So, your Burstner Motorhome Warranty that was provided with the vehicle when purchased is coming to an end or has already ended. That comfort and peace of mind you had is no longer there, so what to do next?
There are two types of Motorhome warranty
In general terms, there are two different types of Motorhome warranty you can buy, for you the owner there is little difference in the actual cover you will receive. You have a malfunction in your Burstner Motorhome – make a claim – and someone somewhere comes out to effect a repair. So lets lock at each product type:
Warranty Insurance
Insurance as an old and well established agreement between two parties, You and the Insurer (Sometimes 3 parties, the third would be the ‘Broker’ who sold you the policy). You insure yourself or your goods against failure, theft, damage or Loss, for instance you insure your Motorhome every year again accident by a third party or theft. If something happens your insurer pay to repair it or replace the vehicle or give you the value in money. With a ‘Warranty Insurance’ it’s similar in that a company somewhere will pay out if you have a piece of equipment that fails, whether its the seal against water ingress (Damp) or a cooker, heater or electrical system that fails. A workshop-repairer will tell you or the insurance company what is wrong and offer a quotation to repair, if they approve the workshop will fix the malfunction. It can get a lot more complicated with some warranty companies! We have listed below just one example of a warranty provider we found on the internet, they had a ‘chain’ of five involved parties to make a simple claim!
Some warranty providers have lots of participants involved!
- The company that sells the warranty and takes your money
- The insurer that takes the ‘Risk’ of someone making a claim
- The administration fulfillment of setting up the product and sending the owners warranty documents
- The call centre for customer service or to make a claim and find a workshop to repair the Motorhome
- The workshop that actually repairs the malfunction to the vehicle and will raise an invoice for the ‘Insurer’ to pay
There is nothing wrong at all with an ‘Warranty Insurance’ and most provide an excellent safety net should the unthinkable happen. One very important thing to consider though is the actual ‘Underwriter’ (The Insurer) of the cover, are they a UK based and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) compliant company? This means they have to comply with UK rules for your comfort, some insurers may be based in Jersey, or Isle of Man or Gibralter and these do not have to comply with the FCA requirements. You could say they are not ‘A’ rated. They may still function perfectly well, but the risk is if they didnt you as a customer would find it hard to get in touch with them possibly and have no recourse under FCA-UK rules.
A Warranty Guarantee
A ‘Warranty Guarantee’ is what the orignal manufacturer provided to the first owner, and many larger dealers provide if they plan to repair any malfunctions or defects themselves. www.engineerinsuranceandaftercare.com uses a ‘Warranty Guarantee’ by choice for its very simple but effective nature and backs that up with exclusively using AWS approved workshops as the manufacturer insisted upon.
So, a ‘Warranty Guarantee’ is not an ‘Insurance policy’ its a guarantee of payment for repairs to your Burstner Motorhome under the terms and conditions in the contract (Your Warranty cover booklet). So, when the unthinkable happens you make the call, a workshop will explain the issue and assess the cost (Quotation to repair), the Warranty company once they approve the claim as a legitimate one under your guarantee will instruct the workshop to make the repair. Its exactly the same outcome in principle, just a slightly different process to get you back on the road fast. Many car warranties sold in the UK are based on the ‘Guarantee’ principle and work perfectly well too.
We trust we have helped to provide a little insight into the difference and you feel a little better aware of the differences in these two important products. If you have any doubt or questions about your own cover or to find out more about Engineer Aftercare Ltd feel free to get in touch.
Martyn Raybould Managing Director