Insurance Claim on Dropped Laptop only 3 months old

suzieanne

I have a Dell XPS 15 which accidently got knocked off a table by a spooked cat last night. It was on at the time and went to a blue screen then restarted. However when it restarted it emitted a series of beeps and wouldn't load up. I contacted Dell today who told me obviously it wouldn't be covered by the warranty and after trying several things with me over the phone decided it sounded like it was a motherboard failure. This would cost £250 to replace. As two other laptops (older, out of warranty laptops were also on the table and suffered drops with damage at the same time) i decided to go through my insurance policy which i have never claimed on before. When i then spoke to Dell again and told them that i was claiming on the insurance, they told me that the insurance company would use a 3rd party company to repair it which would void the rest of my warranty with them.

As the laptop (once repaired) would still have the rest of the 9 months on the warranty remaining if it was done by Dell, does this mean that i am within my rights to insist that Dell carry out the repair if Lloyds decide to repair it instead of replacement, so that i have the remainder of the warranty, or can i insist that the company who lloyds choose for the repair have to give me the same warranty to replace the one lost with Dell. If that makes sense.

I don't want to be done out of warranty for not knowing my rights.

Thank you

InsideInsurance

They have to put you back into the same state as you were before. If their repairs invalidate the warranty they must provide a replacement warranty for the same period.

Be aware however that lots of manufacturers do try and give scare tactics over warranties which when you read the T&Cs are not actually true.

How did multiple items get damaged in the same incident?

suzieanne

I thought i would be entitled to have the remainder of the warranty and i was wondering whether the Dell man was just a little upset that i didn't choose to cough up the money and get them to fix it straight away.

Basically my laptop (the Dell), my old laptop which my son uses (Acer about 3 years old) and my youngest son's net book (compaq 10" mini about 18 mths old) were all on a little table i was using to do my university work from. Something spooked my cat which knocked the table flying. I panicked as there were 3 laptops that went flying at once and managed to save none of them... the Acer looks like it landed on the power supply and lead and i left that one until this morning to check over and it looks like the power lead may have shorted or done something as the connection where the power lead is all melted now and it won't even power on. No idea what other damage has been done to that. Also the netbook has now got a damaged screen due to the fall but nothing else appears to be broken on it and it loads up fine. I got a rough guide to price on the netbook and that was £100. The Acer i also got someone to look at the power port without opening it up or anything and they didn't think it would be worth repairing it as it is a discontinued model now.

Therefore with mine and my youngest sons equalling about £350 at least and only having £50 excess on my home insurance, i decided it was best to claim on that and get all three of them sorted.

I was just worried when the Dell man started telling me about warranties being void. The dell is only 3 months old.

Suzie

magpiecottage

I would claim on the insurance in the first instance but make the insurer aware of Dell's position regarding the warranty (in writing - keep a copy). The insurer then has two choices. It can either arrange for Dell to repair it at its expense (less the excess) and keep the warranty intact or use its own repairer. If it uses its own repairer then it will become liable for any future repairs that would have come under the warranty.

As far as the other computers are concerned, it depends on the terms of the policy how they handle it. Old computers are not worth a great deal (says he typing on one that is nearly five years old) but if you have a new for old policy they will either have to repair it or replace it with one of equivalent specification.

opinions4u

Long shot.

Did you buy the laptop with a credit card / debit card that included free purchase protection insurance for 90 days or so?

Egg Money and Halifax URCA leap to mind.

chanz4

your memory may of come loose during the drop, try this company tjit in stoke on trent they say they repair and are dell partners.

suzieanne

sorry for the Delay in Replying.

Magpie - i am definitely going through the insurance as i don't have the money for other options. I am hopefully going to speak to the company coming to Validate the claim today and if need be i will phone the insurance company regarding the remainder of the warranty and find out their position on how they deal with things and if they deal with their own people and not Dell, then i will insist that i get in writing a warranty of equal validity as i would have had from Dell had i chose for them to repair it. Thank you for all your advice.

Opinions4U - i bought the laptop originally from Dell by debit card straight from my bank so no it wasn't bought on credit card unfortunately.

Chanz4 - I will see if i can find out who Lloyds use and will definitely be asking if they can use Dell or if not a Dell partner for the repair. I will leave a message when things are a little more sorted and let you know what happens. Thank you for all the advice.