Insurance Payout with Argos Vouchers!

silvercar

There was an article on this in the Sunday Times recently.
It was about jewellery so you may or may not be able to use this arguement.

The financial ombudsman came down firmly on the side of the customer as jewellery is a matter of personal taste so to restrict choice to one shop is unreasonable. The article suggested pointing your insurer to the October 2001 issue of Ombudsman News.

mattymoo

Blimey - I'd be fuming if I was treated like this after such a major loss (and I work in the industry).

The article silvercar mentions can be found here to save you looking.
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/10/oct-repair-replace-cash.htm

If I were you I would complain to the insurers and suggest you can not take this loss adjuster seriously and ask them to appoint somebody else.
You might also wish to consider appointing a loss assessor. Similar to a loss adjuster but they work for you instead. They will however take a proportion of the settlement.
Useful if the disputed amount is quite large.

Gingham_Ribbon

This is astonishing. I agree with the above posts. Contact the ombudsman. I wonder if suggesting that the local paper may be interested in how you're being treated may influence their decision?

jenniferpa

Do you have legal coverage on this policy? If you do, you should call the Pru's legal help line :eek: Incidentally, I see that Marks and Spencer's HI offers you vouchers, but if you choose to accept them you get 10% more than you normally would, which seems reasonable.

Jennifer

Katyag

OP i know exactly how you feel. My house burnt down on Christmas Eve 2004. So 2005 and since has been the worst year of my life. We have no moved back in and i have been finding it very hard, my health had taken a battering too.

Anyway, we have HI from our local council which is thru Allianz Cornhill. When the fire happened we had 2 weeks where nothing could be done because everywhere offical was shut. But we were assigned a loss adjuster who has been abolutely fantastic, its not an easy situtation but he has made it a lot easier. He ensured we got a £5k cheque within 2 weeks so we could replace things like coats, shoes, clothes for myself, hubby and our then 3 year old. Things we couldnt possibly live without.

Since then the way it has worked with us is we were phoned by the insurers chosen electrical suppliers and told what makes and models of electrical things we would be getting and to go and check them out on the net to make sure we agreed. So to our door we had delivered, washing machine, cooker, fridge, hoover, tv, video, dvd, stereo, tv combi, sky box, microwave and pc. We were sent HMV vouchers to replace the PS2. The rest of our claim was paid to us by cheque and we went and chose what we wanted with it. Think in total we have had over £13k and the claim is still going on regards flooring.

I think its a joke that you are being asked to take that amount in Argos vouchers!!! You cant buy everything you want / need in Argos and that amount is ridiculous!!! You need cash in your pocket to go to supermarkets to replace food for a start!!! Argos wont do that! Stick to your guns and refuse, or get in direct touch with the insurers.

Good luck to you, its an awful situation and here a lot of tears were shed. Its only really now 14 months later that we are coming to terms with it and thinking that we might just be able to move on with out lives.

Oh it wasnt the tumble dryer that caused it was it?? Was here and the firemen said we would be surprised to hear how many fires they cause!!

mattymoo

jenniferpa wrote:

Do you have legal coverage on this policy? If you do, you should call the Pru's legal help line
Jennifer

I suspect there will be a clause on that stating they will not advise or take any action against the insurance company who sold you the legal cover. Insurers do not like people using their own policies to sue them.

You may have legal advice / legal cover through another route though. Some bank accounts have it, union membership or trade associations.

Susan.O

I would just like to thank everyone for their comments and advice, i am ever hopeful that the insurance company and loss adjuster will come to their senses - with a little prompting! Susan.O

Smi1er

We went through a large claim 2 years ago due to water damage.

Liverpool Victoria are our insurers and were great. Appointed loss adjusters who were excellent.

I simply put together an excel spreadsheet of our losses. They made an interim payment and then settled the rest later.

I certainly wouldn't accept such a high amount of vouchers, in fact I wouldn't accept any.

Make a written complaint to your insurers.

dickietruncheon

You are under no obligation to accept any vouchers that restrict your choice of replacement. I work in the insurance industry and what your insurer is doing is an old trick. They get discounts from Argos and others.

Since January 2005 insurers must abide by the FSA regulations. Make a formal complaint and advise that unless it is satisfactorily resolved you will pursue the case via the Ombudsman. Insurers are terrified of this route and the insurance clerk/loss adjuster will cave in. That is what we are told to do "Push Argos vouchers but to cave in at the last minute.

When you mention the FSA and the Ombudsman they will run a mile