The consumer’s issue:
“I reported that there was something wrong with my vehicle to the warranty company and was told to take it to a dealership for diagnostics to find out what the problem was. I did this, and the dealership phoned the warranty company to tell them it was a faulty all-wheel drive system. The warranty company asked for the service history, which was duly provided, but the claim was refused. The warranty company said that the manufacturer’s service history had not been followed which is every 16,000 miles or one year. I purchased the vehicle in September with 31,278 miles on the clock and had it serviced the following April at 44,802 miles.”
The accredited business’ response (the vehicle warranty provider):
- Following diagnosis of the vehicle, we requested a copy of the customer’s service history in order to validate the warranty claim. The repairing dealership confirmed the most recent service was in April at 44,802 miles.
- The customer’s vehicle had been MOT’d at the point of sale, but it had not been serviced, meaning that in April, it was two months over the prescribed servicing schedule.
- As the vehicle had not been serviced within the requirements set out by the manufacturer, the warranty claim was refused and the warranty was therefore invalidated.
The adjudication outcome:
- It was concluded that there was no breach of the Vehicle Warranty Products Code of Practice, as the vehicle had not been serviced within the correct time frames.
- The vehicle warranty company had adhered to their terms and conditions.
Conclusion:
- The complaint was therefore not upheld in favour of the consumer as they had not met the terms and conditions of the warranty.
