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Smart Shopper smart choice warranty HELP !
125 messages, Last post on Mar 10, 2008 at 9:36 AM
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i purchased a smart choice warranty in 09/01 car broke down 05/29/03got repaired also recieved a claim number for the work done.i paid for work out of pocket now am waiting for warranty company to pay me back. i called about my claim and they are not paying claims,because of nwig anybody out there can explain this to me? or email me kstum320 yellowbananas.com i live in pa.
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I have the same thing --- you are basically out of luck. NWIG (the insurer and claims processor is being liquidated). They say you can pay for it yourself and keep the receipts and MAYBE you will get reimbursed. Dont hold your breath! Check out the website: http://www.sceadmin.com I have copied the info below: SC&E LAUNCHED THIS WEBSITE TO KEEP SMART CHOICE CUSTOMERS, AUTOMOTIVE DEALERSHIPS AND AGENTS FULLY INFORMED. SC&E Administrative Services, Inc. (“SC&E”) launched this website as part of its continuing efforts to keep customers that purchased Smart Choice Vehicle Service Contracts, and the automotive dealerships and agents that sold the Smart Choice program fully informed of significant events affecting the Smart Choice program. Unfortunately, SC&E is unable to answer the literally hundreds of phone calls that come in daily given its limited number of employees, and therefore, has set up this website to keep you informed of the situation as it develops. We apologize that we cannot take every call personally and answer your questions and concerns. SC&E understands the frustration felt by both customers and automotive dealerships alike. We are also very frustrated with the situation and we are dedicated to ensure that Smart Choice customers’ rights are protected. SC&E has been in the business of marketing vehicle service contracts for many years and has been at the forefront of customer satisfaction in the automotive service industry. We will continue to work hard on your behalf and keep you informed of our efforts. QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SMART CHOICE SERVICE CONTRACT Although we cannot answer every possible customer question, we have listed below a number of questions and answers about your Smart Choice Vehicle Service Contract. Who is SC&E Administrative Services? SC&E Administrative Services is an automotive service contract marketing company. Among other programs, SC&E marketed the Smart Choice program to automotive dealerships and others, who in turn, marketed and sold the Smart Choice program to consumers like you. SC&E has been in the business of marketing automotive service contracts for more than fifteen years and until National Warranty’s financial collapse, SC&E has always had an excellent customer service satisfaction record. Is SC&E Administrative Services still selling the Smart Choice program? No. Unfortunately, because of National Warranty’s Liquidation and the damage that the Liquidation has had on SC&E’s financial condition and reputation, SC&E is no longer marketing the Smart Choice program. Nevertheless, we are staying in business to help Smart Choice customers and automotive dealerships. Who is National Warranty Insurance Group? National Warranty Insurance Group (“National Warranty”) is an insurance company headquartered in Lincoln Nebraska that administered and paid claims in connection with the Smart Choice program and other automotive service contract programs. National Warranty is listed on your Vehicle Service Contract. National Warranty received millions and millions of dollars to administer and pay claims of Smart Choice customers. Until just recently, the A.M. Best Company, the premier insurance rating agency in the United States, gave National Warranty an “A-” Financial Strength Rating, signifying that National Warranty was in “Excellent” financial health. Why has National Warranty stopped administering and paying claims? Earlier this year, National Warranty filed for “Liquidation.” Insurance companies are unable to file for bankruptcy, and instead, are required to file for Liquidation. National Warranty is in Liquidation proceedings because it is unable to continue paying claims of vehicle service contract holders. After going into Liquidation proceedings, National Warranty stopped paying claims relating to the Smart Choice program and other similar programs. Will National Warranty pay claims in the future? Two individuals at KPMG, a well-respected accounting firm, were appointed as the “Liquidators” for National Warranty. KPMG is in the process of determining National Warranty’s financial condition and what will be the most reasonable and fair process of paying claims in the future. Once those questions have been answered, the Liquidators will set up a procedure for Smart Choice customers to file repair claims. At this time, it is unclear what percentage of claims will be paid. SC&E will work with the Liquidators to protect your interests. We will keep you fully informed of the ongoing Liquidation process and will post on this website the claim filing procedure once it has been set up. What is SC&E doing to help Smart Choice Customers? SC&E is working diligently to ensure that Smart Choice customers’ rights are fully protected. Recently, SC&E, along with automotive dealerships and agents that sold the Smart Choice program, successfully argued in the Nebraska Federal Court for the release of millions of dollars to automotive dealerships and agents for the payment of Smart Choice customers’ claims. Unfortunately, not all automotive dealerships received funds to pay claims, and therefore, you will need to contact the dealership or company that sold you the Smart Choice service contract to determine if it has received funds to pay customer claims. SC&E will continue in its efforts to help you. If I own a Smart Choice service contract and my vehicle needs repairs, what should I do? First, contact the automotive dealership or company that sold you the Smart Choice service contract to determine if it has either received funds to make repairs and pay claims or whether it has set up an independent program to make repairs for those customers that purchased their Smart Choice service contracts through that dealership. Many automotive dealerships have received funds and continue to make repairs for Smart Choice customers. Second, keep copies of your repair bills so that once a procedure for claims filing has been set up you will be able to submit your claim. Third, check this website periodically for new information relating to National Warranty’s Liquidation proceedings and the claims filing procedure. How will I know when and where to submit a claim to National Warranty? The Liquidators will likely create a claim filing procedure for Smart Choice customers who need to file claims. Once the claim filing procedure has been set up, SC&E will post the process and procedure on this website and assist in the process. |
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i have the warranty financed in my car loan will i be able to not pay the 1500.00 on my loan ?
