WENDY KNOWLER | If you don’t want a flood of expenses, check your car insurance

Car recalls are exceedingly common; all manufacturers issue them from time to time, but most don’t make headlines in the way that the Ford Kuga SUV recall did some years back.

Renault issued a global recall on its Triber model six months ago, to deal with a possible fault with the latch on the bonnet.

It’s a potentially fatal problem, as a bonnet coming loose and flying up can suddenly block a motorist’s view of the road. Not ideal. In SA, Renault SA, part of Motus Vehicle Distribution (MVD), identified 6,249 affected Tribers sold in this country, and set about contacting the owners.

So far the bonnet latches on seven of those cars have failed, fortunately with “no serious injuries” according to MVD.

Timothy of Durban, who bought his almost-new Triber from a Hillcrest dealership a year ago, got a call about the recall from Renault SA on Friday, April 8 and drove his car to a Renault dealership in Durban’s South Coast Road the following Monday to have the bonnet latch replaced.

Unfortunately, his timing couldn’t have been worse. That night the ferocious storm hit KwaZulu-Natal and the dealership housing his prized car was badly affected.

This an opportune moment to create awareness regarding the importance of insurance and ensuring customers have sufficient knowledge during the insurance purchase decision-making process.

—  Motus Vehicle Distribution (MVD)

Three days later, when Tim made his way to the dealership, having battled to get any information over the phone, he discovered that the faulty bonnet latch was the least of the car’s problems. In short, the dealer principal called it a write-off, and an assessor appointed by his insurer agreed.

Tim had been expecting the dealership, or Renault SA, to take responsibility for the damage, but they directed him to his own insurer, given that there was no negligence on their part. Rightly so.

But the terribly timed recall has left Tim in a bind. There’s a shortfall for starters — the insurance payout is about R90,000 less than what he still owes the financing bank. He’s hoping that his shortfall policy will take care of that, but he’s yet to hear.

And because he didn’t opt for the car hire benefit on his policy — a month’s free rental to tide him over while a car claim is being dealt with — alternative transport has been another unexpected expense.

“When I called Renault SA, I spoke to one of the higher-ups who was very heartless in saying that they can’t assist as the car could have been flooded in the street,” Timothy said. “He wasn’t prepared to consider organising me a courtesy car or rental car at all.”

I decided to plead Timothy’s case with MVD on that aspect, given that Timothy’s car was only at that dealership, in that very badly storm damaged area of Durban on that fateful night, because he’d immediately responded to the manufacturer’s plea to get the bonnet latch replaced. It turns out Timothy’s car was among nine others at that dealership that night, all of which suffered water damage to some extent. “We know that this is a stressful time for all affected parties, given the extent of the disaster and the nature of recovery operations,” MVD told me.

“The insurance industry will also be under tremendous strain during the claiming process. This is an opportune moment to create awareness regarding the importance of insurance and ensuring customers have sufficient knowledge during the insurance purchase decision-making process, including the importance of having coverage for replacement or interim vehicle solutions,” MVD said.

In other words — pay a bit extra for the car hire benefit. Then came the news I had been hoping for. “Given the nature of the disaster and (Timothy’s) support of Renault and its products, we will gladly provide him with a courtesy vehicle and once we receive feedback from his insurance, we will look at what options would best to assist the customer going forward.”  

Hooray!

But Timothy wasn’t the only Durbanite to contact me with an “out of the frying pan into the fire” story involving their car and that devastating storm.

Kashnee’s Hyundai Accent was accident damaged on March 23. Her assessor approved her claim and her car was awaiting repair at a panel shop in the Prospection area, south of Durban, on the night of April 11. At first, she was told not to worry because the floodwater only came up to the console, and then she discovered that it actually rose as far as the console, and photos of the muddy interior bear that out.

She doesn’t want the car back, but her insurer, King Price, and the panel shop have told her it may be restored.

When I raised this with King Price, I was told: “If there is any electronic damage, the vehicle will need to be written off. If a repair is deemed possible, the vehicle will be sent to Hyundai post-repair for a full check to ensure our client is not at risk. We also offer a life-time warranty on our repairs in case issues surface down the line.

“The assumption that Kashnee’s vehicle was just being repaired and cleaned as if the flood never happened is not true. The process is to first determine whether the vehicle is repairable post-flood.

“It’s clear that our client is frustrated about receiving different feedback from different people, and we apologise sincerely for this.”

As with any other accident damage, a consumer can’t demand that their car be written off. What they can demand is that the car is fully restored, with no defects or mechanical issues which could affect its performance or lower its value.

Sadly, as I said in a recent column, some of those once-waterlogged cars are going to create a lot of motoring drama for new owners down the line.

At least Kashnee knows exactly what happened to her car and, should it be repaired, she will have the benefit of a lifetime warranty on those repairs. And me firmly in her corner if she’s prejudiced in any way.

CONTACT WENDY: E-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za; Twitter: @wendyknowler; Facebook: wendyknowlerconsumer