Card/lost key insurance issue

stephk_2

Just wondering if anyone is able to advise me. I got a new bank account with Alliance & Leicester earlier this year and took out the lost card insurance. This includes loss of keys where CPP will send a locksmith to your house to get you in and repair the damage.

Last night was my fiances 30th birthday and we went to a bar, the housekeys were in his jacket pocket. When we arrived home at 1.30am in the freezing cold, we found to our horror that the keys must have fallen out of his pocket. We live in a block of flats and so none of our neighbours were answering their intercoms to let us into the building (probably hate us for waking them up now too). Luckily after a while someone exited the building so at least we could sit in the warmth of the reception area. I remembered that my card insurance covered the loss of keys so I called them to advise that our keys were missing and asked if they could arrange a locksmith to come out. This was at 1.50 and they said they would arrange it. At 2.21 I received a call from a locksmith saying he was on his way, then at 2.25 keycare called to find out whether we had received a call, I confirmed yes and then my fiance spoke to them and asked whether we would be covered for the full amount. They confirmed yes, we were. The locksmith arrived approximately 3.10 and made a lot of noises about how difficult both of our locks were at the front door and really took their time. As they couldnt gain access there, they asked if there was another door and my fiance said they could climb over the wall at the back as we had a door on our roof terrace. One of the locksmiths (they sent 2 for some reason) went that way and managed to get in and then found our other set of keys to open the front door. I think at this point they had a tea break and one of them had the cheek to ask for a beer, which we gave. I was freezing cold so wrapped myself up in the bedroom and my fiance sat waiting for them to finish. When they had finished, we were absolutely astonished to be invoiced £1731 and we had to pay there and then. They had said to us all along that we would be covered, everything would be fine but at no point was any charge mentioned until the end. Had we known in the beginning what it would cost, we would have just smashed a window to get in. That is a months salary and I had to pay it and I was so tired I only had my debit card to hand. We called CPP who then said we were covered up to £500 - we are very angry about this because why on earth would the company send someone out who charges way above this! Yes we had been drinking although had sobered up by the time they arrived, they kept going on about how it would be covered and I am wondering whether they just ramped up the cost thinking that the insurance would pay. CPP said we should call back in the morning to speak to customer services and find out from keycare what had happened. We have asked for a full investigation because at no point were we advised of cost. If they are covering people for £500, why send someone out who charges £750 purely for labour? This has completely ruined my fiances birthday weekend and I would be really grateful for any help or advice - had it been a couple of hundred above we may have been able to absorb the cost but I certainly cannot afford to lose a whole months pay.

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can give.

olly300

Follow the company's complaints procedure in writing which should be on the back of your insurance documents.

Even if they say phone up first don't bother as you will be talking to a call centre worker who is not allowed to authorise anything, and will not be allowed to get a manager to help.

Make sure you send all your letters via recorded delivery otherwise they will claim not to receive them. Even if you do send them by this method they will still claim not to have received them but the fact that you can tell them when the letter was received in their offices means they often suddenly find them.

At the end of your letters state that if the issue is not resolved you will have no choice but to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

After 8 weeks or if they state the issue is dealt with then you can contact the Financial Services Ombudsman to complain.

Also when you write your letters please use white space rather then writing a large chunk of text as it makes it easier to read and get your points across.

BTW it cost me less than £100 to get a locksmith to drill into my locks after I locked myself out of my flat and I'm in London. This was on a Sunday morning. The locksmith attempted other ways to get in before drilling into the locks.

Talking to my neighbour who helped me the most they should be charging is around £150.

gairlochgal

Yes I locked myself out recently and had the lock drilled on a Sunday afternoon. Think it was about £120 all in. Plus I wasn't entirely happy with the new lock later in the day so the locksmith came back with his senior and they adjusted it slightly - all part of the service. That price really is extortionate. Does the paperwork show how the costs were calculated - call out, hourly rate etc?

stephk_2

Thank you both for your replies. They company organised by keycare called me today to see if things had been resolved and I advised that I was totally speechless at the price and I went through everything with her. She said that they shouldnt have even taken payment from us, which is worrying and I have cancelled my card immediately. Unfortunately I cannot reverse the transaction, the bank says because I put in my pin number, even intimidated to do so means it was authorised but they will report it to the fraud department. Once keycare get back to me tomorrow I expect to be reimbursed and if not I will take the matter further in the way you suggest. Many thanks.

Quote

stephk wrote: »

One of the locksmiths (they sent 2 for some reason)

As an aside, this might have been for health and safety reasons.

stephk_2

Just to give an update, this has been an absolute nightmare with CPP saying that they will only pay £500 and we should take it up with the locksmiths or keycare. They said that the correct procedure was to pay the locksmiths and then claim the cost back and as they were organised through keycare, it was unlikely to result in fraudulent transactions. Keycare did call me earlier but when I called back I spoke to someone and explained again, received astonishment at the price again, all she could say was that the company who sent the locksmiths had spoken to them but I had to wait for this person to come back (who didnt leave their name on the voicemail).

I have written a full, timed, sequence of events now from the time we arrived home with all of the details and I am going to send it to both CPP and keycare if I can find an address for them if this is not resolved. As my policy is with CPP, I only have the details for their complaints procedure although I do think the responsibility here lies with keycare. I will then have to go to the ombudsman as has been suggested here and possibly even watchdog.

If anyone thinks a different course of action may be necessary, I would be grateful to hear of it.