PLEASE HELP! mis sold phone insurance?

sophiexjd

Hi
Phone Insurance: (the notorious) Policy Administration Services
Sold to me by: (again..) Phones4U

When I took out my phone contract from phones4u, I first rejected insurance because I know if anythings going to happen to my phone Im going to lose it.

Then I was reassured by the guy that your covered if you lose your phone, I actually remember him saying "So if you were to leave your phone on the bus, this insurance will cover it".

So a few years and a lot of money down the line (£9.99 p/m) I have lost my phone. I left it on a chair in the local bowling alley.
So I acquired the relevant documents (police reference etc) and sent off my claim to policy administration services who have replied today saying my claim is not covered by the terms and conditions of my policy.

"Theft or loss (mobile phone only) where the phone or device has been left negligently or deliberately in a public place or a place to which other people have access"

I understand that I am not entitled to a new phone by my insurance (who also ask an extra £50 for it which I was unaware of ... can get a phone cheaper than that!).

However I want to know if there is any way I can complain to phones4u for mis selling me the insurance, if I was aware of the terms and conditions I would never have taken it out... or is it my own fault for not reading the documents?

I havent yet contacted either policy admin or phones4u as Im waiting to hear what you guys say. Legal stuff is all a mystery to me, hopefully there will be some way of sorting it out. Threatening to take legal action? I have no idea....

PLEASE HELP!!

p.s word of advice, after searching online I discovered policy admin is a really bad company, a lot of people have problems with them, dont use them!

Farway

"I actually remember him saying "So if you were to leave your phone on the bus, this insurance will cover it".

Bet he does not remember this bit, verbal agreements, "he said I said" are not worth the paper they are written on

Cut your losses, and do not even bother "Threatening to take legal action?" unless you have loads of money, just forget it, put it down to experience & move on

grumbler

I think it's your own fault, sorry.
Next time you will not listen to a guy that makes money from selling you the insurance (or anything else). Otherwise you will either get it in writing from him or will record the entire conversation.
And no, you didn't necessarily need to read the policy there and then. You had every opportunity to do this at home, sitting in an armchair, then to search online and to cancel the bloody thing in the first month.

JimmyTheWig

Firstly, have you checked that the clause you've been quoted is in the terms and conditions that you signed?

Assuming that it is there I don't think that there is anything you can do in a legal sense as you signed up to the terms and conditions, had a chance to read them and cancel, etc.

For me it would be worth the hassle of a complaint. Either to the store or head office. Don't threaten anything (e.g. legal action) that you're not prepared to go through with. Say how much you have spent on this insurance, that you only got the insurance because of what the guy said and ask what sort of goodwill gesture they think is appropriate in this situation.
You might get nothing, you might get a voucher or you might get a partial refund. Worth a try for the sake of sending an email, I'd say.

macman

If you lost it on the bus, you might well have been covered (say if it slipped out of your pocket). Though they'd probably try and suggest that was also negligent.
But you chose to put it down on a chair and left it unattended in a public place, so that is clearly negligent.
Two very different scenarios.
If you need mobile insurance, do it as an add-on to your home contents insurance. You'll invariably get a much better deal (and less shady insurers).

sophiexjd

thanks for all your help, I understand it was my fault. Was a good few years ago I took the insurance being 18 yrs old ... I guess just learn from my mistakes.
Jimmythewig, thank you, any advice to try and claw back a few pennies is golden, as thats what I was asking for.

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

Jaxon

You can now sign a government e-petition regarding mis- selling phone insurance at - epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/35467

nsabournemouth

cons 4u make a big loss on their mobile insurance, little wonder they are refusing to pay out in more and more cases.

sophiexjd

And a few months down the line, I'm now working at Phones4u lol. Policy admin is actually a completely different company, just exclusive to phones4u. I heard they are changing it soon to a warranty instead of insurance. Probably to avoid fsa regulations.
And dont worry I always tell customers about my experience with policy admin and advise them to read their insurance documents properly.

joejm

I took my insurance four years ago - 2010 from Phones 4u Ltd on Sony Ericsson experia and at the time they offered me two types of premium plan, one was for £6.99 and another one for £11.99. I choose the second option £11.99 because the sales person from Phones 4U Ltd specifically sold this premium saying that I will be covered for a mobile phone worth £499.00,a mobile phone equivalent to the mobile phone I was sold in value i.e. £499.00.

When I made a claim last week they are not honouring their contract and they are offering me phones ranging from £100 to £150. They were happy to take a higher premium of £11.99 premium all these years ( 4 years - £575.52 in total) every month without any lapse but they are refusing my claim. They further I received an e-mail offering cash refund of £25.00 for the mis-advise which I think is ridiculous offer. They are well aware of their false sales tactics between 2010 and 2011 for which FCA has fined them for £2.8 million.

My premium £11.99 was based on the value of the phone I purchased - £499.00, if I had bought a phone valued £150.00 at the time then my premium would have been a fraction of what I am paying now. So how can they take a premium of £11.99 and offer a phone valued £150.00!!!!

I spoke to couple of their customer relations personnel and I find them very ignorant and not addressing the issue properly. I received another e-mail from they yesterday saying that they are investigating my case, not sure what is there to investigate when hundreds of people are mis-sold by Phone 4U. I am waiting to hear from their customer relations Team for a third time now.