[Ian W XC60]

Sorry Mike, should have replied sooner but life got in the way.

Perhaps I haven't explained what I meant clearly. Volvo are upfront in excluding normal (their wording) wear and tear. MotorEasy make a virtue of covering wear & tear from day 1 if you have their health check or are joining from another warranty but then include a get out clause* that appears to undermine that claim. Further, the clause isn't specific to wear and tear and several unfavourable reviews on Trustpilot are because it's been used for non-W&T breakdowns, one when the guy had the health check and had a serious breakdown 2 months and 1000+ miles later.

I'm a tight as a ducks @rse, northerner, who probably changes his utilities/broadband/insurers more often than his socks to save a few quid a year but I'm getting the same gas, line speed etc and won't move insurers if the cover's inferior just to save money. So I take a different view, which, of course I'm entitled to - as are you.

If I think, as with warranties, they're going to be @rsey about claims I look for the one with the least exclusions and fewest get out clauses (they all have some!). In my opinion, yours may be different, Volvo's warranty wins that by a country mile. Unfortunately, it also wins being the most expensive by a similar distance!

The other thing I look for is where I can go if I have a dispute and the company won't budge. Volvo is an insured scheme so I can complain to the FOS and, though I've no personal experience, I've done enough research on this and other matters to believe they are robustly on the side of consumers (see earlier post). The Motor Ombudsman is a relative newcomer, it doesn't AFAIK publish decisions, so it's difficult to know if it will be robust or a bit wishy washy as some Ombudspeople are known to be. I'm pretty confident that if I have a reasonable case the FOS won't side with the insurer on a wording technicality and I'm also confident the insurers know that too. As it costs them c£400 a pop (+a black mark with their regulator) they're more likely to settle than go to the Ombudsman on a possible loser IMO.

So despite being significantly more expensive I renewed with Volvo. I don't buy home insurance in the hope or expectation my house will burn down so like you I hope I don't need it. Sod's law says, after 4yrs under warranty if I don't buy I'll have a major issue. Conversely, if I do there'll be no problems, Warranty Direct's Reliability index suggests 4.5yrs is the average age when XC60's suffer a breakdown under their policies and that's near enough where I am to make me think I ought to.

As they say, yer pays yer money and takes yer chance!

* Volvo have a similar clause using the wording “independent engineer” which is another reason to go with them – as it's a renewal rather than a new plan I seriously doubt the FOS would side with them as it's been through 2 services and MOT's since it was covered by anyone else.