Broken TV, can I replace before speaking to Insurers?

blue_monkey_2

I have broken our TV tonight. Really was stupid but we have one of those tennis racket fly killers and there were 2 flies on the TV and I thought I would try and get them, only I put it near the TV and it went bang and now will turn on but there is no response, no picture, no light to say the screen is on. I've obviously blown something inside.

I have accidental damage on the Insurance Policy and I have called the Insurers but they will call me back on Monday as it was just a call reporting ervice (despite it saying calim line open 24/7!).

Can I buy another in the meantime and if it needs replacing, will they refund me the cost? I was going to go and get another one tomorrow if I could. I've not had to do a claim before so any advice will be appreciated. It does not tell me too much in the little booklet and I am not sure whether I can do this.

Thanks for any help.

dacouch

No you cannot replace it, your Insurers will what to validate your claim and calculate what the value / direct replacement of your tv is.

It will be best to wait until monday and let your Insurers handle it

blue_monkey_2

Thanks. I asked over on the Arms becase I wanted to get it sorted by the morning and they are saying that I should be OK but I might get vouchers which is not a problem to be honest. Either way if it gets fixed it'll reaplce the old CRT TV we have, if it gets replaced and refunded that is fine.

What a nightmare.

dacouch

They will get their supplier to either deliver an equivalent tv or giive you vouchers

kippen_noedel

Insurance companies like the voucher route because they can claim back the vat.

Mine tried this with me but I wasn't prepared to wait until they got themselves organised. Damaged articles were stored until they got around to sending out "an expert" to assess the claim.

read your policy to see what it actually says, don't take it for granted that they have the right to tell you how they will cover your loss.

lisyloo

You should carefully consider whether it's worth making a small claim.
Your premiums may well rise for a few years, so small claims are not worth making.

You can do a comparison of your insurance with zero claims and with 1 claims to see the increase.
Then you need to multiply it by the number of years it will affect you.

For example if the premium increase is £100 and that will go on for 3 years, then it's going to cost you £300 to claim.
So you might be better off just buying a TV.

dmg24

lisyloo wrote: »

You should carefully consider whether it's worth making a small claim.
Your premiums may well rise for a few years, so small claims are not worth making.

You can do a comparison of your insurance with zero claims and with 1 claims to see the increase.
Then you need to multiply it by the number of years it will affect you.

For example if the premium increase is £100 and that will go on for 3 years, then it's going to cost you £300 to claim.
So you might be better off just buying a TV.

Excellent point.

oswaloman

Before you joined any insurance you must know/clear all the terms and conditions. you just for some words from the insurance company and make the final call.

blue_monkey_2

lisyloo wrote: »

You should carefully consider whether it's worth making a small claim.
Your premiums may well rise for a few years, so small claims are not worth making.

You can do a comparison of your insurance with zero claims and with 1 claims to see the increase.
Then you need to multiply it by the number of years it will affect you.

For example if the premium increase is £100 and that will go on for 3 years, then it's going to cost you £300 to claim.
So you might be better off just buying a TV.

Thanks LL, yes, it is my intention to get quotes with the claim on to see if it makes any difference and see whather it is worth it. Kind of frustrating as this is what why we paid for insurance. My husband is due some money shortly so we got a new TV today and if it is not worth it when the money comes it will pay off the TV. As I say, frustrating because this is what we pay the Insurance for, but I am going to get quotes with a claim on it and see whether it is worth persuing.

ETA: Ive looked gone through an online quote with our current insurer and it is £20 a year more if I declare a recent claim of £350.

blue_monkey_2

oswaloman wrote: »

Before you joined any insurance you must know/clear all the terms and conditions. you just for some words from the insurance company and make the final call.

I did not quite understand this post, sorry. I have read the policy booklet and it does not specifically say, it does say they will make cash payments though. This is why I asked.

blue_monkey_2

I wanted to update this thread in case anyone else was in the same situation. We replaced our TV the next day, the same size and spec, and I called the Insurance company and told them what happened and that we replaced it.

They asked me to get a quote for getting it repaired (which it cannot be as a part has gone that cannot be replaced, it is not available) and they told me that they would check their prices from their supplier and would refund us for replacing the TV we bought at their price less the excess. They are also refunding the price we paid for the engineers inspection as we had to arrange this ourselves. We'll be getting a cheque for this.

They also said that if it could have been repaired they would be happy to give us a cheque for the repair amount instead as we had already bought a new TV.

I have got the same contents Insurance for next year at the same price as current insurer was offering, plus more ££ in cover, and that is including the claim plus I got £42 cashback on Quidco.

Very happy with the outcome.