Car Extended Warranty - Claim Diagnosis required before claim considered

brownbag on 06/05/2022 - 14:12

I have an extended warranty on my car and the auto stop/start function has stopped working. The insurance company has said that in order to even assess my claim, I need to pay for a diagnosis first. Yet the thing about electrical issues in cards is that it costs between $150 and $400 to diagnose an issue, and the diagnosis in most cases is 70-80% of the work of repair (once they find the broken wire it'e easy to fix). Can the insurance company require me to pay for an expensive diagnosis - electrical issues are covered - shouldn't they cover the diagnosis?

I haven't changed my battery or had any battery issues since getting the car from the dealer.

Financial

Comments

  • toomuchdogfur on 06/05/2022 - 14:23
    +8

    auto stop/start function has stopped working

    As in the car never stops the engine when its supposed to? Or it fails to start after stopping?

    I haven't changed my battery or had any battery issues since getting the car from the dealer.

    Cars with stop-start systems won't stop-start unless the battery is over a certain voltage and/or over a certain "health" threshold calculated by its computer. If its been a few years on the stock battery, it might have degraded to the point where it no longer meets these thresholds?

    • brownbag on 06/05/2022 - 14:30

      It doesn't stop when the car is stationary.

      Yes, maybe I'll get my battery checked.

    • SBOB on 06/05/2022 - 17:10
      +3

      If anything , stop start not working is now meaning your battery will last longer and your starter motor will last longer

  • Hithere on 06/05/2022 - 14:27
    +7

    Is this an 'extended third party warranty' OP?

    If it is it's nothing but a scam.

    You have to jump through hoops to claim and some have that many escape clauses that for many it's not worth the hassles.

    Find yourself a good reasonably priced Mechanic/Autolec instead

  • neo on 06/05/2022 - 15:13
    +1

    Cancel whatever you can on that insurance and get back whatever $ you can if it's pro-rata. Then use that cash to get it fixed properly.

    I got scammed on that extended warranty stuff but bailed within a month and saved some money.

  • whatwasherproblem on 06/05/2022 - 15:18
    +3

    It's almost like extended warranty is a scam or something..

  • JimmyF on 06/05/2022 - 15:33
    +2

    Can the insurance company require me to pay for an expensive diagnosis - electrical issues are covered - shouldn't they cover the diagnosis?

    Pretty standard process with 3rd party extended warranty insurance. You have to submit a quote for the repairs, they approve, you get the repairs done.

    The insurance company will pay for diagnosing the issue if the claim is approved. You can also pay to have it fixed and submit a claim to the insurance company for the cost.

    Why they don't blindly just diagnose the issue at their cost? Well for example, let's say you somehow disabled the start/stop feature via settings menu and didn't know you did this, the insurance company wouldn't cover this if it was found that during diagnosing it was turned off aka no fault found, just user error.

    • brownbag on 06/05/2022 - 15:37
      -3

      Well then they can get me to submit a video to show that I haven't disabled it. Pretty simple - that doesn't need a $300 diagnosis.

      • JimmyF on 06/05/2022 - 15:40
        -1

        As above, see what the process is with the company. No point is saying what you think it should be. You have to work with their process which I'm guessing is as you have said, you have to go pay for it to be diagnosed and/or repaired, then submit a claim to get paid out the money for the repair assuming its covered.

        Bit like travel insurance, you cough up the money while overseas, then come back and put a claim in for them to pay you back.

        • brownbag on 06/05/2022 - 16:07

          Not like travel insurance - they cover the costs. The diagnosis isn't covered at all by the insurance.

          • JimmyF on 06/05/2022 - 19:19
            -1

            @brownbag:

            Not like travel insurance

            Most travel insurance is cash up front, they repay you on your return.

            The diagnosis isn't covered at all by the insurance

            That doesn't sound right…. Just get it fixed and send them the bill.

      • spackbace on 06/05/2022 - 15:41
        +2

        Or you could be realistic and understand why that's not gonna happen

        I mean, you haven't even had the battery checked yet…

        What's the car model and year?

      • Quantumcat on 06/05/2022 - 15:46

        That would require them to know all the settings of all cars that could cause all kinds of problems to be able to tell you what to video

    • Oofy Doofy on 08/05/2022 - 16:54
      +1

      This is correct, I just wanted to stop by to say you are right about the due process in order to make a claim.

      I have successfully claimed a 6k repair to a vehicle with a 3rd party insurer.

  • aoeueoa on 06/05/2022 - 15:45
    +1

    Please tell us what car you drive sir.

    • brownbag on 06/05/2022 - 16:07
      +1

      Peugeot 308

      • JimmyF on 06/05/2022 - 19:21
        +2

        Peugeot 308

        LOL Did you even google it? Googles answer

        Low battery charge is the most common reason for the Peugeot 308 stop start not working

        So have you had your battery checked?

  • brendanm on 06/05/2022 - 16:12
    +3

    Your battery is probably weak. Get it load tested, replace as necessary.

  • brownbag on 06/05/2022 - 16:21

    Thanks for your input. I got my answer. Cheers

    • MS Paint on 06/05/2022 - 16:34

      I'm late to the party and just scrolled to the bottom. What was the answer?

      • blitz on 06/05/2022 - 17:01
        +3

        What was the answer?

        Peugeot 308

    • JimmyF on 06/05/2022 - 19:20

      which was?

  • Hithere on 06/05/2022 - 16:51
    +3

    What was the answer?

    42

  • 87percent on 06/05/2022 - 17:16

    I only noticed my car was not stop/starting at lights when I got my car serviced and they told me I need a new battery.

  • pegaxs on 06/05/2022 - 17:45
    +2

    And this is why “extended warranties” are not worth the paper they are printed on.

  • Series4Episode10 on 07/05/2022 - 11:20

    Extended warranty should have a paragraph the purchaser must read that states "very few people have ever been able to gain value from such a product!"

  • thwarted on 07/05/2022 - 11:42

    I HATE the stop/start on my car. I have a button to deactivate it, but it defaults to active at each new start of the car…. and the fuel it saves is minimal for my driving patterns.

    I have discovered that there's a switch in the bonnet latch that deactivates it if the bonnet is up. I've considered permanently setting this switch, but its fiddly to get to, and I don't know what unintended consequences it might have.

    • spackbace on 07/05/2022 - 12:10

      Car will likely recognise that the bonnet is open and you'll get a warning beep as a result

    • toomuchdogfur on 13/05/2022 - 08:00
      +1

      Is your car a Volkswagen Group one? (VW, Audi, Skoda, etc) If so you can permanently disable the stop-start system by changing a configuration in the onboard computer (it basically raises the threshold for stop-start functionality to a voltage that's impossible for even a healthy battery to meet).

      Having said that, the tool required to do this costs a few hundred bucks… do you $300 hate this feature?

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