Well Mr Fixzit came out this morning and he reckons at some stage water has got onto the PCB and is most likely a result of a slightly dodgy soleniod.
So the report for insurance will be that the offending part (what i pay for) is the solenoid ($40) and the resulting damage (what they pay for) is the PCB, and he reckoned the last NEC one he got a quote for was $500!!!!
So it looks like a new washing machine and/or maybe the chance to pull this PCB to bits myslef and see if i can find anything.....OR.....a HUGE parts tumbler that would require lots of media
