Phone Insurance - Lifestyle Services Group

Dedrizen

Some help/advice would be greatly appreciated here...

Two weeks ago I lost my mobile (iPhone 3GS) in the back of a taxi and it was subsequently stolen. This was in the early hours of Saturday morning but I was unable to report it lost until the Sunday morning at around 9am due to travel and work commitments. I reported the phone stolen to my provider and had the sim blocked, but unfortunately £170 worth of charges were already accrued.

I tried to contact my local police station shortly after, but couldn't get through and the station itself is closed on weekends. I went in on Monday morning and was told that Essex Police do not issue incident numbers for lost/stolen phones and have not done for five/six years. I was informed by the officer I spoke to that if my insurance company were to question this, that I was to tell them to contact the station directly.

I filed the claim with my insurance provider, which is Lifestyle Services Group through my Barclays bank account, but today I received a letter informing me that the claim had been refused.

After calling I was informed that this was because I had not notified the police within 24 hours of the incident (in spite of the station being shut), I did not have an incident number (in spite of the police informing me that I couldn't receive one), and the fact it took me 32 hours to contact my service provider.

I've appealed the decision via the email address provided, citing the extenuating circumstances, but after reading some horror stories relating to this particular provider I'm not exactly hopeful. The unsolicited calls and a replacement phone will cost me approaching £500 so this is extremely costly for me.

Is there anything I can do? Or do they have me over a barrel here?

MorrisonsEmployee

To be honest mobile phone insurance companies are all pretty terrible - Even the few that are half decent are usually very strict on the 24 hour policy of reporting the phone lost or stolen and getting it blocked - Good luck but i really think you may struggle to get anywhere with this as regardless of the reasons as in their eyes you have failed to do anything for 24+ hours.

grumbler

I lost my mobile (iPhone 3GS) in the back of a taxi and it was subsequently stolen.

It is either lost or stolen, not both.

This was in the early hours of Saturday morning but I was unable to report it lost until the Sunday morning at around 9am due to travel and work commitments.

I am not buying this. It takes just a few minutes to report.

the station itself is closed on weekends

I don't think that there are stations that are closed for two days.

Having said that, 95% of mobile (and not only mobile) insurers are thieves. They use all their resources on creating ambiguous T&C and finding excuses for rejecting claims instead of paying. That's why I buy only compulsory insurances.

Dedrizen

grumbler wrote: »

It is either lost or stolen, not both.
I am not buying this. It takes just a few minutes to report.
I don't think that there are stations that are closed for two days.

Having said that, 95% of mobile (and not only mobile) insurers are thieves. They use all their resources on creating ambiguous T&C and finding excuses for rejecting claims instead of paying. That's why I buy only compulsory insurances.

I'm a journalist. I was staying in London on assignment, lost my phone on the Friday evening/Saturday morning and had to work throughout Saturday. After travelling, I finally got home at around 11pm Saturday night.

I can't post a link, but I can assure that my local police station is closed both Saturday and Sunday.

grumbler

Even if it really was closed for two days you could have reported to another station.
It's hard to believe that you didn't have any opportunity to contact the service provider.

I see the only point that you can dispute really - the incident number. This will not change anything even if you succeed in this.

liannee22

grumbler wrote: »

Even if it really was closed for two days you could have reported to another station.
It's hard to believe that you didn't have any opportunity to contact the service provider.

I see the only point that you can dispute really - the incident number. This will not change anything even if you succeed in this.

my local police station is also only open 10-6 mon-fri! hope u manage to sort it OP

Exhortation

I wouldn't go to a station to report a stolen phone. Instead, I'd use the 101 number.

All insurance companies will do anything they can to get out of paying a claim, or, at the very least, minimising the payout. As the OP has failed to adhere to any of the terms of a claim, I don't see any way they can expect LSG to cough up in this instance.