Contents Insurance Claim - first offers

Lindy_Loo_3

Hi again

Sorry to keep coming back with more questions . . . .

I've spoken to Crawford and Co. today who have passed the claim to Bristol now. No problems with that, spoke to the adjuster who has been allocated to the case and he's been polite and advised that he will read our file tomorrow and call us from there.

However, he mentioned on the telephone that our claim would include "costs" such as Rainbow and accommodation etc and he was a bit concerned that this would bring us over our insured limit of £30,000. I didn't question it at the time as it didn't quite click what he'd said until I'd put the phone down.

I'm a bit concerned as when I bought our policy, I assumed we insured our contents for £30,000 i.e. to replace our contents would be £30k - I didn't think that should the absolute worst happen we'd need to account for accommodation, inventory, disposal costs etc. otherwise I'd have paid for a higher amount to include this. I actually thought that if you said your contents was worth more than it actually was then you could get into trouble, hence going round the house and making guestimates and opting to cover our contents for £30k rather than taking the standard £50k cover (which incidentally was the same price).

Is this normal or have I got the wrong end of the stick (again)?

Thanks again and sorry to keep bothering you guys

Quote

No offence, but is it absolutely necessary to start a new thread with every single development on this claim?

Lindy_Loo_3

Sorry, am I supposed to use the same one? I didn't know - how do I move it?

Quote

It doesn't matter. As you were.

:^)

Lindy_Loo_3

Okay, I'll add any more developments / problems onto the end of this one in future . . . .

dacouch

Your policy is "New for old" except for clothing and linen so you should be in the position to replace with a new equivalent.

In normal circumstances L&G would put you onto their supplies who were Empire Direct who recenty went bust. If they had offered Empire Direct and you chose cash they would offer a lower amount for a cash settlement.

The legalities of offering a lower amount for cash settlements have been covered by a few threads in here so have a look. This link might help you

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/10/oct-repair-replace-cash.htm

I would suggest you obtain written quotes for replacements and ask the supplier to include the line "This quote is on a like for like basis". Then L&G should hopefully be happy to settle for these amounts (They may want to make their cheques payable to the suppliers direct).

With regard to the tv, technology has moved on and the costs have reduced so it would be a lot cheaper than you paid a few years ago for them to replace a tv and for the tv to be of the same standard as you had before.

With regard to the wardrobe, if you have made a genuine mistake on valuing it tell the loss adjuster and they should be happy to pay the higher amount assuming it is genuine.

Your Insurers will want to settle your claim for what you have actually lost so if the amounts you gave them originally were incorrect for genuine reasons they will be prepared to settle for the correct amount. As stated before L&G are a good insurance company and would want to keep you happy and pay out to your what your are entitled to and not more.

If you are not happy with what the loss adjuster is saying get the quotes to replace the items and then ring L&G with the quotes as ammunition and discuss it with them. As long as you can justify the prices with written quotes for like for like items from reasonable companies they should be happy to settle for those amounts

Lindy_Loo_3

Thanks dacouch - I don't mind accepting items at lower prices if it replaces the original fairly. . . in fact we've already "accepted" settlement of the electricals and appliances with things like the TV being replaced for a like for like model albeit £500 less than what we paid but hey, gotta accept technology gets better and becomes more common etc!

Again, just looking for reassurance as I don't want to ask questions when I don't fully understand the processes. I'll look through other threads and thanks for the link to the financial ombudsman.

Thank you again

Lindy_Loo_3

Re-posted this to the front of the thread

dacouch

Not sure what your asking us

Lindy_Loo_3

Sorry, should be more clearer.

When you insure your contents for £30k, I assumed that it meant you were covered for contents up to £30k. From the conversation with the loss adjuster the fees for Rainbow and expenses etc will come from this amount, thereby reducing what is paid for our contents loss.

I might have got completely the wrong end of the stick (at least I hope so) but basically it sounded like they're saying that these additional costs for disposal, inventory, hotel etc will come from the insured amount.

Does that make more sense - sorry!

dacouch

Lindy do you have building cover with L&G as well