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hi kstum320. Unfortunately, you will not be able to ignore the $1,500 that you added to your auto loan for this extended warranty. This money has already been paid to the warranty company by your bank and your bank is going to want all of its money back regardless of whether your extended warranty company is holding up its end of the bargain. Car_man Host Smart Shoppers / FWI Message Boards |
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| Apparently, SC&E Administrative Services (who accounted for 40% of NWIG's business) is NOT going out of business, as was once believed. I think the SC&E site was created as a result of NWIG stating that VSC holders should contact their dealers or the company that sold the contract to the dealership with questions. It was a dispute with SC&E that caused NWIG to go into liquidation in the first place, from what I've read. My contract was sold to me by my dealer and it says that "some of the dealers obligations may be assigned to SC&E Administrative Services". I have been following this fiasco from the very beginning and this is the first public action/statement I have seen by SC&E. I think things are getting very interesting. In any case, don't let your dealer off the hook! The language in my contract is very ambiguous and I recommend contacting your state's attorney general if you've been told by your dealer that they won't honor the contract. Keep the pressure on the dealers! *My contract also states that "the contract is between me and the selling dealer."* There are a lot of good, in-depth articles about the NWIG/SC&E situation in the Lincolstar Journal at http://www.journalstar.com. Just type in "NWIG" in the search box at the top of the Lincolnstar homepage and it will bring up all the articles. Thanks to Edmonds.com for hosting these discussions. I think people who bought these contracts really need to educate themselves about the situation and fight back, and not just chalk this up to experience. | |
| The web site was set up because they are no longer answering the phones. When you call you get an answering system that directs you to the web site. Keeping pressure on the dealers is the only recourse at this point but its going to come down to which dealers had reserve funds and how far those funds go. Chances are the only dealers out there who have been covering claims are the ones who had reserve funds and hope to recoup that money when the funds are released. I'm sure SC&E will shut down, their reputation is shot, who's going to do business with them? Chances are Deltagroup (the parent company) will also go out of business eventually as well. | |
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| It's my understanding that the reserve funds are in the name of SC&E, and that individual local dealerships who sold the SC&E Smartchoice contracts don't have individual reserve funds in their name. Is this not the case? In any case, I would encourage people to read their contracts since, they might contain language like mine, which says "the contract is between me and the selling dealer" and "SOME of the dealers obligations may be assigned to SC&E Administrative Services," which means the dealer IS liable, at least to some extent. I was glad to see the latest release by NWIG which stated that VSC holders should contact the issuers of the contracts, and the NWIG only insured the issuers. It's forcing the issuers/sellers to take some responsibility rather than just trying to escape reponsibility by pointing their finger at NWIG. I bought a contract from my dealership, not NWIG. The liabilities of my contract are with SC&E Administrative Services, not NWIG. NWIG just insured the contracts. If SC&E decided to give the money to NWIG, which was domiciled in the Caymen Islands, then that was their poor judgment and they need to take responsibility for that. I feel as though the contract was misrepresented to me anyways since I was never told that SC&E was "selling off" the contracts to some company in the Cayman Islands, which is what their (SC&E and NWIG) whole arrangement seems to amount to anyway. | |
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| Could it be that since they are just a "part" of DeltaGroup, that they cannot take this easy way out? Does anyone know more about SC&E's relationship to DeltaGroup, and the legalities of the obligations between these two entities? | |
| According to the article in the Lincoln Jounal Star on Sept. 7, NWIG requested Prudential to freeze the accounts. Why would Prudential agree to that unless NWIG's name was also connected to those accounts? The article also goes on to say that some dealers didn't qualify for segregated accounts, which leads me to think that some did have segregated accounts to cover their own contracts. However, from a business standpoint, it wouldn't make sense for the administrator to give complete access of those funds to the dealer. I would think the accounts were set up with trustees to oversee the accounts. As to the relationship between DeltaGroup and SC&E there was an article in the Dallas Business Journal in August 2002 that says "DeltaGroup is made up of four companies: PG Marketing, American Prime Asset, SC&E Administrative Services and Portfolio Administrative Services. Finally, the article in the Lincoln Journal Star on August 21 states DeltaGroup is a marketing organization owned by Yamagata Enterprises. | |
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