"Warranty Gold" Claims

artgpo

What will you say when their new "A+" underwriter goes bust, or WG goes bust themselves? There are 65,000 of us out here who were screwed without being kissed.

cstrom1

Here is a web site that lists some complaints with Warrentech. Just so anyone considering a warranty administered by them is well informed. Mostly appliance and computer horror stories, but there are few complaints on auto warrantys also.

http://www.brandstupid.com/shared-brandsmart-horrors.htm

jratcliffe

My point exactly. The only way WG claims will get paid is if WG remains in business. If WG fails, then contract holders can only get refunds if:
1. NWIG does eventually disgorge all the money deposited with them AND
2. The money disgorged is enough to pay the claims.

I find 1 unlikely, and 2 EXTREMELY unlikely, since it looks like what happened is that NWIG lowballed their bid to be administrator, and claims exceeded revenues, causing them to file for bankruptcy. In that case, the monies paid to NWIG wouldn't be enough to satisfy the commitments, even if those monies were freed up.

rbreen

I just got a call from one of the reps. at The GM Card. It sounds like there is a real good chance that I will get most of my money back from them. The are going to prorate the refund. Even though I bought my Warranty Gold policy in Sept. of 2002, my factory warranty was in effect 'til May of 2003. Since NWIG went bankraupt in June, they figure that I was only covered by Warranty Gold for one one. They are telling me that I should get refunded for 59 of the 60 month policy.
  Needless to say-I am quite relieved. Thank you GM Card. Thanks also to Edmunds and everybody who has kept us up to date at this forum. Good luck to everyone.

xpfshost

I am a victim of WG, but don't hold the same opinion as others here who now write-off all 3rd party warranty companies. I used to sell new cars and new-car dealer warranties. Extended warranties were where I made most of my income...more than actually selling cars. I think there are still good 3rd party companies out there. Like anything, it requires homework. I did alot of homework with WG and frankly didn't find anything wrong with the company. Bad things happen to good people (talking about myself, not WG . I don't think it is going to happen across the 3rd party warranty industry. I checked into Warrantech because it's the administrator for the extended warranties that AAA motor club sells. I wasn't happy with the complaints that I saw and frankly the AAA warranty was expensive. I checked into the extended warranties that Sams Club sells and found that they had difficulty speaking English and they were about the same price as AAA. Since I don't have enough money to buy a new car and I can't absorb a major repair, I'm left looking at the 3rd party warranties again. I'll probably end up with WarrantyDirect.com since they are their own administrator and a completely separate company handles their reserves. BBB shows nice things about them and I couldn't find any complaints anywhere else on the 'net about them. I'm not saying it's the right company for you...just relating my own story as to how I'm approaching the matter. I don't expect anything back from WG. I paid WG with a one-time transfer from my bank account (what was I thinking??), so I have no other recourse. I think WG will be belly-up soon and we can all kiss any refunds/claims goodbye...and I'm normally a pretty optomistic person. Good luck to others in the same boat as me.

xpfshost

njlexus

Not that any of us will probably ever get any money from WG, but just make sure you read you policy closely with regard to refunds.

I purchased mine directly from WG for a used Lexus. What I did not realize at the time is that they sold me a "new" policy. So what does that mean exactly? Well, if I were to cancel and actually get a refund, it would be based on the number of miles I have on the car today to prorate against my 100K policy. So even though I purchased the contract when my vehicle had 45K on it, had I cancelled it a month later with 46K on it, I would only be due roughly half my money b/c it was written as a "new" policy.

Now does that seem like truthful operations?

Something else that has not been discussed is that for me to purchase a contract through another company now would cost me almost double what it would have cost me back when I made my purchase in 4/2003. In legal terms, we have been detrimentally affected due to this contract. I have also been told by counsel that you would more than likely win IF you could take this to small claims court, but who has the time, money or effort left in the after this?

landru2

First let me say that I do sympathize with anyone that is a victim of fraud.

