When Warranty Gold originally filed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, management reportedly intended to move the business forward as an operating entity, and at the same time create a mechanism to pay off the customers who held Warranty Gold VSCs. Through a series of events, management eventually elected to discontinue such operations.

Since late 2003, Warranty Gold has been in a liquidation mode. These efforts are now being directed by the Plan Trustee of the Warranty Gold Liquidation Trust.

No.  Warranty Gold ceased all business operations prior to December 31, 2004.  Any payment on valid claims of any kind will be made pursuant to the terms of the Liquidation Trust Agreement.  

Please see the current status update at the top of the home page.

A major purpose of the Liquidation Trust is to pursue various causes of action of the bankruptcy estate and distribute all proceeds of any recoveries, along with all other Trust assets, to beneficiaries of the Trust in accordance with the Plan.

Trust Beneficiaries are defined as "all holders of Claims that are Allowed Claims in the Debtor's Chapter 11 Case or otherwise under the Plan including, without limitation, all WGVSC Holders, Non-VSC Claimants and holders of any other general unsecured or higher priority claims that are Allowed Claims, as the same shall appear in the records of the Liquidating Trustee from time to time; provided, however, that upon the payment in full of the holder of any such Allowed Claim in accordance with the Plan, such holder shall cease to be a Beneficiary of the Trust."

Please see the most current listing of claims shown at the top of the home page.

The last date to file general unsecured claims against Warranty Gold was May 13, 2005. If you are a Warranty Gold VSC holder, the Plan and the Class Settlement provide that: (a) the timely filing of an individual proof of claim in the Warranty Gold bankruptcy case was required in order to assert a Covered Repair Claim (i.e., seeking reimbursement or payment for a covered repair for any amounts claimed in excess of those, if any, reflected in the records of Warranty Gold), but (b) no individual proof of claim had to be filed in order to assert only a Refund Claim (i.e., a claim, based upon the time remaining for each individual VSC for a pro-rata refund of contract premiums).

A Repair Claim is one seeking reimbursement for amounts paid by the VSC holder for a covered repair that should have been - but was not - paid by Warranty Gold.  This is a different claim than a Refund Claim for a pro-rata return of premium based upon the amount of time remaining on a contract.   

If you have a Repair Claim AND you have never received ANY notice regarding Warranty Gold's bankruptcy case, please contact the attorney for the class of VSC holders, Barbara Barron, at bbarron@bnpclaw.com.

If you have a Refund Claim, you do not need to take any action as you are automatically a member of the class and eligible for a distribution on your claim, subject to other provisions, terms and conditions of the Class Settlement Agreement and Warranty Gold's confirmed Plan of Liquidation.

The class is defined as "All persons or entities that purchased vehicle service contracts from Warranty Gold (or its predecessor), which were administered by National Warranty Insurance Risk Retention Group and had not expired as of June 9, 2003. The class also includes persons whose contracts had expired on or before that date, but who have covered repair claims that remain unpaid."

With +/- 64,000 active vehicle service contract ("VSC") holders at the time of the NWIG collapse, it is not feasible or beneficial to the Trust for the Plan Trustee to personally speak to, or correspond with, individual VSC holders.  The Liquidating Trustee has engaged in conference calls with the Trust Advisory Board in order to provide additional information and receive feedback from the class of VSC holders.  Finally, this website is continually updated in order to provide uniform and timely information to all VCS holders.

 The website will allow you to:

 (1)                Automatically provide a change of address to my office so that if/when I am able to make a distribution on allowed VSC holder claims, the payments will be sent to the correct address.

 (2)                Communicate directly with the Plan Trustee through the dialogue box found at the bottom of the home page.  The Plan Trustee reads every submission and respond as practical.  If he sees a pattern of similar questions or comments, he will supplement the FAQ section to answer/explain the same.

 (3)                Review the status of current efforts focused on achieving proceeds sufficient to make a distribution to VSC holders pursuant to the confirmed Chapter 11 Plan.

 (4)                Review the status of the Trust's efforts to obtain funds for the benefit of VSC holders from the National Warranty insolvency proceeding (www.nwig.com) pending in the Cayman Islands.

 (5)                Review key case documents and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

This website is your primary method for keeping up to date with the status of the Warranty Gold bankruptcy case.  As such, it will be updated regularly as new information becomes available.

To confirm, if you purchased during this period, your contract number should be WG130000 or higher.

Pursuant to a settlement agreement approved by the Bankruptcy Court on November 9, 2004, Southwest Reinsure, Inc. and First Automotive Service Corporation unconditionally assumed all obligations for all contracts sold between June 9, 2003 and November 26, 2003.

SouthwestRe

2400 Louisiana Blvd NE

Building 4, Suite 100

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110

(877) 881-2244

 www.reinsure.com 

You can review the Declaration Page on your contract. If your contract number is between WG000001 and WG129999, your contract was purchased prior to June 7, 2003, and you are affected by the liquidation process. The purchase date should also be prominently displayed on that page.

Send any written requests, questions, as well as changes of address to:

Warranty Gold Liquidation Trust
c/o Gregory S. Milligan
Liquidating Trustee
P.O. Box 13166 – Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711-3166

There is no need to cancel any pre-June 7 contracts. Prior orders of the Bankruptcy Court, including its Plan confirmation orders, essentially provide that all Warranty Gold VSCs purchased prior to June 7, 2003 are deemed to have been cancelled and terminated.

Two basic types of claims may arise from cancelled Warranty Gold VSCs. First, the VSC holder may be entitled to a pro-rata refund of contract premiums based upon the remaining term of their contract as of June 7, 2003. Second, the VCS holder may be entitled to a Covered Repair Claim if a timely Proof of Claim was filed or if Warranty Gold's business records otherwise support such a claim. More information about the treatment of individual claims may be found in the Plan of Liquidation or in the Special Class Settlement Notice previously sent to VSC holders.

Near the end of 2001, Warranty Gold ended its relationship with Interstate National Dealer Services. Warranty Gold's management reportedly notified all then existing customers, through Interstate National Dealer Services, that the administration and insurance of such customers' claims were being transferred to National Warranty.

The insurer on your vehicle service contract has always been National Warranty Insurance. Independent Warranty Management Corporation reportedly ceased performing claims administration in late 2001. From that time until the announcement of its liquidation, National Warranty reportedly performed such administrative duties.