Totally out of my depth -Home insurance

hellypelly

Can anyone help with this.. I have home insurance with aviva with accidental damage..
My televsion got broken accidently
So the next day I got in touch with my insurance company and she happily accepted the claim etc.. we got onto the conversation of the television and we found the tv was one only sold in currys she asked me to provide pictures and the recipept I sent them to her (tv cost £859)
I asked about the excess she replied I would only have to pay the excess (£260 inc voluntary) if we settled in vouchers or money and that if they find a replacemtent they would deduct it..
Today I finaly hear from her and she provided me with two televisons to choose from and asked if I seen any others I liked.. I had so i sent that this is the responce I got...
I have had a look at this TV.

As you bought your TV in 2009, the prices do come down significantly as the years go by. So the most we would be able to pay towards your new TV set would be £399.97
So, by all means, we can provide you with the TV you have requested, but you would have to pay the difference.
Also, as stated before you do have a £260 excess, which would also be deducted.

So, all in all, we would be able to contribute £139.97, and you would have to make up the difference which would be £260 (excess), + £152.02 (difference for the TV).

Let me know your thoughts.


So after reading this I thought wow I think I will go for one of the oens she offered me as they were not too bad.. So i responded saying Ok I think I will go for one of the ones you have offered then instead and accepted one.. then I got this responce.... :mad:
Ok, great. Don’t worry about it at all Miss xxxxxxxx. It can be a confusing business if you’ve never claimed before.

Great, so, all you need to do now is send in the £260 excess. Are you in a position to pay that just now?

Thanks.


So now im even more confused than anything anyone help???

InsideInsurance

I think I am as confused by your post as you are by what is going on.

When you get a settlement you basically normally have three choices:

1) Replacement item from preferred supplier
2) Vouchers (or prepaid credit card etc) for a preferred supplier
3) Cash

With (1) you pay your excess to the preferred supplier and they then delivery your item

With (2) you normally receive voucher to the suppliers advertised replacement value net of the excess (so £500 item, £100 excess you get vouchers for £400). It is then up to you if you buy a lesser item for £400 or add some of your own money to it. The insurer will have only paid the supplier a discounted amount for the vouchers but that is nothing to do with you.

With (3) you normally receive a cheque for the suppliers discounted replacement value also net of the excess. So if the insurer has a 30% discount you claim for a £500 item with a £100 excess you'd get £250 (£500-30%-£100) which you can spend on anything any where


By the sounds of it they are treating either 2 or 3 slightly differently to how most insurer would

Quentin

You always have to pay your excess!

If you opted for vouchers, they would deduct the excess from the amount of vouchers you were being sent.

hellypelly

Thanks for your response.. Im sorry I confused you also.. I simply dont understand why she would say one thing to me then another
basicaly I asked specifically about the excess payment because I know I don't have it this month her reply was that I wouldn't have to send them no cash if I settled for a replacement because they would deduct the excess and their discount and find one, So when she sent me the two choice I thought well they are low priced tv's and one is not even close in spec to mine but to save sending the excess I will settle then i got the email asking for £260
Im also not happy with their £399.97 value for my tv can I dispute this?
The way it is right now
I accept their offer of a television (I found cost £429.99) and send them £260 before they will deliver
or
I settle for cash and they will deduct £260 excess and send me £139.97

I am not happy with either choice

is there anyway I can dispute either option..

Quentin

hellypelly wrote: »

is there anyway I can dispute either option..

Yes.

Reject the offer, and if you are unhappy with their response escalate the issue via their complaints procedure till its resolved.

Their complaints procedure will be set out somewhere in the policy.

(Though what are your grounds for complaint - the excess is something you will have agreed when taking out the policy, and they seem to be being fair in offering a £400 tv)

hellypelly

Quentin wrote: »

(Though what are your grounds for complaint - the excess is something you will have agreed when taking out the policy, and they seem to be being fair in offering a £400 tv)

Thanks so much for your help.. I think I am more complaining about the fact she told me if they choose a replacement I wouldn't have to send the excess as they would deduct it because they get a discount for using specific stores.. Then when I accepted the offer of one of the tv's she then asked me to send them the £260 excess


Now I see that I have to send the excess I'm not happy with the value of the tv in comparison with my original one. I have found it even cheaper again at another store for £379 so add that to their huge discount It feels like I'm actually paying for the tv myself by sending the excess, It feels wrong to me... I have never made an insurance claim in my life before I have had home insurance for 8 years and car insurance for 12 so I haven't had to deal with them before so I really am grateful for all your help

Quentin

hellypelly wrote: »

Now I see that I have to send the excess I'm not happy with the value of the tv in comparison with my original one. I have found it even cheaper again at another store for £379 so add that to their huge discount It feels like I'm actually paying for the tv myself by sending the excess, It feels wrong to me... I have never made an insurance claim in my life before I have had home insurance for 8 years and car insurance for 12 so I haven't had to deal with them before so I really am grateful for all your help

The idea of your insurance is to replace your item. This is what they are doing (had tvs increased in price over the years, then they would have borne the increase)

You will have to accept that you agreed to pay the excess when you took out the policy.

Unfortunately your claim/loss is now registered and on your record, as the usual advice over a claim worth £119 is not to bother as the increased premiums you will have to pay for the next 3 to 5 years make it not cost effective.

You will now have to disclose this loss if looking to change insurers in future.

At renewal shop around for the best deal, and see if you can reduce your excess too.

hellypelly

Thanks Quentin, I think I wish I had looked into this further before I even made the claim I did actually think naively since I had new for old cover it worked like this.. "Your tv costs £859 we will replace it at that value less the excess or I pay the excess and have the full cost back"
I now have my eyes wide open and Im stuck in a claim with them so I think I'm going to dispute their market value of my tv and try get some kind of tv somehow with what they do finaly offer me in cash less the excess.. I'm really in no position to go buy one or pay them £260 just now but I have learnt something more valuable from all this with your help!

InsideInsurance

For tech items the values always depreciate and so they will try and match features, and to a lesser degree brand prestige. For some other items, eg jewellery, they can increase in value over time as gold/diamond etc prices change.