Rejected insurance claim

mutti

I recently lost my engagement, wedding and eternity rings (don't ask). My claim was forwarded to the loss adjusters. I have just heard that they have refused my claim as I do not have any supporting evidence (receipts/valuations/photos etc), having been married for 18+ years, and no intention of losing anything, let alone all 3 at the same time. Whatever I replace them with won't be the same as the originals, but having nothing at all just adds hugely to my distress levels.
Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do persuade them to change their mind?

mutti

It is amazing how many photos one can have with no shots of hands on show - not sure what that says about me!
Appreciate the thought

mattymoo

This does seem rather harsh. To some extent it depends on the value of the rings involved and whether they had been specified on the policy.

Most policies have a single article limit of around £1000 but it does vary. Rings and jewellery worth more than this need to be specified. If you had the rings specified at say £2500 each then the insurer would be within their rights to request to see a receipt or valuation.

However, to my mind and that of the FSA / insurance ombudsman (before the FSA took over) - the insurers need to do this at the underwritng stage - when you took the policy out and not when you try to make a claim.

In other words, the insurers want to charge you a premium to insurer a ring worth x amount. They should sort this out within the first couple of weeks of the policy rather than try and sort the valuation out at the claims stage.

If the ring is worth less than £1000 (or whatever your single article limit is) then the above does not really apply.
On the assumption you hsve told us the full story and the loss circumstances are not suspicious (from the insurers point of view) then it seems somewhat harsh to decline the claim because of a lack of evidence.

There is a general duty on the policyholder to prove the extent of their claim. Normal methods are receipts, credit card slips and photos or in the case of damaged items, visual inspection by the loss adjuster.
Some people are very organised and keep these records but most policyholders do not. In these circumstances a decent insurer would get you to do the following -
Go along to a jewellerey specialist at their chosen supplier. They will ask you questions about the items and ask you to do a little test. If they simply showed you a tray of rings, many people would pick the £999 ring each time and say "yes - it was just like that one".
Instead the jeweller hands you jewellery blanks and asks you to gauge the weight of your ring. They ask you to describe the stone settings, where it was purchased from and so on.
A skilled jeweller can build up a picture of the lost items and narrow the selection down quite considerably. They will then show you rings that closely fit your description / test results and allow you to select from that range. They then bill the insurer accordingly.

This was a standard anti-fraud measure in place in the early 90's to avoid the overstatement of jewellery claims. I would be surprised if it was not still in use but some internet / telephone insurers do tend to go for the cheap option like declining the claim and hoping the insured will go away.

Stick at it and good luck.

mutti

Thank you very much, this is extremely helpful. The 3 rings total a value of £1800, so were not insured separately. I will persist as you suggest, and offer the suggestion of going to a jeweller of their choice.

mutti

We went for a very informal approach to our photographs, and not the standard package of set shots, which with the benefit of hindsight, and given the present circumstance, was not the good idea it seemed at the time.

Astaroth

I am very surprised that in 18+ years of marriage there isnt a single photo which includes your left hand. As such it is understandable that the insurers are being cautious

lisyloo

I know this isn't much help to you now but I keep receipts for anything valuable for exactly this reason.
If it's something that I might want to make an insurance claim for then I keep the receipts for as long as I have the item.
It doesn't take up hardly any space at all.

mutti

I have finally, after oh such a long time had the claim accepted by the insurance company. We were going through some old holiday photos and finally found one that showed my rings. One of the reasons this was such a difficult task is that I became expert over the years in avoiding cameras, just one of those phobia things.

I am now the happy owner of a single replacement ring - hopefully reduces the chances of losing anything further.

I would like to thank all that replied. I found some of the replies more helpful than others, but the best advice was to persist with the claim.