I am the owner of a 2005 Citroen C3. I bought it on 31 January this year from a local garage. At the time of sale I also purchased a 12-month three star warranty with an insurance company. Within two months of buying the car the auto diagnostics light came on. I went to the garage with my warranty and asked them to tell me what the problem was. The mechanic and the sales man sat in my car smoking and whispering and, five minutes later, got out and walked away from me and my car with no explanation. When I ran after them to ask if it was sorted I was waved away and assured it was a 'blip'.

Three weeks later the light came on again and the same thing happened. I was told Citroens are known for this and that there was no problem. This time they did an emissions test and told me that there was nothing wrong and the insurance company would not pay out for something that was not faulty.

Six days later the light came on again and I was told once again it was a blip and to ignore it. After driving it a few miles here and there the car started to continually make the warning noise and the engine would die instantly after me turning it on. I tried to drive back to a safe place and the car cut out. I called the garage and they gave me an appointment five days later to bring it in. I asked how I would get it there and explained I had broken down on a main road. I was basically told this was not the garages problem. I called the RAC, who were very helpful. They ran their computer from my car and diagnosed a faulty catalytic converter (which is covered by my warranty) and took the car to an approved garage who have been great. The approved garage called my warranty company, who refused to pay for any repairs as they had already received the emissions test from the old garage which proved there was no fault.

The approved garage have told me that the warranty company does not sound professional. They MoT'd my car and it passed the first time, but the cat is right on the edge of blowing. They MoT'd it a second time just to be sure and it failed. As far as the approved garage are concerned it is not in a safe driving condition and the cat needs replacing immediately but the warranty company are still refusing to pay out for any repairs. What should I do?