Contents Insurance Woes - LLoyds TSB (sun alliance)

sidonaldson

Hey guys, can i run something past you? I'm hoping for advice and also to hopefully warn people to be extra careful.

I took out contents insurance a while back with LLoyds TSB which i found through a cashback site. I ran through the form, was happy with the quote so went back and actually ordered it. I got the screen saying 'congrats, you are now covered'. Yay!

Sadly i should say that the reason i bought it was due to being burgled the week before. I lived in a shared, rented house. Luckily none of my stuff was pinched but i thought i best take insurance out just in case.

Even more sadly i was robbed again the next week. It turnes out the burglars had decided to come back for my bike, boarding jacket and bags of DVD's. The house is only 10 years old and of good build. We know they came in at night as the alarm didnt go off (we were in). still amazed at how they manage to do it!

So then i made a claim on my 2 day old insurance, it was that quick.

After being passed around for a month as no-one had my details i finally found out it was underwritten by sun alliance. Great i contacted them, they ran through a few questions and then put me through to someone else. This never really materialised and weeks later and more chasing i finally got through to someone else. They said yes, i can claim, so please list all things nicked. Great!

Til xmas eve when i got a call (after chasing up my claim and being ignored for more weeks) Sorry you are not covered!!!!!
It turns out that they thought im not covered because i rent my house out to other people. What?
After some confusion, it turns out i had apparently said i was living on my own. While confused i couldnt disagree and so was put through to the sales team to change my policy to make it valid. They guy answered the phone, asks who i rent to , i explained no-one, i am a tenant, and he says 'thats fine then, you dont need to change anything'. Wow. So then i said to him 'so im covered', he says 'yes'

Then i get back to the other person with the new info, aparently the staff are wrong. its their fault and im not covered.

So this whole time i have been honest and never lied about anything. So their next bright idea i to send through some forms for the other housemates to fill in. As long as their details are ok they will reconsider my case.

They come and i fill the out.

Then surprise surprise they come back to me and say. The forms show that you lived with other people at the time of the robbery and as such im not covered. So what they actually did was get the forms sent out to get proof of something i freely admitted from the start. What a waste of time and they led me right up the garden path.

So now i have given up trying to get a payout but i want revenge. This insurance company is taking the p*ss.

So being a web-desginer and i know about form UI. I looked a bit closer. I saw on my policy i had ticked a box say i lived on my own (with only immediate family). This means a computer had ticked the box from my online application form (once recieved in the post i was to double check it etc, i only got it after the robbery)

So then i thought, well i'm a sensible lad, why would i tick that box on the form and lie? So i looked more closely at the form and there is NO box to tick. instead there is a small line of small print before the 'next' button on the form. This line includes the words 'subject to meeting out eligibility criteria'. By clicking next you are accepting this criteria which can only be found be clicking this two work link.

In this critea the first line states 'i confrim i live on my own or with immediate family'

Now im sorry but i really think that is sneaky and a really bad way to get that info. In the resulting form these is cleary a line and a checkbox ticked on my behalf. I firmly believe this question is one of the most important in relation to the policy and should be part of the form not a minor 'oh and by the way' link.

As i was looking at different policies online, i filled out a lot of these forms to get the prices, as i did them quick i didnt check to carefully and as i went back to buy it i just filled it out again.

So congratuations the insurance company found a technical detail which mean i was not insured. I feel cheated!

Can anyone please recommend a course of action, any complaints to the insurance co and i just get the t's and c's read back to me. And as anyone here knows, t's and c's can be over-ruled if deemed unfair.

I really want to fight this and potentially help other people caught out by badly designed sneaky forms and t's and c's

and just to back this up, i now have insurance from nationwide, who i bank with, their insurance is 5 star rated (i dont know if that is top or not) and they proudly say they always follow up internet applications with phone calls to check the policy is right.

After having one car nicked, one burnt out and being robbed... my opinion of insurance companies is very very low as they have never really helped me and its always been a fight to get any result!

