Leather/vinyl furniture

oldagetraveller

Daughter and her boyfriend bought 3 and 2 seater settees from Land of Leather in May 2008 (yes I know:o) and took out insurance cover at the same time with Homeserve. Now less than 15 months later the three seater is coming apart between the seats. Facings are leather but other, non visible areas are of a leather look material, Homeserve call it "leathermatch", between seats, front lower trim etc. They made a claim to Homeserve and some character came to assess the problem. Homeserve have written to advise that this "leathermatch" material is not as durable as leather and after a time tends to "dry". This leads to it's (leathermatch material) mesh backing tearing and shredding!
As a result they are unable to continue with the claim as it comes under "wear and tear on these areas". The furniture is meant to be sat on? and as such should be durable enough for that purpose? and not start to fall apart after less than 15 months? S.O.G. would be useful also but L O L are no longer trading.
What would be the best response to Homeserve and subsequent action to take as it would appear that like all "good" insurance companies they seem to be avoiding their responsibility?
Sorry for longish post, any suggestions would be appreciated.

myrnahaz

I'd contact Trding Standards - the goods need to be fit for the purpose they were bought for, and these sofas clearly are not. If there is a mis-match in the two fabrics then it's a design fault, not wear and tear.