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Warranty Mis-Direct

I recently purchased a warranty through Warranty Direct following a recommendation in one of your articles. Sadly, my experience with them is not good. I purchased a 46,000 mile 2004 VW Polo from a dealer on 16th June 2009. The dealer offers a 7-day money-back guarantee. Unfortunately, I suffered a gearbox failure after 12 days (28th June) leaving my car totally immovable. I notified WD of the problem on Monday 29th June. 6 days later I was notified I did not have a claim because WD’s 90 day wear and tear clause applied to my gearbox failure.

Asked on 5 September 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Sorry, your claim clearly fell outside the terms and conditions of the
warranty in that the fault had been present before you took out the
warranty. What you did was akin to taking out insurance on a building that was already on fire. The good news is that under the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 you have a clear cut claim against the dealer who sold you the car as the gearbox fault was either present or developing on the date you bought it. More about that in the Consumer Rights FAQ answer at
www.honestjohn.co.uk A dealer cannot hide behind a warranty in this circumstance even if he sold it to you. It is fraud to claim on a warranty for a pre-existent fault. Liability rests on the dealer himself.
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