This topic has got me thinking about compensation for victims here and with any type of insurance. Let's say that I find out that my insurer has been insolvent for the last year and has had no ability to pay claims. Let's also say that I have another year of "coverage" that I have paid for. Arguments about who owes what, etc, drag on for another year. Nothing goes wrong with my car during this time. Have I suffered any recoverable damages? I can understand someone whose car breaks and cannot have a claim fulfilled having a clear-cut case for the cost of the repairs. But if I never need to make a claim how is it determined what damages, if any, that I am owed?

xpfshost

The problem is that I have paid for 5 years of coverage and have only received 1. Thus, I was ripped off. The other problem is that I am entitled to cancel my account at any time (in case I sell the car or just want the unused portion of my premium back) and receive a pro-rated refund. That option was taken away from me. You can't justify a now-defunct policy just because it MAY never be used or needed. The damages are that I have paid for 5 years of coverage and have only received 1...and now I can't get my money back. It doesn't matter if I never use or need the policy. The issue is not getting what I paid for and not being able to cancel and get any kind of a refund...which I'm supposed to be entitled to.

xpfshost

redline65

You would be fortunate if you never needed to file a claim. IMO you would not have suffered any damages. I have about one year left on my new Diamond plan, but I already have one unpaid claim. I'm going to hold onto my contract until it expires, and at that time I plan to take WG to small claims court to reclaim any unpaid expenses. If I have a major claim before then I'll take them to court, but right now the amount they owe me is relatively small (around $200).

landru2

I'm not trying to justify anything. The inability to cancel and get a refund is real damage - if you want to cancel and get a refund. If someone has no intention of cancelling and their car remains trouble free for the term of the contract have they really lost anything? Is the potential for losing money real damage?

njlexus

I understand your food for thought, but this is a touchy subject here, which I'm sure you understand. As I posted earlier, I(we) have been affected because I now must pay substantially more money to get an extended warranty on my vehicle now. I don't have to get a policy, but it is for the peace of mind that I wanted when I first purchased from WG. Not only that, but I can't seem to get terms even close to what I had before, and the vehicle only has 7k more miles on it than when I contracted with WG. Because my car was under manufacturer warranty for 5k more miles, my price quotes were substantially better. 7k older apparently means paying over $1,000 more for policies that will only provide 3yr/36k coverage.

So aside from the money lost with WG, I now have to choose if I want to be out more money by buying another warranty OR do I want to be out the peace of mind that I thought I had with my WG policy?

Not really great choices.

76ta1

Just visited the latest news from Warranty Gold. I love how they said they would keep in touch with news. All I ever got from them was the e-mail everyone got on October 2, 2003 saying "So Sorry" but we're still in business selling contracts. If you really want a laugh, just visit their FAQs in their news section. So much double talk it'll make you sick.

Funny thing is how they claim for those that paid by payments plans, they went ahead and funded all the money and that is why they can't pay any refunds until this is settled. I would have to question this statement.

For all those that seem to say: "help WG to stay in business",should look at it this way.... WG sold contracts for a profit... nothing wrong with that at all... but I doubt WG has lost hardly any money, only their customers have. They made a commission on the contract, they paid salaries, they continued to add to their bottom line everytime they charged a poor soul's credit card knowing the issues that they did not disclose till
months later. Have pity on poor WG, not on your life. I will survive this loss as most everyone else will. But the powers at WG will have to answer for this sooner or later.

No pity for theses people at all.

xpfshost

Example: I sell you a service that I provide for $3000 that I will let you use for 5 years. After one year, I no longer am able to offer you the service anymore, nor will I provide a refund like I promised when you purchased the service (although I'm still collecting profits from new people buying my service). At the end of 5 years, you never used the service and didn't even know that you couldn't use it for 4 out of the 5 years....BUT YOU'RE STILL OUT $3000 for 1 year of service instead of the 5 you were supposed to get. I have also gone back on my promise to refund a portion of your money if you decide to cancel my service before it expires. You wouldn't be upset and feel ripped-off when confronted with that scenario...even though you never used it?? You paid lots of money for it. You were promised that you could use it for 5 years. You were promised a refund for early termination. I've now gone back on everything I've promised you...AND I've spent your $3000 on a nice entertainment system for my family room. If you have no problem with any of this, there are lots of shady salespeople who would LOVE to do business with you. Not picking a fight with you...just explaining things from my viewpoint.

xpfshost

landru2

because you don't really "get" anything (besides peace of mind) for your money if nothing goes wrong.

xpfshost, in your scenario, if the 5 year period is over and I never had to use your service, I would be thanking my lucky stars that nothing went wrong. Yes, I'd be upset if I found out you couldn't have provided the service, if needed, for the last 4 years. But I don't see how I could place a dollar figure on what I had lost. I still would've paid you the same $3000 either way.

