Internal electrical fault on compressor A3 Tdi 2.0 2009 Insurer refuses to pay

[cambo7]

Above vehicle is cherished by my daughter and is immaculate S/H fully up to date and so on, she has run it for 3 yrs now. Have to say it is a very enjoyable car. Unfortunately it recently suffered extensive front end damage due to heavy deer strike. Insurer agreed to repair but there was 3 weeks waiting list. As the insurer pronounced car driveable [despite visible extensive damage and the aircon having stopped working due to loss of all refrigerant in accident and so on] the car had to be driven in that state. Later mu daughter was contacted by insurer informing her that repair complete, but aircon not working as aircon compressor needed replacing and this not covered in policy. Fault code apparently showed elecrical fault in an internal pressure regulating switch in compressor itself? Unfortunately 2009 is apparently too early for dated fault codes. So they are now saying the aircon was not working before the accident. The examiner said the compressor could not have been damaged by the deer strike. However the aircon certainly was working up until the accident, the aircon unit was serviced last year, fortunately the car was seen by the garage a short time before the accident and they will attest that the aircon was working ok at that point anyway.
The aircon has never given problems on that car and my daughter certainly would have complained if it had stopped working. Have to admit from the insurance point of view the compressor is set further back from where the damage occurred and it is difficult to see why the accident would cause it to fail. Unless sudden loss of refrigerant would cause failure? The insurer says that due to the vehicle age the compressor was probably going to fail anyway..!! Any clues as to why this compressor decided to fail at the time of the accident would be very gratefully received.

[Rob69]

I reckon you're getting fobbed off here, the fault code will show a time / date stamp if it's scanned with a decent package such as VCDS, a basic scanner might just give the code only . Have they actually regassed the aircon or is it just a body shop that has done the repairs, bolted on a new condenser and want the car out the door.

[cambo7]

The body shop did exactly what you said i.e. regassed and bolted on new condensor. When aircon did not work we were told that the car was taken to Audi for fault codes. When we queried that there was no time and date mentioned on the fault codes Audi told the body shop repairer that the vehicle was too old for time and date to be recorded on fault codes.

[a8 tech]

The compressor may fail due to loss of lubricant pag oil from the condenser damage which has also the receiver dryer internally fitted so choose the word consequential damage due gas/oil loss and running the vehicle for a period of time with no gas and exposed to the elements should be sufficient evidence to claim the compressor and in addition a flushing of the a/c system. No doubt the diagnostic code refers to n280 which depending on the manufacturer can be replaced without replacing the complete unit, think sachs is a full unit, but still the argument is the body shop told you to continue to run the vehicle with the a/c system exposed to the elements causing corrosion and total loss of pag oil in the circuit. The correct repair from here on in is new compressor and once again the condenser with the receiver dryer due to contaminates or moisture from being exposed for so long. You would win the case if you put this argument or employ a third party to act on your behalf.

[cambo7]

Many thanks A8, that was very helpful, and fully concurring with what you said -the issue of running the vehicle with no refrigerant was also raised by an independent assessor [whose report was requested by the insurer]. In the assessor's report he says "I spoke to JG at Audi and he confirmed a diagnosis had been carried out and also confirmed that the vehicle was too old for date stamp for when the part failed. He was of the opinion that if the pump had been running without any fluids for the 2 weeks between the accident date and the repairs being carried out this would not contribute to the failure of the pump. In conclusion my investigation has shown an electrical fault within the pump and this is not covered under your policy conditions."
I was shown the electrical component in question which was sealed black plastic item bonded to the compressor body. The repairer said that the electrical component could not be replaced separately as it was manufactured as part of the compressor. You can see the insurer's point of view faced with a statement like that from Audi..!!