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What to do if your car warranty company won’t pay for repairs
If your car warranty company won’t pay for repairs, you have the right to get
your car fixed or take your complaint further.
A car warranty is there to cover repairs to your car if something goes wrong, and it gives additional protection alongside legislation such as the Consumer Rights Act.
If your warranty provider isn’t playing ball or is failing to communicate properly to you, you can complain.
Here we look at the different types of car warranty, your rights to complain, and what to do if you need to escalate the issue.
1. Check your warranty terms and conditions
Check the terms of your warranty carefully so you know exactly who is providing the cover. You also need to be aware of any exclusions in the warranty.
Companies may refuse to carry out repairs for a number of reasons, the most obvious being that the warranty didn’t cover the particular problem in the first place.
It's always important to check the terms and conditions of the warranty as this will show what is and isn’t covered.
The three types of car warranty
Manufacturer's warranty
This is the warranty that a new car is sold with and ends after a set number of years, or could end sooner if the car covers a certain number of miles.
This warranty is a contract between you and the manufacturer.
Dealer warranty
This is usually supplied with the car, for example where the manufacturer's warranty has expired.
The warranty cover may be provided either by the dealer itself or by a third party such as a car insurance company.
Whether the cover is provided by the dealer or a third party, it creates specific obligations that the warranty provider must comply with.
Extended warranty
This is usually taken out by the owner of the car when the warranty the car came with has expired.
It works in the same way as other warranties but is often bought directly from the warranty company on expiry of an existing warranty rather than being provided on the sale of the car.
Other protections
Alongside a warranty, you also have other rights you can use if you’re having problems with your car. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you should be able to get a refund or repair. We explain how this works in our guide on how to get repairs, a replacement or a refund on your car.
You can use our free tool to check what your rights are if your new or used car has developed a fault.
If you’ve bought your car through a Hire Purchase (HP) finance company you also have the added layer of protection which comes under the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973.
2. Contact the warranty provider
Contact the warranty provider and quote the section of the policy document that makes it clear that the work you need doing is covered.
If the warranty provider refuses to arrange, or pay for the repairs, ask it to set out in writing exactly why it considers that it is not responsible.
Keep a record of any communications between you and the warranty provider as you may need these if things aren’t sorted out at this stage.
Also send it as much detail as possible, including photos of exactly what has happened and the repairs you need.
3. Don't be fobbed off
If the warranty provider doesn’t give a good reason for refusing the claim or doesn’t respond to you at all, get quotes for carrying out the work.
Send these to the warranty provider explaining that if it continues to refuse to carry out the work, you'll claim the cost back from them of having the work carried out.
If the warranty company is refusing to pay up for something that is clearly covered then it'll be in breach of contract.
You can claim the cost of getting a third party to carry out the work.
But you will need to have given the warranty company every chance to change its mind and carry out the work before you make a claim. Be sure to let it know that you will seek the repair costs from it if it continues to refuse.
You can use our letter template to write to your warranty provider if they're refusing to fulfil their obligations
4. Speak to a trade association
If the warranty provider is a member of a trade association, such as the Motor Ombudsman, it’s worth asking it for help.
You can find out if it’s a member by checking its website, or any communications from it. But you can also search on a trade association’s website to see its members.
Use our step-by-step guide to escalate a complaint with a car dealership.
5. Taking your complaint further
If the warranty provider is the dealer that sold you the car, you may need to take it to court. For the small claims court, the value of repairs must be up to £10,000 (£5,000 for Scotland and Northern Ireland).
Court action should always be a last resort and you should make sure that you have taken all steps to resolve the dispute.
In England and Wales, there's a Practice Direction on Pre Action Conduct which helps you with this process by setting out the steps you should take.
If the warranty is underwritten by an insurance company, you could refer the dispute to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
You'll need to have exhausted the warranty provider’s internal complaints procedure first, or be able to show that more than eight weeks have passed since you referred your complaint to the insurance company and that the matter remains unresolved.
Our guide to making a complaint to the ombudsman has more details about going down this route.