A1 Approved Anmeldelser 

This has been the worst company I have ever dealt with, and I do not say that lightly.

Following a major engine failure, I made a claim under my A1 warranty and was met with an absolutely appalling lack of communication. I was repeatedly left without updates, timelines, or clear information about what was happening, despite my vehicle being off the road for weeks.

When responses did come, they were often unhelpful and, at times, rude. I was not treated as a paying customer but as an inconvenience. There was no sense of ownership, accountability, or basic customer care.

More recently, emails are met only with automated responses, with no indication that anyone is actively managing the claim or keeping me informed. I was never proactively updated — I had to chase constantly, which was exhausting and stressful.

This experience has left me with no confidence in how A1 handles serious claims. A warranty is meant to provide reassurance when something goes wrong; instead, this process added significant stress at an already difficult time.

I would strongly advise anyone considering this warranty to think very carefully and to read reviews about real-world claim experiences before committing.

This review is a warning to anyone thinking about taking out an A1 Approved warranty. I had a genuine mechanical failure involving an engine oil cooler, which caused oil and coolant to mix. This is not wear and tear, and the total repair bill came to around £2,275.69. After weeks of back-and-forth, A1 Approved offered me £465.29.

The most important thing people need to understand is that A1 Approved are not regulated by the Financial Ombudsman Service. I contacted the Ombudsman directly and was told that because they are not regulated, there is absolutely nothing they can do. That means if A1 Approved decide to reject your claim, partially pay it, or hide behind exclusions and wording, you have no independent protection, no escalation route, and no safety net.

In my case, they relied heavily on technical exclusions to limit their liability, despite the failure being sudden, mechanical, and the direct cause of extensive labour, flushing, and repair work. The £460 offered didn’t even come close to covering the real cost of putting the car right, and in the end you’re left with a simple choice: accept whatever token amount they decide to offer, or take them to court at your own time, cost, and risk.

This is not peace of mind, it’s a gamble. A warranty is only worth something when you need to claim, and when that moment came, this one fell apart. Personally, I would never take out or recommend a warranty from a company that isn’t Ombudsman-regulated. Learn from my experience and think very carefully before handing over your money.

Update… your statement is misleading.

The total cost of the repair was £2,275.69. Your authorised contribution was £465.29.

Covering a capped labour allowance and a single component does not equate to “covering the repair”, nor does it reflect how the policy is presented to customers at the point of sale. The reality is that I was left funding £1,810.40 myself for a failure the policy was taken out to protect against.

My review accurately reflects my experience of the policy: limited contribution, restrictive labour caps, widespread exclusions, and significant out-of-pocket costs. Nothing in your response changes that position.

This warranty is a waste of money. I was unable to find a SINGLE garage in Scotland who would carry out work on their terms . Even the garage suggested by A1 as an affiliated partner said they didn’t know why A1 would say this - as they would not work under their terms.

“ Good morning

We can advise that the warranty placed on your vehicle was an Autochoice warranty, administered on their behalf (as outlined within your warranty document), meaning any money paid to Autochoice for the cover was retained by them, A1 Approved were purely an administrator for this cover and hold no funds. A1 Approved are sorry to advise that as Autochoice have ceased trading, we are unable to administer or settle any claims for the warranty you purchased.”

So what did I pay for and if can’t claim warranty I should be able to get a refund

Quick to answer calls, but will get out of paying claims as soon as possible.

I would recommend not to buy A1approved warranty. I bought a decent vehicle which had one month Gold warranty & I bought extended warranty when it ran out. The gearbox failed significantly. I had it all replaced and repaired at the garage the warranty was from. Unfortunately I failed to communicate and ask for approval. this was not intentional, not with bad faith, I may have misconstrued what was said to me, but I didn't do it. So when the work was completed and I tried to claim it was declined. The staff are polite on the phone. However I have paid for nothing. A simple & unintentional mistake has cost me a lot of money. If I'd asked, the vehicle would have been repaired the same way at the same cost. I would recommend not to use A1approved. There is no leeway.

Communication appalling. Waited 10 days for response only to be told claim process not followed. Garage unable to contact to discuss repairs then declined as no contact made.

Absolutely terrible, drag their heels when approving work, then hide behind fault codes being the same even though the issue was completely different (exhaust sensor vs exhaust actuator).

Lost a day's work while waiting for approval, only to get a pittance of it covered as it was a similar fault code. Right at the time I was receiving renewal emails from them, as you can guess that was a solid no!

Edit. And yet the fault was completely different albeit part of the same system, hide behind whatever you like, either way absolutely terrible and would not recommend to my worst enemy!

Amazing service. Easy to talk to on the calls and emails. Fast and efficient.

I felt they went out of the way to help me (which is rare with insurance companies). Really impressed.

Had waterpump issues, couldnt find a garage that would deal with a1 approved, when i did find one they said garage was asking for too much, i even offered to pay some. After 60 days when id found a garage they said they wont cover it even though my car was still under warranty. Nobody warned me that i had to get issue sorted within 60 days.

If I could give less than 1 star I would!
This company is unregulated therefore if you have a dispute with them the Ombudsman can not get involved.
They hide behind wear and tear as an excuse not to pay out and base their findings on assumptions rather than fact.
Do not go near them, if taking out an extended warranty make sure the company is regulated not like A1 Approved (who approved them.....?)

