Gaining an understanding of what a vehicle service contract covers and how a coverage claim is made will greatly benefit your peace of mind should a future repair be needed on your vehicle. My desire is to provide you some information that will give you a general understanding of how a vehicle service contract claim is administered. I'll start with a brief overview of the two categories of vehicle protection plans. They are the exclusionary type and the stated component type.
An exclusionary type plan is often referred to as a bumper to bumper plan. Although, it technically is not a bumper to bumper plan (the bumpers are not covered), it is the most comprehensive level of coverage available, the one that comes the closest to how a factory warranty protected the vehicle.
The other category is called a stated component type of coverage and it will provide protection for a specified list of components. The way to understand what is covered is to look at the covered parts list, if it's listed there, then it's covered, if not, then it's not covered. The Ford Protect ESP stated component plans are named Extracare (it covers 113 items), Basecare (it covers 84 items), and Powertraincare (it covers 29 items).
When you have a service repair concern with your Ford vehicle and there is a Ford Protect coverage on it, you are instructed to bring it to a Ford dealer. The Ford Service Department personnel is able to find and verify your Ford Protect ESP coverage in the Ford OASIS database by the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
At the time of repair order write up, when you explain the concern or concerns you are experiencing with your vehicle to the Service Advisor, he or she will normally request your authorization to pay for diagnostic charges for the technician to check your vehicle. This is standard procedure and it is spoken of in the vehicle service contract, as you must authorize permission to inspection and diagnose the vehicle. Until it can be established what caused the concern, a Service Advisor is not able to tell you whether or not the repair will be covered by your plan.
Once the cause of the concern has been identified (the causal part), if it is a component covered by your plan, and the failure was due to a defect in materials or workmanship , then a claim can be made by the Ford dealership directly to Ford for the parts, labor and diagnostic charges. You will be responsible to pay the deductible amount of your plan for the visit.
However, if the cause of the concern is not a component covered by your plan or the failure is not due to a defect in materials or workmanship, then you are responsible to pay any authorized diagnostic charges and for the repair itself, if you choose to have the repair done.
I hope you found this brief overview helpful in understanding the repair process when it comes to administering a vehicle service contract claim.
If you are considering the purchase of a genuine Ford Protect ESP plan at this time we would be glad to assist you in finding the right coverage for your needs and we are always available to assist our customers with any future questions they may have about their coverage throughout the policy period.
