Insurance Claim / Loss Adjuster

pinkie · 17 November 2009 at 3:59PM

Hi Peeps,

I'm hoping somebody might be able to help me? My mum was broke into a couple of weeks ago whilst she was in bed. They stole about £15K worth of valuables from the house and a car and the keys for the other car (we're currently trying to get new locks for the cars :mad:).

We've just had the loss adjuster round who is dealing with the claim. He seemed OK but as he was leaving, he gave us a huge list to fill in. Basically asking us to estimate items in each room to see how much the contents are really worth and what contents cover we SHOULD have. Having done it on excel first, it appears (once the carpets/wardrobes/blinds etc) have all been accounted for, we need cover for about £80-£90K. Our cover is only for £50K.

Does anybody know what effect this could have on our claim? I'm worried if I submit the form for more than the £50K (and I guess it should be £35K to account for the 15K stolen) that they will say we're underinsured and wont pay out? Surely if we're claiming for £15K and the cover is £50K then whats the problem? I think the high risk items is £15K in total (ie everything they have stolen) :-(

Am I being paranoid? Does anybody know why we're being asked to fill this in in the first place?

Thanks for any helps

J x x

Quentin · 17 November 2009 at 4:07PM

pinkie wrote: »

Am I being paranoid? Does anybody know why we're being asked to fill this in in the first place?

During his visit to your premises he has spotted you are underinsured.

But you know that to be a fact, so you aren't being paranoid!

dacouch · 17 November 2009 at 4:13PM

If you have £80000 of contents and only have cover of £50000 then you are "Under Insured". This means the Insurers will still pay out but will reduce the amount they pay out by the percentage you are underinsured.

For instance if you have cover of £10000 but actual contents of £15000 you are under insured by 30% so your claim would be reduced by 30%.

In you case you are under insured by circa 37.5% so you claim payment will be reduced by 37.5% so instead of receiving £15000 you will probably receive around £9375 (Unless your insured by Pastra's Insurers).

Please do not be tempted to lie when filling out the form to lie, if you do and are found out it is possible they may throw out the whole claim and cancel your insurance.

Now for the good news, there are items that you are probably assuming are contents when they are in fact often classed as buildings. These are typically bathroom fittings, fitted bedroom furniture, fitted kitchens, built in ovens / white goods, hard floorings.

When calculating the contents bear in mind that you should work on the basis of the new replacement cost except for clothing and linen where you can take into account wear and tear when working out the costs.

pinkie · 17 November 2009 at 4:29PM

Thanks Dacouch. I had a nasty feeling that might be the case :-( I just wish we had this form before we took out the insurance. The fitted wardrobes alone were £9K and the carpets were £15K for the whole house, thats £24K before anything else!!

The list did include cookers, flooring, bathroom cabinets, wardrobes etc. However, after seeing your post, I think I may phone them up to see exactly what is and isnt included.

Many thanks for your help

x x

Quentin · 17 November 2009 at 4:39PM

Fitted wardrobes aren't contents, so that is £9k you don't need to consider.

But carpets are.

pinkie · 17 November 2009 at 5:58PM

Thanks peeps, looks like Ive added more in than I should have, will re-calculate tonight!

Thanks x x :T

Oscar_The_Grouch · 17 November 2009 at 7:47PM

The best thing to do is imagine someone picking up the house and shaking it. Everything that falls out, plus the carpets and curtains, is contents. The rest (fitted kitchen as well as fitted wardrobes, bathroom suites, lino & other glued down floor coverings, fires and radiators, etc) is all buildings.

Another thing to look at is whether you have "away from home" or "personal possessions" cover and anything specified on the policy. Anything specified and (if you have it) the total sum covered under personal possessions is covered over and above the £50 limit on your contents. This could increase your sum insured and reduce any under insurance.

EG:

Contents: £50,000
Personal Possessions cover: £5,000
Specified items: £6,000

Total Sum Insured: £61,000.

Finally, don't look at how much things cost when you bought them; look at their replacement costs. The TV will cost much less to replace now than it did when you bought it if it's more than 2 years old. Same for most other electrical items.

Hope this helps.

pinkie · 18 November 2009 at 4:10PM

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

The best thing to do is imagine someone picking up the house and shaking it. Everything that falls out, plus the carpets and curtains, is contents. The rest (fitted kitchen as well as fitted wardrobes, bathroom suites, lino & other glued down floor coverings, fires and radiators, etc) is all buildings.

Another thing to look at is whether you have "away from home" or "personal possessions" cover and anything specified on the policy. Anything specified and (if you have it) the total sum covered under personal possessions is covered over and above the £50 limit on your contents. This could increase your sum insured and reduce any under insurance.

EG:

Contents: £50,000
Personal Possessions cover: £5,000
Specified items: £6,000

Total Sum Insured: £61,000.

Finally, don't look at how much things cost when you bought them; look at their replacement costs. The TV will cost much less to replace now than it did when you bought it if it's more than 2 years old. Same for most other electrical items.

Hope this helps.

What is interesting, and also annoying, is that we're claiming for a loss of contents (burglary). However, the form we've been asked to fill in to find out how much contents cover we should have, includes fires, wardrobes etc so is VERY misleading. I shall we submitting a covering letter to explain I have not included fires / fitted wardrobes etc as this is buildings cover not contents. I'm sure they've done it so they can claim we're under-insured!!

You've all helped a lot, thanks x

Insurance Claim / Loss Adjuster

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