I was directed to this company via a broker called Warranties 4 Wheels (totally useless in defending their customers saying it is not their fault). Ultimate on the past two claims was great paying the car dealer without delay. Now it appears they are out of money and being run by their parent company Capital Assurance. They are under control or monitoring of the South Carolina Department of Insurance.
I notified Ultimate or Capital that I was having problems with my rear differential and was going to take it to a licensed facility that employs ASE mechanics. They told me on 02/01/08 no problem, have the mechanic disassemble the differential and they have an inspector look at it on 02/04/08. This to me was a bad sign from the get go as they had never sent an inspector on any of my previous claims.
The inspector showed as promised, reviewed the parts in need of repair and said it did not look like a problem. Fast forward to 02/07/08, and my mechanic was notified the claim was rejected.
First they said it was because he started the work without authorization and disassembled the differential. He said both him and the customer were told to go ahead and do this so the inspector could look at it. The rep backed off and then said it did not matter because the inspector said the claim should be rejected.
The inspector said a vent tube was missing but did not make an issue of it during the inspection. My mechanic said the inspector should have noticed it sitting next to the parts to be repaired. He explained it had to be removed in order to take the differential out. The rep. Did not care. The mechanic further explained the symptoms were not present in the differential had the vent tube been missing. The rep still did not care.
The rep said the inspector found water in the differential oil. My mechanic said there was no water in the oil. He further said he had it drained in to a collection pail. The inspector never looked at the oil in detail and never took a sample. My mechanic explained the oil was black, not milky brown which occurrs when it is contaminated by water. The rep did not care.
My mechanic explained the condition of the differential and how one set of bearings failed and caused damaged to the others. The rep. Did not care. The inspector's report surprised my mechanic as he made no indications during the inspection that he was going to deny the claim.
So I am stuck with a car that needs repair. A company that will not honor it's contract with me. Should I repair it and if they change their minds, will they then reject my claim again because it has been repaired?
It seems from the numerous complaints on this site and around the web, the company is attempting to get back on it's feet by rejecting claim after claim. This and getting people to make repairs first and then declining to pay because the repair was made without authorization.
I am stuck with a warranty that has four more years and over forty thousand miles of coverage on it. What government agency is going to step up for the consumer and protect us.
I am interested in a class action suit should one arise.
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