Update
In response to your reply, there is no dispute that two independent court approved reports were received.
Also, your warranty document fails to mention that by you asking for these reports to be conducted that these are then classed as a warranty claim!
My issue is how you are hiding behind "wear & tear" as the main cause without any real evidence to back this and the independent inspectors make assumptions in their reports rather than their findings being based on hard facts.....

They were very helpful over the phone helped me threw every step of the way

Avoid A1 Warranty at all costs. Their policy wording looks great until you actually need to make a claim.

I needed a new radiator for my Jaguar due to a severe coolant leak. My garage submitted the claim, and A1 refused to allow any markup on the part — something I have never seen in the motor industry. After days of back-and-forth, they agreed to supply the part themselves and even showed me a screenshot of the item supposedly being ordered from Jaguar Land Rover.

When it arrived, it had actually been sourced from eBay, not Jaguar. It also arrived four days late, leaving me without a car for over a week.

When I questioned why they had sourced a questionable part instead of the official one they claimed to be purchasing, communication from A1 completely stopped. They also failed to liaise with my garage at any stage. When the repair was finished, the garage had received no confirmation of what A1 would pay, so I was forced to pay the full £500 myself just to get my car back.

Since then, A1 have ignored every email. No explanation. No reimbursement. No accountability.

This company is unprofessional, misleading, and completely unreliable. I would strongly advise anyone considering their warranty to look elsewhere.

By far the worst company I've ever had to deal with in my entire life. We feel robbed! After having fully paid for a whole year for warranty and breakdown, we reached out to them for help when our car broke down on the M25. We were stranded for nearly 4 hours with a minor with us, waiting for them to organise a tow truck. Even National Highways kept an eye on us from the motorway cameras, wondering why our tow was taking so long when traffic was not heavy. We were later told by the tow company our case was not listed as a priority. When it came to the engine repairs, which was a faulty turbo charger, they rejected the entire claim without any valid explanation. The staff are insensitive, inconsiderate and unprofessional. The irony is that we did not choose them - they came as part of the deal with our car leasing company. I wish I had seen their low rating beforehand so that I could've contested it at the start. We are now without a vehicle as the repairs are high and it will take a while before we can cover the cost ourselves. We have had to hire a vehicle in the meantime at our expense. We will definitely be taking this matter further to the Ombudsman and legal channels to recover all our costs.

I bought an Audi Q4 from Hippo Motor Group and there were a few things wrong so asked for repairs. They wanted cheap quotes from garages and said they don't deal with main dealership. Unfortunately most technical problems have to go to dealer for diagnostic test. Was told they would pay £50 plus vat but a diagnostic test costs £150 i have two different diagnostic tests booked in as I have no other options. I am glad I am within my 3 month free warranty there is no way I would pay for additional cover. Stay away especially with newer and electric cars that have to go back to main dealer

I was told that all I had to pay to any repair on my car was £25, I had the car for a week and the speakers in the front doors blew, for one the car should be repaired from where I bought it from, due to it being in my possession a week, they are over 350 miles away so they told me to use the warranty, the estimate came to £350, and they said they could pay the garage £71, and because I got shitty on the phone because I have been ripped of they wont talk to me, so i am cancelling the direct debit, I have asked to cancel the warranty due to being miss sold, but they said no coz its been over 28 days, so what sort of a warranty company stops all communication with the customers, I am in my right to cancel due to not being able to contact them

Lovely communication! Replied within a few hours, clear and informative. Happy with the service

Recently my 2020 Range Rover Velar D300 suffered a catastrophic and sudden failure of the turbo resulting in the car becoming undriveable. However, having spent £2500 on a warranty at the time of purchasing from Phantom Motors, whilst I might be somewhat inconvenienced, at least the car would be repaired with the minimum of fuss.
How wrong i was.
The car has covered just over 50k and been serviced in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations, yet upon receiving the quote for the repair from my garage, decided to tell me that this was NOT covered as it was due to wear and tear. Despite pushing back and insisting that it cannot be seen as normal for such failure at this mileage, also pointing out to them that there are numerous forums and motoring websites all containing reports of premature turbo failure on JLR cars they have steadfastly refused to approve the repairs. They offered to send an "independent vehicle examiner" to inspect the car who's verdict would be binding. Having taken legal advice based on A1 approvals conditions of the inspection I declined this. A1 Approved are in breach of contract as their own website goes to great lengths to promote their warranty, stating how you can relax with total piece of mind knowing that you are covered should your vehicle break down. My car is now being repaired at my own expense ( approximately £4.5k) but legal action to recover this from these crooks will commence immediately. AVOID A1 approved as they will try to wriggle out of paying out, just like many other contributors on here have attested to.

New my problem and had it fixed

Had a water pump leak, which essentially stopped me using my car.

After getting the problem diagnosed and providing an official quote to A1 as per their docs, A1 then insisted on getting video footage of the problem (mechanic had to re-disassemble things to get the footage) and then insisted on speaking to the garage in person (busy mechanics famously love wasting time on the phone to insurance companies).

After providing all the info they wanted, A1 then took almost 2 weeks to give a verdict, leaving me without a usable car for all this time.

Eventually they agreed a payout, but it was arbitrarily capped way lower than the repair bill, and they wouldn't give me a reason why. Funnily enough, it was capped within £10 of what I paid for the warranty in the first place.

2 weeks of ongoing hassle only for them to refuse to pay out any more than the original cost of the warranty. Absolute waste of my time. Avoid.

EDIT after A1 response: the almost 2 week delay was after all the info had been provided. The caps in the documentation were magnitudes higher than I was provided.