It seems to me that this is the kind of product that may require government regulation to make sure that an insurer can actually perform if they are needed. As I said originally, it was just a hypothetical question.

cstrom1

I agree there needs to be more regulation on extended warranties. NWIG is the third in a string of defaults that include Reliance Insurance and Western Diversified. The only way we will accomplish this change is to constantly e-mail and write your local congressmen or senators to push for national reform on this matter so if it happens again, the consumer is not left holding the bag while the fat cats who declared bankruptcy make off with our money to live happily ever after in their posh carribbean retreat.

quigonjohn

for those of us that know about this, it is "the peace of mind" we now do not have, that we paid for. Sure, we could not get another contract, and if our 5 years go by and we do not need the service, yes we may not be out any additional money. But we now have no peace of mind, we know if something fails, WG will not be there, even though we paid for them.

juanmotime2k

I just had my first claim with Warranty Gold. Paid the contract in full($1,400) in 2001 for my 1999 GMC. Needless to say, they now say I have a valid contract but will receive partial payment "whenever". That is not acceptable. They will not refund my money, nor honor my claim, nor transfer the contract to a valid "administrator". Yet, they continue to solicit new business from the public. They did not notify me regarding the pending liquidation of NWIG, nor do they accept the responsibility for their actions. With, according to their numbers, 65,000 people having been given the old "Bait and Switch" bunko scheme, it seems like someone as respectable as Edmunds should make this a RED FLAG on their site and assist folks with the organization of a class action suite aginst whaterver remains of Warranty Gold, its heirs, and assigns. THIS IS WHOLESALE ROBBERY!! The fellow with whom I spoke at WG was Rudy Cantu, a supervisor? He basically said they hate it, but tough. What irks me is that they are still actively soliciting business with obvious intent to fraud out in the open!! THEY WILL NOT HONOR CONTRACTS, FOLKS. Period!!
Time for them to go... anyone out there in the legal profession??

garnes

I find your question about whether any harm was done if you never make a claim a bit absurd.

First of all, my credit card company thinks so and they are reversing the charges for a policy that wasn't covered over a period of time that I made no claims. I filed a dispute and they clearly agreed that the WG situation was unjust.

Your question ignores the fact that WG is not notifying policy holders that they are not covered any more. They simply keep taking money from people on a payment plan or keep the payments received for a policy that they know will not be honored.

An insurance policy is a contract for a guaranteed outcome on a future event that may or may not occur. Just because the buyer was unaware that they were PUT AT RISK for financial burdens they paid to eliminate, doesn't mean nothing bad happened.

Let's apply your logic to a different situation. You take a flight from City A to City B. You arrive safely. When exiting the plane you notice the pilot is drunk. Are you going to ask "well, did anything bad really happen?" You are going to mad because you were put at risk - that's the point. Even though the outcome was acceptable, the underlying operation was putting you at risk. In this case, your physical well being is put at risk you did not know about or ask for. In the WG case, people's financial well being is put at risk without them knowing either.

Anyway, I have some insurance I'd like to sell you....................

atwnsw

I filed a dispute with AMEX but have not been able to talk to a live human being in this department which is based in Ft. Lauderdale. I think that I would have more success with a verbal conversation than with the written correspondence.

Can somebody provide a direct phone # to the dispute department?

