The Wellgetaroundtuit Ombudsman

 Dear Sarah Jones

I took my Vauxhall Corsa in to W J King for a service.

They discovered oil and coolant mixing due to a driving chain gasket failure.

The car has a 100,000 mile warranty which covers all engine parts.

Vauxhall refused to pay out citing that the gasket is not covered by a warranty

but how can a gasket not be covered by a warranty - it is not a moving part.

By definition they are stationary parts of the engine.

Anyway, I have to pay the bill £1500 or they can put a lien on the car.

So I thought I would take them to court later.

However, apparently we're supposed to try alternative dispute resolution (ADR) first.

So I put in a complaint with the Motor Ombudsman.

However, the Motor Ombudsman say it will be 6 months before they can START

to look at the case because they are understaffed.

It will then take them 3 months to process the claim.

I asked them if they had any timelines or queuing system - they said NO

and they could make no prediction at all re timelines.

So I asked them if it would take them over a year.

They said they have cases running over a year.

But surely the whole point of an Ombudsman is it should be faster than going to court?

I could take them to small claims and it might be done and dusted in that time.

However, I'm not allowed to take them to court and remain in ADR with them.

If I give up on ADR then the clock for small claims has to start from 0.

So every day I don't go to court I'm pushing the final payout date back.

I have a suspicion that the real purpose of the Motor Ombudsman is

to delay court cases being brought against the Motor Manufactureres who fund them

rather than to actually resolve complaints.

How long do you think it is reasonable to expect to engage with ADR before giving up on it?

Do I really have to wait 6 months? I don't mind losing a case but I don't want to have this

dragging on for up to 2 years while the Motor Ombudsman deliberately drag their feet?

They say they don't have enough staff - why should that become my problem?

Do you know the law around the requirement to use ADR?

If it gets to 6 months and they've done nothing I'm going to have to bail on the process

so I'm letting you know so that if it goes to court I can produce evidence that I tried ADR.

Further Questions.

This is not a government body - it seems to be funded by the motor industry - so it's not

subject to FOI.... so I can't even put in an FOI request to find out what their rate

of case resolution and clear up is?

Who monitors them?  

I found an Ombudsman Association that seems to regulate them in theroy

Are they a government organisation?

What is the legislation that these Ombudsmen have to abide by?

Are there minimum service requirements they have to adhere to?

If not what's the point in them?

Thank you

Anthony Miller