Anyone had any dealings with IVAL?

*onlyme*

My DD went to put a DVD in her LCD TV with built in DVD player and decided to knock the TV of the shelve, screen landing on the corner of the metal bedpost. :eek:

The screen is cracked a little but the TV still plays. The DVD doesn't work anymore. The frame of the TV is scratched with paint of the metal bedframe but that is only cosmetical.

I rang my insurers - Barclays - and they have logged the claim. They have also added on her desk which has a dent in it from what I can only assume from the corner of the TV. (the DVD player is at the top corner at the back, on the side of where the desk is so I think that is how that could broken)

Barclays told me a company called IVAL will contact me within 2 working days.

I have never claimed before so not 100% sure what will happen next.

Can anyone enlighten me and if anyone had dealings with IVAL...please tell me if I am in for a longwinded process or something that will be over quite quickly.

Many thanks!

9898emmas

Hi

I am in the process of making a claim through Ival. Ival will contact you within a few days and get you to talk through what happened and what damage was done. Then they will give you a telephone number for Comet (and a job ref to give over) then you arrange with Comet to get an engineer to come round and inspect your TV/DVD Player and see if it can be repaired (The call out times are 8am - 6pm! I got them to come on Saturday). They will then contact you within 9-12 days and let you know if they will repair the TV/DVD Player or give you vouchers/cheque for a new like for like model.

I am at the stage where I am waiting for the Comet engineer to report back to Ival, and then for Ival to come back to me with regards to what happens next.

Hope this helps!

*onlyme*

Ival have contacted me and they don't want to send anyone out to check if it can be repaird (to my surprise but they would be more then welcome to). They offered us a certain model at Comet which my husband refused. He works in Comet and deals with all the returns in the warehouse and he has quite a pile of those which have been returned with all sorts of faults.
Ival are sending us an Ival giftcard and we can shop around and pay the extra for a TV we want.

potbelly

I too am insured with Barclays and put a claim in after a lightning strike on my phone line. It took out my laptop, phones, microwave, TV and so on. That was on June 30th. - two months ago.
First problem with IVAL is apparently they DON'T write letters, they only communicate by telephone or email. Difficult when your PC and phones have been blown up.
They then arranged for the items to be inspected - requiring a day off work, but only the TV was looked at. Telephoned IVAL and they told me they would have to arrange another inspection. Another day off work. Then they cancelled that inspection, but didn't bother to tell me!
The next problem is they aren't evaluating the goods, they are shopping on your behalf for replacements - and they are offering the cheapest rubbish they can find. My mid range Sharp stainless steel microwave will be replaced with the cheapest Proline model from Comet.
Numerous telephone calls, one lasting three and a half hours!!!, and they are still refusing to discuss this sensibly.
I am now writing to Barclays Chief Executive office to lodge a formal complaint, and ready with a follow up letter to the Financial Ombudsman.

Needless to say I will be changing my insurer as soon as this fiasco is sorted.
My advice to anyone reading this is to ask your insurer how claims will be processed and if you hear the name IVAL, or Powerplay (another name for the same company) avoid them like the plague!!
It's too late for me but I am hoping nobody else has to experience this sort of thing.

dacouch

Potbelly have a read of this which is guidance from the Ombudsman which the Insurers should abide by. (A lot of their staff will not know of these rules or pretend they do not exist)..

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

geri1965_2

IVAL dealt with my laptop claim and I was amazed by how quickly it was sorted out.

Magordave

iVal dealt with my claim on behalf of Tesco Finest Insurance. After sending proof of ownership my claim was completed in 7 days. The staff I dealt with were excellent and extremely helpful.

luckygirl20

IVAL are scum - been waiting since 18.12.10 for them to replace an oven; they make you jump through ring after ring and their customer service people will lie to you time and again; I got the impression they just want you to shut up and go away

potbelly

potbelly wrote: »

I too am insured with Barclays and put a claim in after a lightning strike on my phone line. It took out my laptop, phones, microwave, TV and so on. That was on June 30th. - two months ago.
First problem with IVAL is apparently they DON'T write letters, they only communicate by telephone or email. Difficult when your PC and phones have been blown up.
They then arranged for the items to be inspected - requiring a day off work, but only the TV was looked at. Telephoned IVAL and they told me they would have to arrange another inspection. Another day off work. Then they cancelled that inspection, but didn't bother to tell me!
The next problem is they aren't evaluating the goods, they are shopping on your behalf for replacements - and they are offering the cheapest rubbish they can find. My mid range Sharp stainless steel microwave will be replaced with the cheapest Proline model from Comet.
Numerous telephone calls, one lasting three and a half hours!!!, and they are still refusing to discuss this sensibly.
I am now writing to Barclays Chief Executive office to lodge a formal complaint, and ready with a follow up letter to the Financial Ombudsman.

Needless to say I will be changing my insurer as soon as this fiasco is sorted.
My advice to anyone reading this is to ask your insurer how claims will be processed and if you hear the name IVAL, or Powerplay (another name for the same company) avoid them like the plague!!
It's too late for me but I am hoping nobody else has to experience this sort of thing.

I thought readers of this forum would like an update on my claim.

I rejected IVAL's evaluations of my property several times, starting at £650 ( a ridiculous amount considering the number of items and their true costs) eventually getting to £1800. I accepted that but I also claimed an extra £200 for my wasted time dealing with all their letters and phone calls, and I got a refund of the £75 excess they wanted to levy. So by holding out I went from £650 to £2075!

The reason they offer so little is that this will be in the form of vouchers for the MAKE and MODEL of what THEY consider a replacement, and from suppliers where they have a deal to get TRADE discounts. DO NOT put up with this! And I have proven you CAN get a proper settlement.

m_ormerwood

heya guys. im looking for some help/ advise.my mountain bike was stolen off my balcony so i recently made a claim with SANTANDER who have passed my claim to IVAL. my policy is old for new and the bike was bought for £300 off gumtree a year ago. will i get old for new or will they value it on what you can get the bike for 2nd hand which is about £100??? any help/ advice would be much appreciated.

TSx

m_ormerwood wrote: »

heya guys. im looking for some help/ advise.my mountain bike was stolen off my balcony so i recently made a claim with SANTANDER who have passed my claim to IVAL. my policy is old for new and the bike was bought for £300 off gumtree a year ago. will i get old for new or will they value it on what you can get the bike for 2nd hand which is about £100??? any help/ advice would be much appreciated.

Most policies are new for old but bikes usually aren't, where they go on the current value basically.

edit: reading through Santanders policy document, it does seem to be new for old on pedal cycles so you should be OK.