Davidtav Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) So I bought a car in 2015. And it didn’t have a spare wheel. Never supplied with one. And nowhere to fit one. So I joined a recovery service advertising that they would rescue you if you were stranded and your car wasn’t supplied with a spare wheel by the manufacturer. … all good until I hit a pothole a few weeks ago. In a fairly remote location. And the recovery service just point blank refused to come out. Why haven’t you got a spare wheel. Blah blah. Yes we used to covefr that but we don’t anymore. Well they didn’t tell me. Basicayi couldn’t get anyone local to sort this. I did get it sorted by paying £350 to a national company . I have made a complaint. What do you guys think j should do? I’m thinking of court claim Edited March 17 by Davidtav 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlesticks Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 As per the great comedian Steve Hughes: Insurance - that's a scam isn't it? Why don't you give us a load of money for something that will probably never happen. And if it does, we won't pay you. Which sounds unfair, but we have a dozen corporate lawyers and you have work in the morning.. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davidtav Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 It is a very major organisation but I am not going to name them on social media at this stage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi Bullfrog Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 That's poor. A lot of modern cars don't have spare wheels, just a can of repair spray which is useless if you've hit a pothole. Someone on here put me onto Gem and we've been with then for a few years now. Never had to use them though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Frog Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 +1 for Gems been with them for a while following a chat with six30 who was in the motor trade at the time and as it covers the person rather than the vehicle it works for us and they were able to point us in the direction of discounted European cover for when we went away on the Tigger. Cheer Ian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Westerly Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Check your small print as it's quite possible they sneaked that in without making a noise about it. If its not mentioned pursue them and if it isn't covered then dump them as soon as you can as they're not fit for purpose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith1200rs Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Check who the company is authorised by. Possibly Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority. Then complain to the company. If/when you get nowhere, complain to the relevant authority. Even if their terms state they don't fix punctures if you don't have a spare wheel, the relevant authority can decide that is unreasonable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 You need to check the small print that you agreed to because as sure as eggs are eggs you also agreed that you read and understood the contract and part of that will say they can change what they like... No eggs were harmed during this statement...... We have the AA we used them for this a few weeks back, no spare, useless tin of magic that turned out to be not so magic, I plugged it temp to get wife and car off A1, AA turned up and did a better temp job once me and the traffic wombles got it to a safer location. They were fully aware of no spare and guy that turned up was great. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) you car unfortunately at the time of manufacturing didnt factor in the potential problems or the first owner was either to stupid or tight fisted or just removed it them selfs to either the next car (which really works) or sold on fleecbay. But realistically thats no difference....you could have been a OAP/disabled etc that couldnt do it anyway even if there was a kit of not...but even if the kit fails to do it as the tyre/wheel is too damaged its still the same outcome. realistically the service they provide is vehicle broken down help / recovery...they failed to do both for a premium you pay for. Now when you got the policy many moons ago it may have it in as in the typr of package- recovery, road side assistance and home side assistance, then there are additional or excluded benefits. now over the years on renewal they generally smallen the benefits, add more exceptions and up the price unknowingly as possible. Im waiting for the electric car/van exclusions to take into effect as they have even more problems of what or how you recover these vehicles, then add a massive bill to that policy to save the planet... firstly you really need to see the upto date policy terms and conditions you agreed to. then send a letter officially to the complaint dept. could try to take them to courts over the matter, if you find they somehow failed to provide you with the service then just out of principle you could but medium to low chances you get back the money die to small print details and even less likely previous payments. Edited March 18 by RideWithStyles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 3 hours ago, RideWithStyles said: you car unfortunately at the time of manufacturing didnt factor in the potential problems or the first owner was either to stupid or tight fisted or just removed it them selfs to either the next car (which really works) or sold on fleecbay. But realistically thats no difference....you could have been a OAP/disabled etc that couldnt do it anyway even if there was a kit of not...but even if the kit fails to do it as the tyre/wheel is too damaged its still the same outcome. realistically the service they provide is vehicle broken down help / recovery...they failed to do both for a premium you pay for. Now when you got the policy many moons ago it may have it in as in the typr of package- recovery, road side assistance and home side assistance, then there are additional or excluded benefits. now over the years on renewal they generally smallen the benefits, add more exceptions and up the price unknowingly as possible. Im waiting for the electric car/van exclusions to take into effect as they have even more problems of what or how you recover these vehicles, then add a massive bill to that policy to save the planet... firstly you really need to see the upto date policy terms and conditions you agreed to. then send a letter officially to the complaint dept. could try to take them to courts over the matter, if you find they somehow failed to provide you with the service then just out of principle you could but medium to low chances you get back the money die to small print details and even less likely previous payments. A fair few already have limits on vans, length height weight etc, I had a lwb high top that was over all of those the AA still arranged for a big recovery vehicle from a third party, normal guy turned, laughed and said that's not going to fit. I've just realised I'm sounding like a frontman for them I'm not, but tbh they've never let us down, we do change to who is cheapest and will cover everything, just been lucky every time it's been needed it's been with them, over the years there have been many call outs, furthest was from Middle Of nowhere top of a moor way past Perth, relay all the way back, engine internals decided to leave van unannounced. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 some bank accounts have roadside assistance already included that some dont know about. in the past i've experienced the good and the bad from AA, rac, greenflag and independents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davidtav Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 Just in response to a few points. The car is a Mini Cooper convertible. There was never a spare wheel. There is no location to carry a spare wheel. I haven’t actually tried it but I don’t think a wheel would fit in the boot. It is a very small boot with the hood. I would have to carry a spare wheel on the back seat I think. I’m considering that for trips up to Scotland. The recovery agent was adamant that they couldn’t help. I think though that she was mistaken or maybe they had changed the policy. The faq section on their website details how they would assist in this situation. I have printed this out and included it with my complaint. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Westerly Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 My wife's brand new car (Lexus) has no spare although there's a recess under the floor of the boot which could probably take a space server "pram" wheel type. She had a slow puncture from a nail which was repairable but KwikFit sell these at a reasonable price. She's getting one as being limited to 50 mph is better than not being able to go at all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonio Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 4 hours ago, Davidtav said: Just in response to a few points. The car is a Mini Cooper convertible. There was never a spare wheel. There is no location to carry a spare wheel. I haven’t actually tried it but I don’t think a wheel would fit in the boot. The old Mini Cooper had space enough for spare wheel. So they remade the car twice as big and forgot to make room for a spare? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 59 minutes ago, bonio said: The old Mini Cooper had space enough for spare wheel. So they remade the car twice as big and forgot to make room for a spare? That's easy when the original mini wheels were re purposed from a shopping trolley 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWithStyles Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 i had the e36 325- bloody good car of a large family saloon which had a full sized wheel as a spare as std, the car had 15inches which back then were large beasts. a few years down the line mild hatches have 17s as std pretty much as big external but far less space everywhere internally. now budget super minis come on poverty spec 17s and side walls that resemble liquorice strips and few with little option of shite foam let alone a space saver, are even bigger than the hatches of last year's and even worse again inside....99% of the roads haven't got bigger and worse? a reverse progress trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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