Problems with a claim

Caryne

I am with MMA insurers and I have just made my first ever claim after I knocked over and damaged my TV.

I have two queries, firstly they want me to pay the £150.00 excess upfront. I don't have £150 spare and I thought excess was usually deducted from any claim money I receive. Is this not the case anymore?

Secondly, though this is the only claim I have ever made they now want to increase my premiums (the policy is due for renewal in a fortnight) by nearly 50%!!! Can anyone recommend a good insurer, Home Contents only as I live in a rented property, that won't charge the earth because I have made one claim in my entire life?

somalt

For a tv claim they are probably planning to send a replacement rather than a cash settlement, hence wanting a payment of it up front.

Caryne

Yeah, maybe but they've not really explained themselves or what they are going to do. Just said they are sending someone round on Monday to collect the TV and see what is wrong with it/check if it can be fixed. If they fix it then paying £150 'excess' for a TV repair seems a hell of a lot. Can I tell them not to bother?

somalt

Yeah, the people who work for insurance companies tend to forget that just because they know how their claims process works that their customer's don't!

It does seem unusual for them to want to collect an excess before they have inspected and confirmed that it is a claim.

If you let them inspect and it would be less than the excess to repair it they may let you withdraw the claim.

The other thing to have a look at is what a replacement TV like the one you have will cost to buy, because that's what they will be settling on.

Once you know that, and work out the impact on the premiums when you shop around, then decide if you benefit most by making the claim or not.

Caryne

somalt wrote: »

Yeah, the people who work for insurance companies tend to forget that just because they know how their claims process works that their customer's don't!

It does seem unusual for them to want to collect an excess before they have inspected and confirmed that it is a claim.

If you let them inspect and it would be less than the excess to repair it they may let you withdraw the claim.

The other thing to have a look at is what a replacement TV like the one you have will cost to buy, because that's what they will be settling on.

Once you know that, and work out the impact on the premiums when you shop around, then decide if you benefit most by making the claim or not.

Thank you for your comments. I did ask them if I withdrew the claim would my premium go back to a 'reasonable' level and they said 'No' as the claim is now on the records!! I'm not sure if they are taking me for a ride or not really.

The TV was three years old, cost £399.99, and was a 'HD Ready 32" LCD Panasonic'. It's quite hard to not get a full HD TV now from Panasonic and they are cheaper than they were three years ago so I am not really sure how it will all work out.

adamc260

Caryne wrote: »

Thank you for your comments. I did ask them if I withdrew the claim would my premium go back to a 'reasonable' level and they said 'No' as the claim is now on the records!! I'm not sure if they are taking me for a ride or not really.

The TV was three years old, cost £399.99, and was a 'HD Ready 32" LCD Panasonic'. It's quite hard to not get a full HD TV now from Panasonic and they are cheaper than they were three years ago so I am not really sure how it will all work out.

Aye sadly because the incident has happened its an increased 'risk' to the insurers so they say. Usually, from my experience of handling claims... the excess is paid on completion of a claim after your satisfied with goods given etc. Especially in relation to say a ... motor claim, your car gets repaired and inspected before you ever hand over any money, don't see why this should be any different?

Caryne

adamc260 wrote: »

Aye sadly because the incident has happened its an increased 'risk' to the insurers so they say. Usually, from my experience of handling claims... the excess is paid on completion of a claim after your satisfied with goods given etc. Especially in relation to say a ... motor claim, your car gets repaired and inspected before you ever hand over any money, don't see why this should be any different?

If they don't want the £150 excess till I am happy with the completion of the claim that's not too bad but there seemed to be an implication in the letter that they wanted it sooner than that which, to me, sounds wrong.

bellabear_2

You may wish to look at replacing this yourself, it is standard for them to ask for the excess up front (as it costs them alot of time and money to chase this up after if you havn't paid it beforehand).

The reason for the increase may be because you have an open claim, ask your current insurers how much they have estimated this claim to cost (as that will be what they have based your renewal on), you would also need to advise your new insurer that you have an open claim.

Have a look at the cost of a replacement tv of the same specs (it doesn't have to be a panasonic btw, just similar standard brand), deduct your excess, also bear in mind that claims normally need to be disclosed for 5 years (so potentially may affect your premiums for this long).

HTH

Caryne

bellabear wrote: »

You may wish to look at replacing this yourself, it is standard for them to ask for the excess up front (as it costs them alot of time and money to chase this up after if you havn't paid it beforehand).

The reason for the increase may be because you have an open claim, ask your current insurers how much they have estimated this claim to cost (as that will be what they have based your renewal on), you would also need to advise your new insurer that you have an open claim.

Have a look at the cost of a replacement tv of the same specs (it doesn't have to be a panasonic btw, just similar standard brand), deduct your excess, also bear in mind that claims normally need to be disclosed for 5 years (so potentially may affect your premiums for this long).

HTH

Thanks but, I've been told that even if I now cancel the claim it will still be on my records so seems I can't do much about this now so looks like I've got more expensive premiums whether I like it or not.

I still don't get the asking for the excess up front though. I've asked other people and they've all told me they just had the amount deducted from their claim. Even if they get me a replacement TV it's not as if I can run away from paying the excess, they have so many details on me I'd be easy to track down!!

adamc260

Caryne wrote: »

Thanks but, I've been told that even if I now cancel the claim it will still be on my records so seems I can't do much about this now so looks like I've got more expensive premiums whether I like it or not.

I still don't get the asking for the excess up front though. I've asked other people and they've all told me they just had the amount deducted from their claim. Even if they get me a replacement TV it's not as if I can run away from paying the excess, they have so many details on me I'd be easy to track down!!

I guess they can't deduct it from the claim else they'd need to replace it with a tv worth £150 less as they're not giving you a cash settlement etc.

vaio

It looks like a TV like that now costs £200-£250, knock off your excess and you are talking about a claim value of £50-£100.

It's a bit late for the OP but generally making a claim that small is pointless as they will get it back off you in increased premiums every year for the next five years.

Some things need to be self insured