home contents insurance claim-Help please!!

fluffyboots

Hi All-

Wonder if you can help.. I was burgled last month the back door smashed in and they stole 2 Ipods, blackberry phone, laptop my grans gold and ruby ring and gold charm bracelet. The estimated claim by me was about £2100 with £400 being the door and there is an excess of £250 each on the contents and buildings. I have provided receipts for I pods blackberry laptop and door but cant find anything for the jewellery which was part of my grandmas estate.

However the insurers Prestige have now got valuers to contact me to discuss replacement of the electrical items and also the same for the gold jewellery. It now looks as if the jewellery will be worth more than I thought( none of it was insured for over £500 as didnt think it was worth that much). The insurers are now saying I have to take replacements not a cheque for some of the items. I think they are haggling with me yet on their policy it just says repair, replacement or refund.

I am waiting for them to give me the final quotes from the jewellery people and the total. But I am a bit unhappy that they can force me to take replacements which may not be what I want I would prefer a refund.I have never claimed before and theres nothing dodgy about the claim so I dont know if this is normal policy.

Is this legal does anyone know??? I cant see it in the policy docs??? I dont know what to do.
Thanks all!!:think::)

All advice welcome.

huckster

Hi

If you visit the FOS website you will find information to help you. If the items were sentimental, they can't force you to have a modern replacement.

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

warez22

In the event of a cash or cheque settlement, the Insurance Company can sometimes settle at a figure less than that which would be provided if there was a replacement.

I cannot see any reason why the Insurance Company would not offer you a cash/cheque replacement, if you agreed to a slightly reduced figure.

This is done mainly because Insurance Companies have a list of recommended repairers or retailers so obtain discounts on obtaining items through them. So if you went to Currys and bought a TV from them, it would cost you £400, the Insurance Company maybe able to obtain the same TV for £250, therefore if you wished for a cash settlement, they should be happy to do so, but would offer you £250.

TBH for sentimental items, client's tend to react in 2 ways - 1 - they accept a lower value cash settlement or 2 - they realise that the item cannot be replaced and decide not to claim for that particular item.

Way 2 is important in your case, because if your claim goes over the £5000 threshold you will find it difficult to obtain alternative quotations when your policy becomes due for renewal.

I work for a Broker who do not deal with the particular Insurance Company you have, so I am just outlining how it works with the Insurance Companies that we deal with - hope that helps.

vaio

So to summarise….I insure my contents, pay a premium based on what I say the stuff will cost to replace but the actual risk to them is only about 60% of that amount because that’s all they will pay out if I make a claim.

And then to cap that, valid claims are actively discouraged with the threat that if I make a claim for more than £5k the insurance oligopoly will ensure that I’m forced to stay with my existing company who can basically charge me what they like

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

So to summarise….I insure my contents, pay a premium based on what I say the stuff will cost to replace but the actual risk to them is only about 60% of that amount because that’s all they will pay out if I make a claim.

And then to cap that, valid claims are actively discouraged with the threat that if I make a claim for more than £5k the insurance oligopoly will ensure that I’m forced to stay with my existing company who can basically charge me what they like

Viao ignore ware's post as in effect a theft claim puts off most new insurers from offering cover for between three and five years after the claim.The logic behind it is that once you have been broken into once you are statistically more likely to be broken into again.

Have a look at the link Huckster posted, I know you love the Ombudsman's guidance and you will find that link very helpful in your MSE advice on Insurers insisting on certain suppliers and reducing cash payments.

Have a read of it and then answer Ware's post (I would not be surprised if he is not aware of the link as a surprising amount of insurance bods are not)

fluffyboots

Thanks everyone thats great!! I havent found out yet what the total is or how it is going to work but I will negotiate with them..it does seem unfair they are looking for me to take replacements for the elec items which of course they are going to get a discount on but I assume they will give me refund for the jewellery which is quite old.The insurer said" oh we cant settle it all in cash" . I originally thought the claim would be at most £2000-£2500 for the door and contents which given that the excess on each is £250 would not be a big claim -)))

huckster

They won't settle the claim all in cash. The Insurers are allowed to settle claims for electrical items by replacing them.

warez22

I have read the link that was posted and my advice still remains the same.

With regard to the electrical items you can receive a reduced cash settlement, if that is your wish, or have a direct 'new for old' replacement.

With regard to the jewellery, if you have valuations the process for a cash settlement is easier. However, if you dont, you will need to open negotiations to obtain a cash settlement that both you and the Insurance Company are happy with.

However, I must say that I am slightly perturbed by the 'ignore warez' posts. Firstly for the reason that I have taken time to try to help and find it somewhat rude and also I have dealt with many claims over many many years and am offering you hints as to how it works in the real world, especially with the ceiling limit of claims for new quotations.

Anyway, I wish you luck with the negotiations.

fluffyboots

Once again Wares, All,.thank you. I can see my options now. I think what they might do is negotiate eg cash for one items for the other.I am currently waiting for the valuer to go back to them re jewellery valuations then they will contact me. I had no idea this would be so complicated I last dealt with a contents claim in the 80s and it was so easy then!!( I think from what I recall anyway!)-)))I'll let u know the outcome!

huckster

fluffyboots

What you have to be careful of is giving out signals to Insurers, which they might misintepret. Some policyholders have been known to require a mainly cash settlement, because the claim is fraudulent.

Insurers could put a temporary hold on the claim while investigations are carried out, if you start asking for reduced cash settlements for electrical items. The whole point of Insurance is to put you in the same position as before.

geri1965_2

huckster wrote: »

They won't settle the claim all in cash. The Insurers are allowed to settle claims for electrical items by replacing them.

Not necessarily true, AXA settled my claim in cash even though I was fully expecting them to replace the items themselves. The loss adjuster said they prefer cash settlements.