The consumer’s issue:
“I purchased a used 15-plate hatchback on 10th March 2019, and the previous owner’s warranty agreement for the vehicle expired three months after this (i.e. 10th June 2019). To have the remaining portion of the warranty transferred into my name, I sent my new details to the warranty company by special delivery in the post, and the letter was received by the business the very next day.
During the weeks and months that followed, I made several calls to ask whether the transfer had been duly completed. Each time I got in touch, the warranty provider said that my information had been received, and that the transfer would be done shortly.
The business subsequently admitted that the paperwork had in fact been lost, and asked me to resubmit the documents. The transfer was eventually completed a week before the agreement expired (i.e. 04th June 2019), meaning the remaining warranty was effectively reduced from three months to less than a week, and I was unable to make a claim before this date.
As a resolution to my dispute, I would like the warranty company to give me back the lost portion of the remaining warranty period, as well as compensation for the distress that has been caused to me.”
The accredited business’ response:
- The customer expressed dissatisfaction, as we had misplaced their transfer form, which was sent to us by registered post.
- As an apology for delaying the transfer of the policy, we waived the fee of £25.
- The consumer felt they had lost three months of warranty cover as a result of the late transfer, and requested this portion be added beyond its expiry date.
- We advised the consumer that they would still have been covered if anything had happened within those months.
- When the consumer advised they had a claim to make, we informed them that we would be more than happy to cover this if they could provide evidence the fault had occurred before the warranty’s expiry date.
- As the consumer was unable to provide us with evidence that the fault occurred before the warranty expired, we could not cover the cost of their claim under the agreement.
The adjudication outcome:
- The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator reviewed the evidence and concluded that the warranty provider had acted in accordance with the terms of the warranty agreement.
- Whilst there was a delay in making the transfer, it was found that this had not hindered the consumer from making a claim at any point.
- The adjudicator also did not receive any evidence from the consumer showing that the vehicle had suffered from a fault before the expiry date of the warranty.
- Therefore, the warranty provider was deemed to not have been in breach of the Vehicle Warranty Products Code, and was therefore not obliged to extend the policy.
- The adjudicator considered the waiving of the transfer fee to be an adequate award in light of the delay, but the case could not be upheld in the consumer’s favour.
- The adjudicator also advised the consumer that The Motor Ombudsman does not provide compensation for unquantifiable losses.
Conclusion:
- The business accepted the adjudication outcome, and the case was then closed following no further response from the consumer after an allocated period of time.
