claiming for clothes - wear and tear reduction?

latecomer

We are in the process of evaluating a claim and while we know that a deduction for wear and tear will be applied, there doesn't appear to be much, if any, info to say what it might be. Loss adjuster is about as much help as a chocolate teapot but given his role thats not surprising.

Anyone have any idea or experience? The majority of the items are in at least good if not excellent condition.

Thanks!

Tygermoth

Nearly all Home insurance is new for old cover and as such no deductions should be made.

Travel policies tend to be the only insurer which make W&T deductions but its noted in the policy.

I would assume no wear and tear is payable unless told otherwise by the 'chocolate teapot' and if he comes back saying deductions are to be made have him note the reasons in writing with the relevant wording of the policy highlighted.

FlameCloud

Tygermoth wrote: »

Nearly all Home insurance is new for old cover and as such no deductions should be made.

Travel policies tend to be the only insurer which make W&T deductions but its noted in the policy.

I would assume no wear and tear is payable unless told otherwise by the 'chocolate teapot' and if he comes back saying deductions are to be made have him note the reasons in writing with the relevant wording of the policy highlighted.

Most household policies are replacement for everything bar linen and clothes, where they are indemnity, so the 'chocolate teapot' may just be right.

The % deduction will depend on the age, item type and value- eg a higher % should be applied to a 3 year old cheap t-shirt than a 4 year old expensive suit worn twice a year for example.

Quote

Flamecloud is right. Tygermoth would struggle to be more wrong.

latecomer

thanks for the responses - we have already been told that clothing and linen will be subject to a deduction for "wear and tear" but the "teapot" is being extremely evasive in general and as these are going to make up a large proportion of the claim we want an indication of what he is going to reduce the new replacement value by. Most items are in at least good condition - very few items have had any remark on their condition made during itemisation.

somalt

Check in your policy booklet what it says about the deduction. It should be at the end of the contents section in the settlement section. Each policy will vary it might be deductions on all clothing it might only be clothing which is older than say 2 years. Once you know that if all your items are newer than that you don't need to think on it.

Some insurers may have a set of guidelines for their claims, others may say it is up to the loss adjuster's experience. He maybe being vague as he is asking the insurers.

Be prepared to discuss it with the loss adjuster, typically they should be taking into account the age and nature of the item. That should reflect how often it is worn. So a pair of jeans which are worn once a week should have a greater deduction than a party dress which has only been worn twice.

It's hard to talk specific % because there isn't one universal set of figures that everyone uses. The only thing I am turning up on the Financial Ombudsman website is a case study where the insurers tried to deduct 66% from every item and the FOS reduced it to 25%. It's in Ombudsman news 92.

latecomer

thanks.

I found that case study but little else of use. the policy document we have doesn't mention anything other than the fact that a deduction will be made.

TSx

Just to give you an idea of how the insurer I work for approaches it, we usually make a deduction of around 10% for each year owned (no deduction less than a year old), as an average across all items, up to 10 years+ where we deduct 95%. I haven't got a clue how that relates to other insurance companies though. If a loss adjuster has being appointed they may be seeking clarification on how to approach the wear and tear deduction from the insurer, or just sourcing the replacement costs first.

latecomer

Thanks for the reply - that really helps. We are just about finished with the itemisation so will need to send it to the loss adjuster and see what he says.

question84

I have just put through a claim and they have deducted 30% from our overall figure for wear and tear on clothing and shoes etc it is a large chunk of money is this a normal apercentage deducted?

TSx

question84 wrote: »

I have just put through a claim and they have deducted 30% from our overall figure for wear and tear on clothing and shoes etc it is a large chunk of money is this a normal apercentage deducted?

How old are the clothes on average?

30% where I work would be around 3-4 years old on average.