Insurance Claim - Not Happy with settlement offer.

Arrem

I recently made my first ever claim in almost 50 years of an unblemished record. My wife accidentally hit the screen of our very expensive Sony lcd television. It resulted in a horrible permanent display fault which runs the full height and width of the screen.
I reported the accident and was impressed at the prompt and efficient attention by the staff at the claims handling centre. A few days later, and after several different people had phoned me to ask the same questions, I finally took a call from the claims adjusters.
Now bearing in mind my television is about three years old, it cost me £1800 when new, and having already paid my voluntary excess of £250, you can imagine my dismay when I was offered an Argos voucher for £499.
I told the person that the offer was unacceptable, she replied it was the best they could do. I repeated that it was still not acceptable to which she said she would have to refer it back to the insurance claims office.
OK so that's the state of play to now.
I know that technology has improved over time and that my tv was very high spec' when I bought it but I was expecting more than the £499 offered.
Am I being unrealistic in my expectations?

McKneff

Price up some TVs of the same spec as yours and see what you come up with.

We have had our 42" for 5 years, it cost us £1300 but I can get the same spec now for £500.

Like I say, shop around, but it does sound as if they are going to come up with a better settlement offer so I would
just wait till they contact you.

Arrem

Thanks McKneff,
What you are saying is exactly what the claims management company have said, and why I mentioned the improvement of technology in my original post.
I cannot disagree, that a tv of a similar spec to that which cost me £1800 three years ago will only cost me about £500 now. But it is very disappointing to be reminded that I possibly expected far too much of the insurers.
I was looking at protecting the cost of my initial "investment" and not the real cost of it now.
Thanks for putting me straight

McKneff

Its amazing how much the prices come down, makes you feel as if you should have waited a while, but we have to have them and pay the price. Mind, we were quite happy to pay the price at the time (as you no doubt were) especially as the last telly was one of these big fat silver 22 inches.
This one is 42" and takes up far less room as well as being easier to watch.

Anyway, like I say it sounds as if they are going to come up with a better offer so just hang fire there.
Let us know how you get on.

Regards
Annie

zzzLazyDaisy

Your insurer is only obliged to provide you with a TV of a similar spec. It isn't about the amount of money it cost you originally, but about how much it would cost you to replace it. There is a saying in insurance law 'you may not profit from your loss'. In other words, if they worked on the price the original TV cost, you could go out and buy a brand new TV of the same spec and have money left over after factoring in the excess. That's not how it works.

I do know how you feel - I bought a top of the range laptop 5 years ago,it cost me over a grand. When it died, I got one with twice the spec for less than half the price. Same with my camera - the one I paid goodness knows how much for a couple of years ago has been superseded by a much better one for around the same price.

That's technology for you.

Enjoy your new TV!

somalt

They will be offering what it will cost to replace the television with one of the same specifications at current prices and not the original purchase price.

Obviously I don't know the specifics of the specification of your TV and I am unsure if you mean that you have paid the excess on a debit card or they are deducting it from that settlement.

Anyway, currently on the Argos website there are no 42 inch Sony TV's available:

42 inch tv's range up from £399 to £799 (the ones which cost more than that are 3D ready.)

Sony tv's there is a 46 inch at £749

They should be able to tell you specifically what television they are basing their offer on and then it's worth checking the specifications on it.

Assuming that they are basing it about the £749 figure and taking the £250 off it doesn't seem to be an unrealistic offer.

Arrem

@somalt,
They are offering me a £499 Argos voucher and I have already paid them £250 voluntary excess.
The televisions in the price range £500-£700 are a similar spec' to my 3 year old Sony.
Thanks to the forum members here I have been able to see that the Insurers are in fact offering me a reasonable deal.
However, having told them their offer is unacceptable I am waiting to see if they will change their minds (however unlikely).

Thanks to everyone for their input

somalt

You're welcome.

It's always worth trying you never know what they will come up with. It might be worth mentioning that you have a strong preference for Sony and there is no 42inch available there etc, you might be able to get the settlement paid as cash at least.

And really check the spec as even the smallest difference should be considered. You might never really use it, but if the old tv had it then you are entitled for the new tv to have the same.

Good luck!