R.AC Gold Wty rip off

r25turbo

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May 4, 2013
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Dorset
Your Mercedes
w211 2003 5.0
I have a E500 W211 with an airmatic fault, the n/s/r suspension drops within 3-4 hours of switching off, this has appeared quite suddenly.
The leak is where the reserve tank joins the pipe to the air spring.
The RAC Wty states that springs & resivous are covered, but the claim has been rejected on the grounds that hoses & connections are not covered but I cannot find that exclusion anywhere in the policy.
The air spring comes as a complete unit & no separate parts are available & the instructions state that the unit should never be disassembled.So I do not understand why this has been thrown out.
Anyone else had issues with RAC Gold Wty?
 

Rotorhead500

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Your Mercedes
Used to have a C63...
I would take the extracts you have that say the assembly should never be split, and ask them to provide the reference that lists the hoses & connectors as exempt!
 

100%Bitch

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Your Mercedes
215 CL600, 216 Facelift CL500, 172 SLK55, Nissan Cube, R170 SLK230 & an Auto Trail Comanche.
I had issues with that guaranty. I tried to claim for an ABC leg, but they rejected my claim due to the car having a high mileage - 56k!

I will never use them again, it' not worth the paper it's written on.
 
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Gary Hanson

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A Jag. Jags are my favourite.
.....sue them.
I was just about to say the same thing. The main reason insurance companies exist is so that they can be sued. A court summons is the only language some of them understand.

If the policy which you were provided with at the time you purchased the car, or warranty, does not mention an exclusion, you are entitled to rely on that and claim on the basis that there is no exclusion. If they attempt to exclude things after the policy has started, you could argue that this is not part of the contract. I remember a case once where a woman took out some horse insurance, by responding to an advert in Horse and Hound. The advert said all tack was covered if it was stolen from a locked, secured building. Many months later, the tack room was broken into and a saddle was stolen. She submitted a claim, and told them the room was locked with a 3 lever padlock, but the insurer refused to pay out. They then sent her a policy booklet (they hadn't sent one previously) in which it said the room had to be secured with a 5 lever padlock. She issued proceedings, on the basis that she was entitled to rely on the wording of the advert in the absence of anything to the contrary. The Defendant insurance company didn't defend the proceedings and sent her a cheque for the full amount claimed, including court fees.

Money Claim Online
is the cheapest and simplest way to do a county court claim these days, although if the particulars of claim is more than a certain number of words, you might want to use the paper form, and post it to the court. (note that debt claims are all now originated at Salford County Court, not the Defendant's home court, as used to be the case until recently).
You can download the claim form (N1) from HMCTS
and send it with the issue fee to CCMCC, PO Box 527 Salford, M5 0BY

Court Fees - Leaflet EX50 gives details of the current fees.
 
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drmw

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Your Mercedes
M6 Cab - prior to that, SL63 AMG, A-M V8 Vantage, SL55, SL500 and many more
I think first thing is to write contesting the decision to reject, cite the fact (with evidence) that the part is but one component not available in isolation and whatever else you have that says they should not be dismantled. Send it by email asking for a specific acknowledgement of receipt

Explain to them that if they do not agree to the replacement then you will have the repair carried out by XYZ dealer, that further supporting evidence will be obtained and you will issue a small claim for the full amount plus costs plus a refund of the premium they have taken from you (unless you have made a previous claim that was settled via them).

Tell them they have 10 working days to respond and if they do not, then you will proceed without further notice.

And do that :)
 

Frontstep

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T210 320cdi
I do wish people would stand up to these bullying companies.
There seems to be an acceptance of this that I find confusing.
Don't put up with weasel words sue them.
 

d215yq

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Location
Valencia, Spain
Your Mercedes
1987 W124 300D 280k miles
I do wish people would stand up to these bullying companies.
There seems to be an acceptance of this that I find confusing.
Don't put up with weasel words sue them.

probably because most people buy various insurances, warranties,etc for "peace of mind" as an easy option and such people aren't inclined to spend a lot of time and money suing everytime there's a claim.

a much better idea would be not to buy any form of insurance (other than car home or travel)...car because it's legally required. house because you can't afford to lose your house. travel because you might need medical treatment.

any other insurance/warranty/product is just someone making a lot of money out of you and shouldn't be necessary. If you don't have the cashflow to pay for some "nasty surprises" that may come from your merc, you should just drive a £2k cheaper car and put that in the bank for such occurrences (or find the 2k elsewhere)...then you can spend the monthly warranty cost on something else!...and will work out massively cheaper in the long run.
 
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Gary Hanson

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Your Mercedes
A Jag. Jags are my favourite.
I do wish people would stand up to these bullying companies.
There seems to be an acceptance of this that I find confusing.
Don't put up with weasel words sue them.
It's true. A lot of them do it simply because they can. If enough people gave them grief for it, and cost them money for doing it, I'm sure they'd do it less. About a year ago, Paypal put a hold on a payment I'd received. They asked for postage details such as when the item was posted, the tracking number etc, which I gave them. I also sent them the proof of delivery I got from Royal Mail.
Paypal then failed to reply to the messages and emails I sent to them, in which I asked them to release my money to me.

I got fed up of waiting so I issued proceedings. Eventually, once someone with some authority and sense got involved, they released the hold on the money, and paid the court fees that I'd paid, into my paypal account so the claim could be discontinued.

The bottom line is that if they hadn't messed me about, it wouldn't have cost them about £40, plus some expensive postage when they sent me documents via courier, plus the time of at least one of their employees who had to spend dealing with it.
 
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