Thanks for reading, i look forward to any replies! Si

sidonaldson

ps the form is at (taken of the w w w so i can post it)

lloydstsbinsurance.co.uk/ProductsNET/Insurance.aspx?target=InsTSPHomeT23YourProperty&TSP=MMSERV&CommCode=MH095&Promotion=LTSBDOTCOM&Campaign=PRICE&Model=MMSERV

dacouch

All normal Insurance policies have a similar restriction eg they do want to cover people sharing homes and have a similar question you either answer or is an assumption that you are prompted to read through.

You could try going to the ombudsman but I doubt you will get anywhere unless the question / assumption was incorrectly worded.

sidonaldson

agreed, they certainly do not want to insure you sharing a home (unless you are a student). Having said that they changed my policy to include my housemates and it didnt cost any more!

I still think it should be the first question on the form without exception.

I guess the way the company badly handled my case didnt help but i can't be the only one.

As far as i know the omnbusman cant be of use unless the policy was mis-sold to me. It wasn't. but i would say it was unknowingly mis-sold if there is such a thing

pedro123456

"So congratuations the insurance company found a technical detail which mean i was not insured. I feel cheated!"

Sadly sidonaldson that one of the many ways that IC's make their money.

The penny is starting to drop, IC's Cant be trusted.


Z

sidonaldson

pedro123456 wrote: »

"So congratuations the insurance company found a technical detail which mean i was not insured. I feel cheated!"

Sadly sidonaldson that one of the many ways that IC's make their money.

The penny is starting to drop, IC's Cant be trusted.


Z

true, having said that all things come with t's and c's, i've just left virgin media and i was gobsmacked by the fees forced on me by moving house not being able to take my services with me due to them not having cabled the area! sky is just as bad

You get what you pay for, from now on i will invest in insurance with a quality provider and will only buy over the phone. As far as cars, i now drive a clapped out fiesta which costs more to insure than to replace but i just cant afford any more bad luck!

pedro123456

You know ,we cant do without insurance, we have to have it, however we shouldn’t have to have it “at any price”, T&C are acceptable the problem is the T&C are often there for the IC’s to use as get out clauses for paying genuine claims.

T&C are unbalanced and ought to be drawn up by independent bodies to protect the interests of BOTH parties in equal proportion.

The everyday normal fella only wants what is fair, and most honest ppl, rarely claim until they have too. However as these genuine ppl claim and get turned over because of underhanded T&C, or loopholes they will refrain from putting their hands in their pockets to pay premiums, it’s the IC’s that will lose out in the long run.

PPL will have compulsory insurance because they "have to", and will swerve optional insurance in the future. IMO

They ought to rename T&C to. YBNB & NL

Yes butt-No butt & not Likely.

Z

dacouch

I've had a quick look on the Lloyds TSB website and to the left of the quote it has "Our Eligibility Critera" and has the "
Please read the statements below and confirm that they are correct to the best of your knowledge
The Home to be insured:

• is built of standard construction (i.e. brick, stone or concrete with at least 80% slate or tiled roof) and maintained in a good state of repair at all times
• is self contained, with no shared facilities and a separate lockable entrance under your sole control
• is occupied solely by you or your family (i.e. you, 2nd applicant, children, parents and other relatives who normally live with you)

falling https://www.lloydstsbinsurance.co.uk/ProductsNET/Home/PopUps/infoHmePopupEligibility.html

As you are entering the quote it also has the following on the first page Insurance cover is only available to UK residents who buy whilst in the UK. Home insurance quotes obtained from this site are valid for twenty eight days and subject to meeting our eligibility criteria. By proceeding you agree to our terms and conditions

Unfortunately when you buy Insurance on line it is upto you to read all of the terms and conditions etc, if you enter any information incorrectly or do not read anything there is no one else to blame.

Your best bet is to do what you said and buy Insurance online or pop into a local broker. These two channels should point out any nof the restrictions or actually ask the question. If they do not or lead you to answer in a certain way then the ombudsman will often rule in your favour