UK Assistance - Anyone used them?

Whilst on holiday last month, we were burgled.......
The b&*^~rds took all our jewellery, laptop, mobiles and every scrap of ID belonging to my wife. Total claim was for just under £4000.
A company called UK Assistance has been appointed by Direct Line to handle the claim, and are coming to see us next week.
What do they do? The policy was new for old, so will UK Assistance replace items? But what happens about the jewellery that can't really be replaced. Will we get a cheque for the rest?
Loads of questions I know.....
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Comments

  • First of all register your wife's details with CIFAS to prevent them using her ID to open accounts and apply for credit.
    Make sure that any mail that you are expecting arrives! ie somebody does not use mail re-direct to get hold of goods etc ordered in her name.

    As for your claim I do not have any experience of this but wish you well with your claim.
  • Not used UK Assistance for house insurance claims but they handled part of a car claim after an accident 2 years ago when OH had her car written off. They were OK and kept us updated.

    I would think that they are just the intermediary that your insurers use to handle the claim. Personally I would be ready to "head them off at the pass" with a full list of items missing or damaged and replacement values (with original receipts if possible). If the item you are claiming for is not manufactured any more try and find the current day equivalent. Just remember that they are being employed by your insurer to handle the claim. There has to be something in it for them and there aim will be to minimise your claim as much as possible (cynical but true).

    They may query jewellery values and it will help if you can provide photographs and receipts. You may be advised to visit a decent local jeweller and get estimates for replacing the items you had.

    Good Luck
  • Barnei
    Barnei Posts: 16 Forumite
    UK Assistance is a division of RBS Insurance, whom is the owner of Direct Line, they deal with aspects of claims handling in house for the company such as they have UK Assistance accident repair centres and UK Assistance Claims Inspectors/Investigators, No need to worry at all as if there are any problems Direct Line would sort it out.
  • Thanks for the information and tips. It's always better to know who's coming knocking at the door......
    The wife's registered with CIFAS and we have had fork out for eqifax reports at £6 a month for a year. Going to try and get Direct Line to pay for it. Not holding out much hope though.
  • Astaroth
    Astaroth Posts: 5,444 Forumite
    As already pointed out, UK Assistance is simply the "unbranded" name for the non-office based aspects of RBS Insurance claims - when Direct Line/ RBS bought Churchill it became difficult with Churchill customers being sent to Direct Line Accident Management centres of Tesco customers to Churchill Accident Repair Centres and having to explain that they are all owned by RBS but yet maintain distinct underwriting etc

    The person coming round will be similar to a loss adjuster. Generally they will be generally checking out the overall aspects of the claim (eg if you stated that all windows have key operated locks and doors 5 lever mortise locks that this is the case) and also get a detailed list/ proof of ownership of what has been taken/ damaged.

    They will then go away and write a report on their findings/ reasonableness of costs etc/ any further info that they think would be prudent to ask for which will go to the claims department who will then act on it.

    I do not know DLs current process but generally speaking, once they have agreed what is to be covered generally they will appoint approved suppliers to contact you to agree what they will provide you with... if they assess the value of your items was £1000 then you would get £1000 to spend at the supplier at their current retail value.

    Generally most insurers will provide alternative settlement methods but as this is at their discretion it will be at a lower value.... whilst you get £1000 to spend at H.Samuel or Goldsmiths clearly the insurer doesnt actually pay the company £1000 so obviously an alternative payment method is going to be no more than what the preferred supplier would get and more likely it would be less as it is in the insurers interest to "encourage" as many people as possible to use the suppliers and allow them to negotiate a bigger discount
    All posts made are simply my own opinions and are neither professional advice nor the opinions of my employers
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  • Thanks for the info Astaroth, especially the bit about approved suppliers.
  • Right, the loss adjuster has been and appoved the claim.
    He did a security assessment and told me that we will have to beef up the locks on our upvc door otherwise the insurers might not pay out if there was another break. Cost about £100 which we will have to find. Along with £360 for a burglar alarm and £75 for a safe we have installed.

    Direct Line will not fork out for replacing any of the documents, so we are £200 down already. Aparently it's in the small print.

    The total claim was for £4150, taking into account the document deductions, he was willing to give us a card loaded with £3950 worth of credit for use at their approved suppliers such as H Samuel etc.
    Fair enough, but the stuff that was taken is of a high quality (not knocking H.Samuel), so I wanted to go to the same jeweller we have always used, who is a local specialist, not on their list.

    He was willing to give us £3298 as a cheque. I was advised it was company policy to deduct about 20% in such cases.

    Can I haggle him up, or am I likely to be banging my head aginst a brick wall, and simply causing a delay?
    The policy is new for old, and I could do with the money asap so I can make use of the sales in January
  • mattymoo
    mattymoo Posts: 2,417 Forumite
    Tight_Git wrote:
    Right, the loss adjuster has been and appoved the claim.
    He did a security assessment and told me that we will have to beef up the locks on our upvc door otherwise the insurers might not pay out if there was another break. Cost about £100 which we will have to find. Along with £360 for a burglar alarm and £75 for a safe we have installed.

    Direct Line will not fork out for replacing any of the documents, so we are £200 down already. Aparently it's in the small print.

    The total claim was for £4150, taking into account the document deductions, he was willing to give us a card loaded with £3950 worth of credit for use at their approved suppliers such as H Samuel etc.
    Fair enough, but the stuff that was taken is of a high quality (not knocking H.Samuel), so I wanted to go to the same jeweller we have always used, who is a local specialist, not on their list.

    He was willing to give us £3298 as a cheque. I was advised it was company policy to deduct about 20% in such cases.

    Can I haggle him up, or am I likely to be banging my head aginst a brick wall, and simply causing a delay?
    The policy is new for old, and I could do with the money asap so I can make use of the sales in January

    First off, it is virtually impossible to do any meaningfull upgrade to the security of a UPVC door. Retrofit kits are either a joke or require the complete replacement of the door locking mechanism.
    If your door has a mullti-point locking system then that should meet DL's security requirements.

    As for vouchers / cash alternatives, there was a ruling by the ombudsman on this in favour of policyholders.
    Take a look here
    http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/10/oct-repair-replace-cash.htm
  • Thanks for the link. Very useful.

    The door is mulitpoint, having a total of 3 bolts one to the top, bottom and middle. Apparently this isn't enough as the other points are mushroom rollers, these should be claws - says the man....

    I've had a quick look round for locks, and yep, as far as I can tell you're right it's a complete lock replacement at about £100 for the parts.
  • mattymoo
    mattymoo Posts: 2,417 Forumite
    Then the guy is talking out his hat. Mushroom head multi-point locking systems are the standard for this type of door and DL are living in dreamland if they expect people to replace them with claw type.

    Claw types are normally only fitted on sliding doors in any event.
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