Thanks

Anthony

P.S. The main customer service number on the back of the card is useless as they only read the computer and have no input on the resolution of disputes/claims.....

landru2

I think you missed the point of my posts. But nevermind, as I have said twice now, it was just a hypothetical question. You may now return to your regularly scheduled angst.

johnny967

Thanks to some previous posts, I worded my dipute to my Visa issuer regarding a purchase of a warranty that happened over 60 days ago. I even sent a copy of the official NWIG statement stating their position of no money for those cancelling their contracts - thus making it WG's full responsibility for my refund. Let's see what comes of it. My next move is to file a small claims suit. Since my end of the transaction happened over the phone in my city, my local court should have jurisdiction. Should this not be the case, I will join a class action suit.

garnes

Perhaps you missed a point or implication regarding your hypothetical question "Is the potential for losing money real damage?" I simply pointed it out.

I'm simply answering your question by pointing out that being put at risk despite paying to have that risk eliminated or limited is definable and measurable.

Your's is a good question. Sorry if I used the word "absurd". But don't toss out the "you missed my point" stuff. If you want to strictly define "real damage" as physical - well then yes,no damage if no claims are submitted. If you also include a financial loss (policy payment) for risk that was not limited as "real damage", then the answer is clearly yes.

How about laying off the condescending "you may return......" clever comments and addressing what I offered? I think they are good points to your question, and yes they do address your point of quantifying any "real damage".

And again, I've not filed a claim but GM card also thinks there was "real damage" - a financial payment for bogus risk management.

rayt2

I have just faxed out my dispute to Discover Card (Friday)even though it is beyond their 180 day dispute limit. I purchased one "used car diamond policy" for $1313 9/9/02 and a "new car diamond" for $1189 on 12/20/02. Hopefully the info I included (WG's blanket written statement) and the point my contract was with WG not NWIG, I am hoping for a refund or "gag" rollover to new insurer back charging to date coverage stopped in June.

Your points are well spoken and exactly my thoughts I can just never get it to sound right. If I get denied I think I'll go back to some of your points and resubmit. I am also considering persuing the FCC and ITC since I purchased my policy based on Internet quote and telephone purchase.
I wonder if anyone else has thought of this course of persuit.

Ray T.

landru2

So you believe that you've suffered, even after the term of the contract is over, because of the potential damage that may have occurred? Sounds like the kind of situation only a lawyer could love.

KCRam

The posting of any attorney's name and/or contact information regarding a class action suit is expressly prohibited in Edmunds.com Town Hall, as it violates the Member Agreement regarding solicitation and promotion. These posts will be deleted by the hosts, and continued attempts to post such information may result in the termination of your membership.

Thank you for your cooperation. As I mentioned before, we realize this is a very delicate subject for a lot of WG customers, but this forum can not become a "yellow pages" for those who wish to gain business from the situation.

kcram
Host
Smart Shopper and FWI Message Boards

vdubyaguy

after following this message board for some time now and after all the info from warranty gold (which is nothing) I signed up for the class action lawsuit. one point that the attorney told me is that it could be 2 years before anything happened?????????? I figure warranty gold will go under. being that there are several hundred signed up for this. more than likely no one will get anything!

cabman5

atwnsw, had same problem with amex. not allowed to talk to a live person in the customer dispute dept. or even e mail them. after waiting 7 weeks since i sent in my dispute to them and heard nothing,i called and was told by the "regular customer service" ,in contrast to the secretive one, that nothing was done yet and that he would put a note on it to get the ball rolling and that i should get back to them in another 7 to 8 weeks.when i asked why it takes so long to look into this he said they have thousands of various disputes a month.i just can't believe that plus all the disputes with m.c and visa. you would think with all these disputes the cards would go out of buisness. it's funny though that with all there thousands of disputes he said it's the first time he heard about w.g.Bieng from boston i'm wondering what will come first,if at all, the big dig bieng finished,red sox win world series or money back from w.g?

mikefm58

Double check your contract with WG. Mine states something like "Any disputes or breaches of this contract must be settled by binding arbitration in Travis county in Texas."
.
Can someone email me the lawyer website that was posted regarding a class action lawsuit? I know I'll never get anything from WG and my chances of getting anything from a class action suit are small, but I'd still rather see WG go under.... screw them!!!! My email address is mikefm58 at hotmail dot com.

francoinc

I too am interested in joining a class action lawsuit against warranty gold. email me if you have any information. tony at francoinc.com.

cstrom1

Here is the link to file a complaint with the FTC.

https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

rayt2

Just filed my complaint on-line with FTC.

