BMW warranty voided due to immobiliser
Discussion
I agree that the warranty company should pay out, but...
I can't see anything in there that is saying the warranty company must or should pay - just that the ombudsman thinks they should have a look at the policy and reconsider.
I think they'll roll the dice and decide to stick to their original position - and make you go back to the ombudsman to force them to pay out.
But the warranty company will also use that letter to show that you clearly knew about the modification clause, that it was very broad, and went ahead with the installation without clarifying that overly broad clause.
I'm only looking at it this way as my adjudication specifically told the insurance company to pay me within 4 weeks or have further action taken against them - but that was due to a clause in their T&Cs excluding some things specifically and my claim not being for one of those things (and maybe because my claim was easier to settle at £2000).
I can't see anything in there that is saying the warranty company must or should pay - just that the ombudsman thinks they should have a look at the policy and reconsider.
I think they'll roll the dice and decide to stick to their original position - and make you go back to the ombudsman to force them to pay out.
But the warranty company will also use that letter to show that you clearly knew about the modification clause, that it was very broad, and went ahead with the installation without clarifying that overly broad clause.
I'm only looking at it this way as my adjudication specifically told the insurance company to pay me within 4 weeks or have further action taken against them - but that was due to a clause in their T&Cs excluding some things specifically and my claim not being for one of those things (and maybe because my claim was easier to settle at £2000).
Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 2nd November 10:18
bolidemichael said:
Is it me, or does the letter repeatedly refer to the warranty as being "avoided", rather than "voided"? 
It does, I saw the same: apparently that term is used in the insurance world to mean the policy is being cancelled, as though it never existed. I had to google that, not heard it used that way before this thread."a policy that never existed as a lawful contract so that no rights and obligations came into being. An avoidance or a cancellation of a policy"
Although I'm not 100% convinced it's being used correctly, as void makes more sense to me. Other definitions seem say different - Avoidance is the practice of attempting to reduce losses by refraining from activities perceived as hazardous or risky. In the context of insurance, even if an individual, family, or business has insurance coverage for a particular risk, they can still practice avoidance to reduce the likelihood of the insured events occurring.
Edited by MarkwG on Thursday 4th November 22:48
I say this post and called (who I assume) is the same warranty company and asked about warranty compatibility with a Ghost immobiliser and they advised me they would not warranty the car with the immobiliser as it is a change from BMW's specification and not BMW approved.
As a result I have cancelled the warranty cover.
As a result I have cancelled the warranty cover.
I have a BMW that is under factory warranty at the moment, and I had initially planned to have the BMW extended warranty product once this expires next year.
It has a non-BMW tracker (Cat. S7) that was fitted by an independent installer, as my motor insurance company required a tracker.
I decided to contact the company who runs the extended warranty product for BMW to ask them if they would cover my vehicle with the non-BMW tracker fitted to it. To my surprise, they have told me that having a vehicle tracker fitted would "invalidate the warranty as we don’t know the impact it would have on the vehicle."
I personally feel this to be unfair, as this tracker is only connected by 3 wires (+12v BATT, +12v IGN, Ground), does not have an immobilisation function, and does not communicate with anything else in the car.
I have made a complaint to BMW (UK) about this, but I am yet to hear from them with a final response.
It has a non-BMW tracker (Cat. S7) that was fitted by an independent installer, as my motor insurance company required a tracker.
I decided to contact the company who runs the extended warranty product for BMW to ask them if they would cover my vehicle with the non-BMW tracker fitted to it. To my surprise, they have told me that having a vehicle tracker fitted would "invalidate the warranty as we don’t know the impact it would have on the vehicle."
I personally feel this to be unfair, as this tracker is only connected by 3 wires (+12v BATT, +12v IGN, Ground), does not have an immobilisation function, and does not communicate with anything else in the car.
I have made a complaint to BMW (UK) about this, but I am yet to hear from them with a final response.
Edited by sonnenschein3000 on Monday 15th November 00:03
CarCrazyDad said:
Why would you even tell them?
Just seems like opening a can of worms for no reason.
100% the insurance ombudsman would side with you/OP on this.
An alarm system isn't a modification.
Certainly if your turbo blew up they could not use thr fact it had an alarm as an excuse
They wouldn't even need to repudiate the claim on the turbo because there wouldn't even be a valid policy in place by then. Allianz T&Cs says that the policy is not valid if you modify the car, and one can reasonably perceive an alarm as a mod. It doesn't even say that claims won't be valid, as it doesn't need to.Just seems like opening a can of worms for no reason.
100% the insurance ombudsman would side with you/OP on this.
An alarm system isn't a modification.
Certainly if your turbo blew up they could not use thr fact it had an alarm as an excuse
I think it's a little harsh but I can see where they are coming from as the cost of investigating every mod was deemed too high.
I have no idea what the FOS would say though. No one knows for sure until it is tested. But perhaps it has been tested, I haven't seen any jurisprudence yet.
Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 14th November 18:55
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