Any experience with barclays phone insurance?

MarkJenn · 8 October 2010 at 12:51AM

I don't know how this company is still running! I lost my phone two weeks ago. Rang them 6 hours after losing my phone and reported it to O2 and the police as advised. I was then told they would send me a paper claim form(in 2010) in the next post. Three days later it turns up and I immediately filled it out with all the details and sent it first class post, and unlike them, my post did arrive in the next days post. I then waited 5 working days before ringing them for some form of reply, only to be informed that because I had written the wrong date on the form, my claim was being denied.

I was clearly shocked and after a lengthy conversation with someone, it came to the surface that I had made a mistake in the form. I made an appeal there and then after initially being told to make my appeal by post, over the phone. If I went the paper route, it would have been a 5 day timescale before they would have made a decision (after being approved by 3 different people- WHY????) but as I did mine verbally I was promised it would only take 3 days. After three days I rang them again to be told that the approval has not been completed yet and that it had been sent to another department that doesn't have any timescales and that I would just have to wait! I had numerous arguments with these people and their management, who are no help at all! There is no professionalism in this company and for an insurance company they are completely incompetent!!!

For £4 extra a month you can ring up O2 and say I have lost my phone and the next day you get a new one!!!

I am now sat with a phone, where the keypad decides not to work most of the time and my iPhone is drifting somewhere... Oh how I miss technology.

DO NOT TOUCH THIS USELESS COMPANY WITH A TEN METRE POLE

Cri · 24 March 2011 at 3:33PM

hello everybody..
i wanna tell you my experience with this insurance company.
i was on a bus on the 8 march at 2am and i fell asleep while a was listening the music by my iphone 4. it was inside my left jacket's pocket and somebody has pulled the earphones cable out from my pocket and got my phone. i didn't feel nothing. i was awakened by the busdriver at the last bus stop. and there i realized all! the day after.. i was working full time from 9am to 11pm (i slept 4 hours) but during my break i've been to my bank to report the fact and i made the reclaim form. when i got out from work i went to the police station to report of theft but they told me that as i didn't have the imei number with me i would have been gone back the next day with it. so i got home and the next day after work (i worked from 9am to 11pm) i went to the police station and i made the property lost in streets but we have finished to speak at 00.00 and so the paper is dated 10 march 00.00.

after 2 weeks the LSG company sent my a letter on write: we are therefore unable to deal with your claim on this occasion for the following reasons: you must infom the police within 24hours of discovering any theft loss or malicius damage.

can anyone help me pls? i dont speak english properly and i would like to know which is the best way to take. cheers!

Richiew03 · 1 May 2011 at 10:54AM

I have registered on the MSE forum just tp share my experiences.

if 5 years i've made 2 claims. The first took 6 weeks and a long process to prove the phone was used on my account, the required a letter from vodafone stating that the phones IMEI was used on the account as the phone was bought off line. The first letter was not sufficient, but there was a 2 week delay in them rejecting the claim, then my getting a new letter, then resubmitting the claim etc.

The 2nd claim was also rejected twice and took close to 3 months to get sorted. Again if a claim is rejected, you have to wait for the letter in the post, then resubmit the claim (with information I had already given).

I know have insurance direct with vodafone for my iphone as they offer next day delivery of a replacement phone etc. it does cost more, but I couldnt rely on the barclays insurance in the event of another loss/damage.

eveyivy · 12 May 2011 at 2:18AM

Hello all
I've also registered especially to publish my rant!
Barclays Additions Active Mobile Phone Insurance provided by Lifestyle Services Group has proved totally worthless to me. Is there a way of claiming misselling on these policies? The claims procedure is very restrictive and almost impossible to conform to.

I lost my HTC Desire on an overnight Greek ferry - ( sounds like the start of a eurovision song!) It probably fell out of my pocket while I dozed... I realised I didn't have it as I boarded the airport bus at Piraeus (Athens) at 5.30am.
I sent my phone a locking message via my 'Find my droid' app and wiped the memory. I immediately called Vodafone on a friend's Vodafone phone and cancelled the sim and phone. I felt safe in the knowledge that the phone was locked and I was insured anywhere in the world under Barclays Additions Mobile Phone Insurance....

I got home late that night and next day called Barclays Additions - the recorded message said I could register my claim online. So I went online only to find you have to download the form, fill it in by hand and POST it to a PO box address. I did all that, noted to myself that I had no Police Report Number or Lost Report Number but felt that there was no crime and on the Vodafone website they only need a police report number for THEFT. Hands up I didn't read the whole Barclays Additions policy - I read the bit about all the fantastic 'cover' but didn't fully digest the 'how to make a claim' key facts ( feeble excuse: the Barclays Additions pack has so many different booklets for each different 'benefit'! )

I got a phone call 2 days later telling me I had not completed the form correctly ie: had not included the Police Lost Report Number. The lady was quite rude. She said my claim would be sent to the claims adjudication department marked 'incorrectly completed'. They would assess it and make a decision.

Apparently I should have reported the fact that I had lost my phone to the Greek Police within 24 hours. I'm sure they would have been very helpful if only I'd thought to find a Greek Police station at 5.30 am and report my own stupidity at losing my phone (To which I now am adding taking up Barclays Additions Active Mobile Insurance....)

So off I went to my local UK police station and they told me how to report it and get the number, which I did, but of course it was way after 24 hours.

