Kit Insurance Queries

poppasmurf_bewdley

My 21 year old son is with 2 Mercian, currently serving in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, he received in the post from a company called Forces Financial details of his Kit Insurance. He's evidently had a three months free trial ending in January. They want him to pay £75.64 for 12 months which isn't too bad but on reading through I'm not very happy with their terms and conditions. For instance he would have to pay a £150 excess if anything happened to his £300 laptop!

But the worst bit on reading the T&C from this company comes under the heading Remuneration (These fees are non-refundable). It states "A fee of up to £50 to set-up your insurance policy". Under that it says "A fee of up to £17 to re-new your insurance policy".

This firm is obviously a broker, who should be getting their money from commission from the insurance company, not charging their customers.

Anybody had any experience of this company and their Kit Insurance. I am writing to them today asking about these fees, and to tell them to cancel the policy if they apply.

PS. I have my son's permission to act on his behalf for anything financial whilst he is away.

Rafwife_2

Hi

My husband is in the RAF and we have used forces financial for kit and contence insurance Ive not heard of the fee before and as far as i am aware we have not had to pay a renewal fee either we went for Life insurance through them as well. Like you say they work like a broker but give them a call i have always found them very helpful when i have rung them up or emailed.

Gonzo33

We are with Forces Financial at the moment (overseas) for Kit and Contents and PAX. We don't pay renewal fees or up front fees for arranging the product.

peteuk

Hi

I have just renewed my house/contents and storage insurance with Forces Finance and apart from a small increase on one and a decrease on the other, I wasnt aware that there was a renewal fee. Is this because your son had a "free" period of coverage?

Give them a call I am sure they could do something for you.

With regards to the excess, the more you agree to pay the less the cost of the insurance. It does often seem stupid that you have to pay half the amount, but you have to ask would he be happier paing £150 to replace his laptop or paying the full £300. Double check when you call them if this excess still stands if his laptop is part of a larger claim. IE flood damage to his kit that wipes out others stuff as well as his laptop. Does he pay the excess for the claim or does he pay the excess for the claim and then the lap top!

Pete

13Kent

Try Pax insurance they do a good kit insurance.

PHARR

Im serving and if im being honest, iv been with these and then changed. Take a look at PAX insurance and other companies primarily aimed towards serving members to work out what best.

At basic training lads are almost hypnotized into signing up to whatever they throw at us because they big it up so much and the lads of course are new and feel they have to cover their self's, they then dont expect us to read the T&C and we just pay small amount and dont actually have a clue at how it works or what we pay for necessarily. I got pushed into signing up to Forces Financial but have recently moved to Tower Gate Wilson's for my tour.

I rang tower gate and told them im due to deploy next month, they said that's fine you can pay for biggest package then when your back you can reduce it if you like. They're pretty good.

A few insurance companies you'd might want look into for your son that are primarily aimed at Soldiers -

Blacks
Forces Financial
Tower Gate Wilson s
ABACUS
PAX