Natwest mobile phone insurance wont pay out on my Iphone 4

fleeze69

Hi

I have a 32gb Iphone4 and unfortunately put my jeans in the wash not knowing I had left it in my jeans pocket - admittedly I should have checked my pockets but it was an honest mistake and I have learnt an expensive lesson from it.

Luckily (so I thought) I have a Natwest Gold account so I should be covered on the mobile phone insurance, their terms and conditions say that I'm covered for both water and accidental damage.

I put my claim in on Sunday 18th October and have found out today that the claim has been refused as I acted carelessly. The guy on the phone said that the instructions for my washing machine would've said I should have checked my pokers and therefor I acted irresponsibly - he was correct my instructions do state "Empty all garment pockets and check the buttons".

I've had a look at the terms and conditions for my insurance and it doesn't mention washing machines but does say they don't cover damage if I "haven’t taken reasonable precautions to prevent it" (the terms can be found here http://www.natwest.com/content/personal/adgold/pdfs/AdGold_important_info_(Ts_Cs).pdf)

I did notice that the insurers are CPP and their own brand phone insurance Phonesafe states damage caused by a washing machine is not covered - however these aren't the terms I agreed to when I signed up to Natwest, so don't think these apply to me.

The guy on the phone said it's not worth appealing as it will be flat refused, he said the only thing I could do is write to their complaints department who would take 40 days to get back to me, if they couldn't help I'd then have to talk to the FSA.

Luckily Apple have offered to fix/replace it for £147 tomorrow, which I am going to do as I can't be without it for another 40 days (I use it for my work email), but am wondering if there is any help or suggestions to try and get CPP to refund me the £147 that I am going to have to fork out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Adam

magpiecottage

Without knowing the full details of the policy, I cannot give a definitive answer.

However, the FSA rules say that the complaint must be responded to within 8 weeks of receipt. Although that is roughly equal to 40 working days it is not quite the same because no extension is allowed for bank holidays.

The 8 weeks start running when the firm receives the complaint, not when you send it and they only have to get it in the post by the end of eight weeks.


You then have six months to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service if necessary.

fleeze69

All of the details I was given when purchasing the insurance can be found at http://www.natwest.com/personal/adgold/g2/mobile-phone-benefits/mobile-phone-insurance.ashx

huckster

fleeze69 wrote: »

All of the details I was given when purchasing the insurance can be found at http://www.natwest.com/personal/adgold/g2/mobile-phone-benefits/mobile-phone-insurance.ashx

Suggest that you phone them again, as they appear to have misinformed you. There is no exclusion in the NatWest policy for accidently putting the phone in a washing machine. Unless your NatWest cover has a different contract to the internet link you have provided.

cosmeticjunkie

The policy is a bit confusing

under what's covered it says:

This policy provides insurance against loss, theft, damage (liquid,
accidental and malicious) and breakdown of your mobile phone when
it is being used by you or up to two other authorised users, up to a

value of £1,000.

Which to my mind should cover you because you accidentally put it in the washing machine, even if you did it on purpose (maliciously) it should still cover you.

But (and there's always a but) under whats not covered it says

10. Damage, loss or theft where you haven’t taken reasonable
precautions to prevent this or indifferent to the risk of damage, loss or
theft taking place. Some examples include wilfully or recklessly leaving
your mobile phone unattended in a public place or leaving it on the
bonnet, boot or roof of a vehicle.

I would say phone again and ask them to put it through their complaints procedure but in the meantime as you need it get it fixed and when it all gets sorted hopefully Natwest will reimberse you.

FlameCloud

Ask them in what way you have been legally reckless (specifically knowing something may happen and doing nothing to stop it from happening). Without this you cannot exclude a claim under the reasonable care clause.

fleeze69

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.

Just got back from the Apple store, and all is sorted for FREE!

I heard the Apple guys having a chat about how many free replacements they had done today vs paid for ones and the guy that was dealing with me spoke to his colleague who told him to do a few free replacements to make up the numbers. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

I am still going to complain to Natwest (rather than the insurer) as I no longer want to pay £12 a month for my Advantage Gold account if the phone insurance is as poor as it it.

Thanks

Adam

trishaa

Hey which store did u go to?? i have the same problem but the a cracked screen....