Mis-sold Insurance for Accidental Damage to Furniture

schmeln

Hi,

We bought mirrored bedroom furniture from Harveys in July 2007 costing £1570.50. We don't normally buy protection insurance, as it would be covered by Home Insurance, however this policy at £188 seemed to be a good idea.

The salesman specifically told us that as we were buying a SET of furniture, if one item was damaged and could not be repaired or replaced, we would be reimbursed the cost of the entire set, not just the individual item. As the set was so expensive, it seemed a good buy at £188 as we would not want mismatched furniture if one thing got damaged.

Jump forward to this year, and my perfume bottle slipped out of my hands and landed on the dressing table top resulting in a 3-4inch crack. I reported promptly, and they sent a man to fix the damage (he was expecting wooden furniture). He took pictures and went away.

We then received a letter from Homeserve telling us how pleased they are to offer us £228.96 in settlement of our claim (!) as the manufacturer says they cannot repair or replace. I rang up to decline the offer and it was upped to £380 cash, or £760 credit note. Now, the Amelia range is STILL BEING SOLD instore, and the dressing table is £849. I told them the insurance we were sold meant we should be reimbursed the £1570 we paid, and I was told that they do not offer that, and that if I feel the policy was missold I should contact Harveys.

Rang customer services and was put through to the store manager. I was told that as he was not party to the conversation 2 yrs ago, and was not store manager then, he "could not confirm nor deny" what was said. He said they are all trained there and no one would have told us that. I told him as store manager he represents his employees and what they say, but according to him that is not the case. He referred me to the printed terms and conditions which state the replacement is of the individual damaged item, and refused to acknowledge that anything verbal could become an express term of the contract. I told him that misselling of insurance policies is a serious legal issue and that I had only bought the policy on the understanding of what the salesman had told me, but he says that it's only my word on this, and as I have no proof, there is no way my claim will be honoured in the way I believe it should be. He would not give me the name of any superior in order to progress my issues, he would not give me his surname, and he told me to go back to Homeserve and demand a replacement. The salesman that sold us the policy still works there, but he didn't even ask his name and refuses to chase it up, as he laughingly said he doubts his colleague will remember a conversation from 2yrs ago.

Obviously I shall be complaining about this store manager who was, in my opinion, very unprofessional, but what can I do about this enforcing this policy as it was sold to me?!

Thanks for any advice!

Helen
:mad:

dacouch

It sounds like you have been suckered by the furniture salesman, you would have been far better off relying on your home insurance which if you already had Accidental Damage cover would not have cost you any extra and would have been "New for Old" eg they would replace it with a new item. They would not have replaced the whole set though.

The sale of Insurance is very highly regulated and the regulator (The FSA) are trying to make companies like Harveys by compaliant. It will be very difficult to prove what the salesman told you.

However one of the problems you can pull them up on is with all Insurance products if you need to make a complaint it should be explained to you so you can make your complaint. The Harveys manager should not be giving you the brush off but should explain how you can make a formal complaint to their Chief Executive. If this does not give you the result you want then you can take it to the Ombudsman.

Please learn your lesson and in future buy Insurance from someone who deals in Insurance and not a furniture or car salesman etc etc as they are driven by earning their commissions.

dunstonh

I told him that misselling of insurance policies is a serious legal issue and that I had only bought the policy on the understanding of what the salesman had told me, but he says that it's only my word on this, and as I have no proof, there is no way my claim will be honoured in the way I believe it should be.

He has a point. The four truths principle applies. You have your opinion on what was said, they have their opinion on what was said, then there was the reality of what was really said and then there is the interpretation of what was actually said.

what can I do about this enforcing this policy as it was sold to me?!

Put your complaint in and provide your evidence to back up your claims. Depending on the quality of your evidence, they will with respond in your favour or against you or at least come up with a compromise. Logically that would be to up the offer to £849 as a credit note to allow you to replace the item. Perhaps you should suggest that in your complaint.

Insurance complaints are regulated and the way you have been treated sounds like a breach of rules. So, you should mention that as well.

schmeln

Thanks for prompt replies. What kind of evidence could I provide? I'm just fuming at that guy's attitude still - that the insurance could be so grossly missold and that I will end up being out of pocket because I trusted the elderly salesman to be telling me the truth. As a law student I normally check everything like that twice, so I'm kicking myself that I didn't, and if it slipped past me, how many others have been duped in this way?!

advent1122

A verbal contract is not worth the paper it is written on.

dunstonh

What kind of evidence could I provide?

Thats your problem. You have none. You could be making it all up in an attempt to get more money. Not saying you are but it happens. Indeed, there are a few sections on this board that virtually encourage you to lie to get money. Hence you should probably go with telling them what you say you were told but make a point of poor attitude and service and tell them what you want. It will be cheaper for them to up the credit note to the required amount than do anything else.