South-Africans are no stranger to numerous phone calls from companies trying to sell some sort of policy everyday. With every advertisement and sales speech there is always that “T&Cs apply” part which most of us do not take the time to read.
In 2013 I bought a pre-owned VW Polo and shortly after the purchase MFC phoned me and suggested that I take a pre-owned warranty. I listened and after reading everything I took the policy for peace of mind because the policy covered all major parts of my car in case of failure.
Car repairs are very expensive and I thought that in case something fails in the future that I will be able to sleep easy at night knowing everything will be sorted. Well I can tell you don't be fooled this policy was a total waste of money and I will explain why.
In order for the pre-owned warranty to be valid your car needs to have a full service history. Services must be done according to manufacturer's guidelines by either an authorised dealer or independent workshop registered with RHI.
My car has a full service history with VW and I kept it that way ever since I bought the car last year. The air-conditioner started making a lot of noise and I took the car to my VW dealer. Turns out that the compressor has failed and needs to be replaced. Immediately I turned to my warranty to do a claim because the repair will cost more than R6000.
Surprise, surprise..., MFC rejected the claim because the air-conditioner that is fitted to the car is an after market unit. I assume the previous owner changed the unit because I bought the car with a working air-conditioner. If I knew that the aircon was not an OEM unit and that it will affect my pre-owned warranty I would have never agreed to take the policy and waste my money on something that is absolutely useless when you need it the most.
I read through my policy documents and nowhere in the documents could I find anything about OEM parts covered exclusively but I did find that they only cover compressors under the air-conditioner section and seeing that it is the compressor that failed in my case surely they should cover it then?
Totally disgusted I phoned the claims department and asked the consultant to please show me where it's stipulated that they only cover OEM parts and after about half an hour where they couldn't find anything to show me he finally pointed me to a section in the document to one specific condition.
In order to qualify the vehicle:
Must not be a taxi, hire vehicle, a rebuilt vehicle (code 3), a modified vehicle or a vehicle that is or has been used in any form of motoring competition or sport;
Apparently my vehicle is now categorized as a modified vehicle and they rejected the claim. That is totally absurd, fair enough the aircon is an after market unit but what is the use of a pre-owned warranty you buy the car and assume everything is in order because the only requirement of the pre-owned warranty was a full service history.
My car has the original head unit original wheels original VW everything and I am sorry but by that standards they can reject a claim if you change your wheels or radio because it's now a “modified vehicle”
Absolutely absurd and another way to screw the consumer thoroughly.....
In 2013 I bought a pre-owned VW Polo and shortly after the purchase MFC phoned me and suggested that I take a pre-owned warranty. I listened and after reading everything I took the policy for peace of mind because the policy covered all major parts of my car in case of failure.
Car repairs are very expensive and I thought that in case something fails in the future that I will be able to sleep easy at night knowing everything will be sorted. Well I can tell you don't be fooled this policy was a total waste of money and I will explain why.
In order for the pre-owned warranty to be valid your car needs to have a full service history. Services must be done according to manufacturer's guidelines by either an authorised dealer or independent workshop registered with RHI.
My car has a full service history with VW and I kept it that way ever since I bought the car last year. The air-conditioner started making a lot of noise and I took the car to my VW dealer. Turns out that the compressor has failed and needs to be replaced. Immediately I turned to my warranty to do a claim because the repair will cost more than R6000.
Surprise, surprise..., MFC rejected the claim because the air-conditioner that is fitted to the car is an after market unit. I assume the previous owner changed the unit because I bought the car with a working air-conditioner. If I knew that the aircon was not an OEM unit and that it will affect my pre-owned warranty I would have never agreed to take the policy and waste my money on something that is absolutely useless when you need it the most.
I read through my policy documents and nowhere in the documents could I find anything about OEM parts covered exclusively but I did find that they only cover compressors under the air-conditioner section and seeing that it is the compressor that failed in my case surely they should cover it then?
Totally disgusted I phoned the claims department and asked the consultant to please show me where it's stipulated that they only cover OEM parts and after about half an hour where they couldn't find anything to show me he finally pointed me to a section in the document to one specific condition.
In order to qualify the vehicle:
Must not be a taxi, hire vehicle, a rebuilt vehicle (code 3), a modified vehicle or a vehicle that is or has been used in any form of motoring competition or sport;
Apparently my vehicle is now categorized as a modified vehicle and they rejected the claim. That is totally absurd, fair enough the aircon is an after market unit but what is the use of a pre-owned warranty you buy the car and assume everything is in order because the only requirement of the pre-owned warranty was a full service history.
My car has the original head unit original wheels original VW everything and I am sorry but by that standards they can reject a claim if you change your wheels or radio because it's now a “modified vehicle”
Absolutely absurd and another way to screw the consumer thoroughly.....
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