I feel that if I could have completed the form online, they could easily make the Lost Report a compulsory box which would prompt hapless customers like me to report everything to the police. It also could just about be done within their very UNreasonable timescale. Forcing you to POST the form back means an automatic delay of at least 24 hours on top . I really feel cheated - and that the system is set up so we fail. I didn't have a copy of my Policy Document with me on holiday, I happen to be an honest person and just lost my phone! I thought I was covered on Barclays Additions Mobile Phone Insurance - turns out I wasn't. And if they hadn't got me on the 'Report to the Police' within 24 hours exclusion, then they probably would have excluded me on this little beauty...as in the small print I also discovered this exclusion:

" Theft or loss of the phone and accessories where they have been left accidentally or deliberately in a public place or place to which others have access"

Guess that discounts my Greek ferry and pretty much everywhere else on the planet as well....

I wonder where one CAN lose a phone and it be covered on Barclays Additions Mobile Phone Insurance though.....

Advice to self and everyone else - (and which Martyn gives us repeatedly because we are 'bears of very little brain'...)
READ THE VERY SMALL PRINT
Rant over - off to read all the small print on every other insurance document I possess - just hope I can remember them all....

eveyivy · 12 May 2011 at 2:23AM

Probably too late but just make sure you read all the ways to claim in case you need to - there are some pretty tight hoops to jump through as I found out to my cost.

leeegglestone · 12 May 2011 at 7:57PM

i was thinking of getting this as my mobile has broke.

gouranga_2 · 12 May 2011 at 8:34PM

Just registered to say thanks for this thread!
Was considering going with barclays, but after reading this I dont think I will bother. I've already ruled off lloyds tsb and natwest as well.

All the other phone insurers seem to have bad reviews as well. Fair enough I understand most people only post when they have a bad experience, but if I read a few bad reviews I generally steer clear.

Lost my old phone twice, and it was covered by my o2 insurance on each. One of them I lost it on holiday, and only phoned them after I returned (like 5 days later). The woman on the phone said I had to claim within 48 hours, but I just acted clueless and she processed the claim anyway!

£10 a month does seem excessive from o2, but I know that I can get a phone back within like 2 days from them. Some have been refurbished, others new, so I guess its just the luck of the draw.

penlondon · 3 June 2011 at 12:38AM

Hi,

Can anyone help? Barclays mobile insurance won't pay out because I didn't contact them within 48hrs.

My phone was stolen in the early hours of sat morning. I filed it stolen with the police and O2 by walking into their branches on Saturday.

Barclays was not open and because I didn't have a landline I couldn't call until Monday morning from my place of work. I called at the first moment I could which as a Nanny was midday.

I took 48hrs to be within 48hrs of the first working day.

My claim has been rejected how do I fight it?

Thanks for your help Pen's

Slinkymamba · 16 August 2011 at 1:01AM

Hi all

Thanks for the posts, they have been informative.

It seems I'm in the same boat as many of you.

I damaged my phone on 23/07 and only reported it on 26/07 (more than 48hrs). I was not aware of the 48 hour period to make the claim, but when calling to report it the lady I spoke to made no mention of any delay or its effect. I received the claim form, completed and submitted it only to arrive home today to find out it has been rejected because I did not submit the claim within 48 hours of discovering the damage.

I was unable to call within the 48 hours and was unaware of the 48 hour limit. I like many presumed a reasonable time limit to make a claim would be allowed.

I am not happy and have been festering all night with how to argue this. Im not sure if this will work but will complain tomorrow after speaking to Barclays, FSA, FSA Ombudsman, Trading Standards and Ofcom to see what they think and to get as much info on the subject as possible. It seems to me that

1) 48 hours to report damage and rejection of claims if notified +48hrs is both unreasonable and unfair under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Practices Regulations and by analogy if not directly applicable the Unfair Contract Terms Act. 48 hours to make a claim is clearly an arbitrary amount of time, with no obvious objective justification. I pay £5 a month for insurance which LSG is refusing to honour because of no more than an arbitrary 48 hour period which I accidently failed to adhere to. 48 hours is also undefined and could mean either 48hrs/2day or 48 business hours as I cant report the damage outside of 8am-8pm. HopefullyI can argue an interpretation of this in my favour (i.e. contra preferentum = any ambiguity is interpreted in the party who doesnt draft the terms' favour)

2) I have not been treated fairly as required by the FSA Conduct of Business Source Book in that I was unaware of the 48hr period, I only received the terms and conditions after signing up to the barclays account containing the insurance and was led to believe that I had made my application within the required period when no mention was made of my delay when either first reporting the damage or on the claim form itself. Additionally the claim was rejected outright with no opportunity to explain why I was unable/unaware of the need to make the claim within that time period.

3) I contracted with Barclays in setting up the bank account and the insurance and expect Barclays irrespective of LSG's approch to honour the contract for the same reasons as above.

I will post again with my success or failure tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

Thanks

AJ

hicky45 · 16 August 2011 at 3:46AM

slinkymamba- Unfortunately in my opinion you will not get very far by arguing that the 48hour window is unfair as every insurance has the same policy. The FSA governs insurance so going down the route of saying they are being unfair will not help your cause i do not think. Also as far as i can tell, there is no breach of unfair contract terms act since you cannot just claim you did not have the t's and c's, its very likely they will say it was your responsibility to understand the terms and conditions of the agreement which would have been provided at some point. I doubt that you would be able to prove that you were not given them. (I think that i recieved mine upon registering the imei of the handset) I understand why you are frustrated but LSG are within their rights to reject your claim. sorry.

Any experience with barclays phone insurance?

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