,my claim been rejected today ,just saying wear ant tear parts not covered-intercooling pump!