Claiming For House Insurance!!!!

pauliepie

I have Full House Insurance which costs £420 at the moment.
I have been with the same Insurance company since my Mortgage started in 1999.
So far I have made NO CLAIMS...

The reason for the message is to ask "If you can claim house insurance by sending in Photo`s to the Insurance Company or do you have to call them?

1. This week my wife was decorating the Lounge and accidently knocked the 6 years old Philips 24" TV on the floor which No longer works..(Her story)

2. About 6 weeks ago the Iron fell off the Ironing Board and landed on the Hallway Carpet which landed face down(had some stick off the wife) as it was my fault.

3. Last week when we had the strong winds, our Ariel fellof the chimney and landed in our back Garden.

Can I only claim one item at a time or ALL three?
Thats why I ask if I can send photo`s in as they may not believe me.


Look forward to your replies.

paul

maclean2

hi - the easiest way to find out if you're covered is

A/ read the policy
B/ if you can't understand it ring your insurance company.

If you have full cover including accidental damage you are probably covered for all 3 claims.

But if you keep having mishaps at the same rate your next insurance premium might be loaded up quite a bit !

losgiganteskid

Well Pauliepie, accident prone or what....??

The first two incidents are covered under your policy PROVIDED you opted to have addidental damage cover included - this is an optional add on to the basic policy.

As for the areil, well, ariels don't usually fall off in strong winds, the likely reason is that the ariel has been up there for quite some time and corroded, hence the next wind, down it flops, and there ain't no cover for that. However as you have been with the same company for a goodly number of years, they may look favourably on your claims, you will lose any no claims bonus which your policy may be operating in your favour !!

Poppy9

I have claimed sucessfully for Aerial damage twice. First time aerial blew down and water went down the aerial lead into the video. First time we claimed with the Pru. awful experience they took months to settle and tried to tell me my video model was 10 year old. I had proof it was only 2 year old so they paid up in the end and replaced the aerial. 2 years later aerial snapped and blew down (we think it was damaged by next door neighbour builder who tied a ladder to our chimney when doing a loft conversion). One phone call to halifax and man around fixing it for us.

With most home contents policies TV's etc and bathroom fittings (bath, sink toilet) are automatically covered for accidental damage. For soft furnishings and furniture though its extra.

The dropped telly/iron is the oldest excuse so expect an assessor to call. Another common 'accident' is to drop a bottle of bleach on the carpet!

To file a claim just ring the company up. Some complete form on line others send a form for completing.

marble

There shouldn't be any problems claiming. I suspect the insurance company will treat the incidents as 3 seperate claims (each with an excess).

If this is the case, it may be worth finding out whether it is cost effective to claim. For example, if you have a £60 excess for each claim, it's probably cheaper to pay £50 and get someone to fit a new one (unless the falling aerial caused much damage). The TV is borderline (I don't know what a 24inch one costs, but you can get cheap 28 inch ones for about £120). Obviously the carpet is definitely worth claiming for!

I'm not trying to put you off using your insurance, it's just easy to think you're getting something for free, when in fact it's better for you to save the excess (and increase in premium next year) and sort it yourself.

Al

royalsteve

losgiganteskid wrote:

Well Pauliepie, accident prone or what....??

The first two incidents are covered under your policy PROVIDED you opted to have addidental damage cover included - this is an optional add on to the basic policy.

As for the areil, well, ariels don't usually fall off in strong winds, the likely reason is that the ariel has been up there for quite some time and corroded, hence the next wind, down it flops, and there ain't no cover for that. However as you have been with the same company for a goodly number of years, they may look favourably on your claims, you will lose any no claims bonus which your policy may be operating in your favour !!

im with nationwide bs and their policy is excellent....have made a couple of claims few years back and been with them for 7 years now....dropped a vid recorder down the stairs and they paid for the repair as i had accidental cover.....also my aerial fell down and they paid for that too....at the end of the day they get the money back off you.

pauliepie

Phoned up my Insurance company yesterday.
They said each claim would cost me £50, therefore to claim on the 3 items would cost me £150 in total.
Now i`m feeling whether its worth claiming!!!!!!!!!

1. Out telly cost us around £600 ish 5 years ago and they have offered us only £130.
2. To replace the carpet on the landing and stairs would cost approx £150.
3. And the areal would probably cost £60?

So, is it worth it........

My buildings and contents costs me £492.60 per year which finishes on 31 December 2005.(expensive eh as I only live in 3 bed semi)?
I have had a quote from Norwich Union for £187 with excess of £100....
Should I cancel now or wait till end of policy to change.
I was just thinking if I claim I would probably tell my new Insurance company which may push up the premium?

Bossyboots

You won't get a refund now for any part of your current policy and may even incur a cancellation fee so I can't see any point in doing that. As you are changing insurer anyway, why not claim. Even if it pushes it up a bit with the new insurer then is it really going to be as high as your current policy?

Can you get a quote online with Norwich Union putting in the fact that you have claimed and also taking that out and seeing what the difference is.

Obviously you are going have to do some sums here before you make a decision.

Poppy9

The telly you can force them to replace like with like. You don't have to take the cash. Carpet and aerial quote sound very cheap.

Your policy is very overpriced you naughty :money: - follow :money:tips. I do building and contents for under £300 per year for a 4 bed semi (Halifax).

For such small sums I probably wouldn't claim as you are so close to renewal. You could buy a nice 28" sony widescreen in Argos for £229 on interest free credit.

It doesn't usually pay to cancel a policy mid way as they load it with admin charges etc. You only have 4 weeks to go so start searching for a new quote now as they are valid for 30 days.

Try a few sites that search lots of companies for an indication of the cheaper companies. Often worth trying the companies direct then to get an even better quote.

payless

If you claim on all 3,when looking around to swap you might find a number of new insurers are not keen to take you on next yr

Most proposals ask for details of claims or losses - now obviously the last bit is a bit vague.. but if you have disclosed these potential "claims" to existing insurer they may be logged.

pauliepie

Decided to not claim on Insurance.
Skipton said they would charge me £25 whether I cancel my Insurance today or at the end of the policy which is 31 December 2005!!!!!
If I go with egg my insurance is £168 with a free £70 virgin wine voucher.
My skipton was £493....
So, I think it is the best move don`t you think....
Many Thanks guys & gals.
paul