To ALL others out there I strongly suggest you do the same, the old saying "strength in numbers" comes to play here. Warranty Gold needs to be put out of business for this sleazy way of operating. May not get my money back but doing them in will be worth it !

Ray T.

cstrom1

Here is a link to a good article on the latest news with NWIG and Warranty Gold. Read it, and let's hear what everyone thinks. I think it says that Warranty Gold is responsible for our contracts regardless if they can get at their money or not. They should at least honor our contracts and then take whatever money they get back from NWIG without affecting the customers.

http://www.journalstar.com/business.php?story_id=90669

cstrom1

Here is another article. It states that even the bankrupt SC&E warranty company is working with auto dealers to transfer customers effected by NWIG to new contracts and administrators. Figures I'd get stuck with a company that will not honor my contract or even give you hope of a refund.

http://www.journalstar.com/business.php?story_id=80335

scammedinpa

This article refers to dealerships who kept control of their reserve funds rather than going through SC&E.

Why didn't SC&E keep control of their reserve funds?

76ta1

As I stated before, NWIG does not have your money, they have WG's money. WG has our money.
They are not two in the same and the funds can not be thought of it all in one big pile. Just because NWIG is insolvent, does not mean WG can deny you access to repairs or your refund as they are trying to do. They can claim insolvency, which looks like to be an approach that might just happen.

I strongly believe a court of law will have to straighten this mess out as it is very apparent WG is not going to do the right thing, they can't afford to as it will possibly put them out of business. Not that it would break my heart.

njlexus

Thanks for the articles. I'm printing them off and will be faxing to the credit card company to further make my case for a refund.

Not that WG proabably has this type of insurance policy, but a friend of mine told me to ask WG for information on a certain type of insurance that most writers of insurance policies have to have (it's called and ERRORS AND OMISSIONS policy ). If they do have one, we may be able to file a claim against that policy.

When I asked the customer service rep for the policy information, I was put on hold for over 5 minutes. The rep was really nervous when he returned, and then told me I have to make my request in writing to their legal dept., and then they will get me the information in 5 business days. Well it's been 7 days now, but I'm not holding my breath that it will ever come.

At this point, I've talked to 4 different people, and I actually end up enjoying asking them if they feel good about themselves going to work every day. Then I throw out some legal jargon my friend said to me regarding this issue, and you can quickly tell they are so over their head in trying to answer my questions, it wouldn't surpise me if a couple of them had quit after that. The way I figure it, if I'm going to be out some money, I'm gonna get some entertainment out of it.

Most of you know this, but keep specific records of each date, time, and person you speak with at WG. Also, I've gotten 3 different reps to admit that they made a mistake not notifying customers sooner. That certainly won't help everyone, but for me, I was still in my cancellation window for a new contract, and would be entitled to a full refund (either voluntarily or through credit card dispute. It wouldn't suprise me if WG planned to wait 4 months after the 6/4 date to notify customers by email. This would help limit cancellations and credit card disputes I bet.

cstrom1

Has anyone got an idea how much WG has in the reserve fund in Austin that they say they can't touch? It stated in one of the articles that they have enough in there to pay 2 1/2 months of claims. Also they have another 3.5 mill stuck in the Cayman Islands. Just doing the math 62,000 customers x avg. $1000 per contract would equal 62 million dollars. One could extrapolate and add in approximations of how much was paid out in claims etc., that should leave an approximation on how much WG kept as profit that never went to these funds. I am sure they kept some portion of our warranty dollars as their own, the question is how much did they keep? It would be nice to find out what their profit percentage was on each of our contracts.

cstrom1

The Attorney General's Office of the State of MN is showing interest in the Warranty Gold situation. If you are from MN and have a complaint with Warranty Gold please go to the link below and file a complaint. The more complaints that come in, the more likely they are to do something.

