# Mechanical breakdown insurance with second hand motorhomes



## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

In May this year I bought a 2 year old, 5000 mile motorhome from Marquis and within the screen price I received a 12 month Gold policy with Auto Protect at a cost of £395.
After 3 months a fault developed which set the Engine Malfunction Light permanently on and the Quickshift6 auto gearbox defaulted to manual mode. I have had the fault investigated by a Renault Truck agent and it turns out that two Glow Plugs were faulty. The Engine ECU tells the Gearbox ECU to default to manual under these circumstances. They replaced all four plugs with a total cost of £280 for the investigation and repair. I've no compalint with this as the Renault Truck dealership were efficient.
I had contacted Auto Protect prior to it going to the workshop as I couldn't find one who was willing to work to their terms of " the repairer will only be paid up to the equivalent Auto Protect national labour rate". They said go ahead and get it investigated and they would consider reimbursement when the fault had been diagnosed. I contacted them today and of course they now say that Glow Plugs are not covered by the insurance and they will not cover the repair or make any contribution to the cost. They were also abrupt in telling me that the garage should have stopped work once they had diagnosed the fault and got their permission to carry on with the repair. The garage would not work under these terms.
I am not surprised to be fobbed off because I have never had any faith in these insurances from past experiences with cars.
The question is: Are these policies of any value as even Gold cover has a multitude of specific exclusions? Do any reputable garages carry out works under their terms? Do any dealers give their own personal warranties?


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Contact your supplying dealer and ask him to reimburse you, at the end of the day irrespective of any insurance based warranty, he is liable for recification.

Insurance based warranties are a pain unless you go back to your supplying dealer and get him to sort the problems out.

Regards


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## teal (Feb 23, 2009)

Also see my problem under Drive shaft problems. I have been given by AP £ 34 mh, nearest to that is £50 plus vat. Fortunate that i did not pay for the cover as the dealer did covering it for 6 months, i certainly would not take out the extended cover.


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

Becks Motorhomes gave us a year's warranty on whole MH and they do all the work - not insurance based.

Joe & Denise


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

*Re: Mechanical breakdown insurance with second hand motorhom*



rayc said:


> The question is: Are these policies of any value as even Gold cover has a multitude of specific exclusions?


In a word - no - don't waste your money, and if a dealer offers them as a sales incentive, tell them to knock the price of the policy off the cost of the van.

If the dealer offers their own warranty, that's a different kettle of fish alltogether.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Dealers have very few options as regards warranties on used motor vehicles especially when the purchaser lives some distance away or breaks down whilst on tour.

If a breakdown does occur, the owner should contact his supplier straight away and advise them of the problem and take their advice as regards rectification.

It is no point in rushing into the nearest garage and getting it fixed without authourisation from the insurance company who may well try and wriggle out of liability.

Should this happen the supplier who is aware of the problem can then exert pressure on the warranty companies rep who will do his best to keep his dealer happy and in consequence get the claim authourised.

I do agree that purchasing *extended* warranties are a waste of money.

Peter


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