http://www.ag.state.mn.us/contact/Default.htm

raljonick

Did you know that WG is not a corporation. its either a partnership or LLC-limited liability company. This means that if the company goes bankrupt so do the owners. I doubt that two of the partners being lawyers would declare bankruptcy. also the funds in the reserve are in an account with a company that is known as "A piece of the rock". Did you know that the owners of WG also own Auto Club which is listed on your roadside assistance card!Did you know that the judge for the US bankruptcy court in Nebraska ruled the reserve account was not the property of NWIG! 76ta1 is correct.
for those of you that would like to see a picture of who has your money go to www.eautoworld.com and click on advisory board. About five pictures down is the CEO of WG. Its amazing what you can find on the internet!

njlexus

Appreciate all the info you provided; Thanks!

I still want my money back, but I gotta say that I would like nothing better than to contribute to making WG fully acccountable for the recent events. If they go out of business or some "partners" go bankrupt then so be it. They should never have gotten themselves into this situation.

Someone brought up how much do we think WG actually paid NWIG for each contract. Consider this. A friend of a friend works at a car dealership. When they sell an extended warranty, they can get commissions anywhere from $500-1,000. Well my policy was only $1500, so how much of that do you think didn't stay in WGs pockets?

cstrom1

Here is the web site for the parent company of Warranty Gold. http://www.cecoh.com/

cstrom1

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1998/04/27/smallb1.html- ?page=1

151ranch

He sold out to that LLP/LLC - and no, the partners/officers/owner will not have to declare bankruptcy - that's what "limited liability" means.

garo9

If anyone is putting together a class action law suit, I would like to join - contact me at gpalmer2@bellsouth.net. The founder of NWIG is Don Erway, a big time University of Nebraska alumnus. He's on the board of the alumni association. He's very well known.

3960special

I, too, would like to join a class action lawsuit against Warranty Gold. I paid them $1,575 in May, 2002, and now they say they gave the money to a third party that is insolvent, and I am SOL. My contract was with Warranty Gold, not a third party, and they are the one's that sold me the contract. I look to them to make good on their contract with me. I cannot imagine how they are allowed to stay in business. I hope that we can all get together and put them out of business for good. They are nothing but a fraud.

radioman2

Warranty Gold claimed that NWIG had reinsurance. Does anybody know if these were legitimate insurance companies?

I'd be interested in joining a class action law suit. Please conract me at w3rhb@netzero.com.

djackson22

I would also like to join a class action suit. I purchased two diamond policies in early 2002. Have not received any communication from Warranty Gold about insolvency. Found out about situation when I filed a repair claim.

Can contact me at djackson2200@charter.net

njlexus

Just got my letter of dispute back from BankOne. I purchased in 4/03 on a payment plan, and they originally informed me I could only dispute the last 4 monthly payments. That would have left me out still about $700. I collected all the info, including their notification email as well as very specific dates of conversations with WG by phone and what was discussed. To my surprise, they have reversed ALL charges back to the original purchase. Of course they say that if WG can show documentation that the charges are valid then they can reapply the charges, so I won't say it's a done deal but I feel better than when this whole thing started. Now the only money I am out is the MUCH higher warranty quotes on my car now that it is out of original warranty by 3,000 miles. We're talking around $800 more with the quotes I've gotten so far. WG was less than $100 cheaper originally, but I guess that's what you get when you purchase the cheapest sometimes.

It's just so frustrating b/c I researched everything pretty thoroughly, and with WG claiming they had reserves in an account for claims, and claiming A- rating of their insurer, you had to figure WG was pretty legit.

Good luck to everyone else and their disputes. I will post if there is any reversal of the reversal. Has anyone had that happen...the credit card company reapplies the charges after the dispute is looked into?

maven4

If anyone can provide this single mom who is out 1500.00 info on a class action suit please email me at maven4@sbcglobal.net THANKS!

jennyk4

The resolved complaint number just jumped from 63 to 92 on Web Assured WG's Watchlist. Anyone know what WG is doing to satisfy people, as I see no indication that they are doing anything? I for one did not even receive the group 10/2 email. Are these people settling in small claims court with the stipulation that they withdraw their complaints?