Voluntary excess

DoubleB_2

Today I tried to make my first claim on my contents insurance to replace my laptop. I was told by the AA that it wouldn't be worth my while as I had a voluntasry excess of £250 + the normal £50 excess fee. I changed my policy to include building ins last year but I have no recollection of the requesting the £250 voluntary excess fee as it would never have been worth my while taking out the insurance at all being as most things I particularly want insured are around £300 + (laptops, TVs etc.) Has anyone else come across this sort of thing?

dacouch

How did you buy cover, over the phone or internet?

What was your excess before you added buildings

forgotmyname

Comparison site by any chance?

Ive noticed a few do that, Add on voluntary excesses to get the quote down.

Just_Some_Guy

If you bought on line then you probably got snared by an automatically high excess (gets the price down and the quote higher up the list).

If you bought on the phone then maybe the guy at the other end applied your higher buildings excess to the contents part of the policy by mistake. (Buildings claims are usually 10x or more the size of contents claims so a higher excess is justifiable). Ask them to listen to the recording.

What did you have as an excess when it was just contents?

forgotmyname

Another thing, Check your policy documents, Does that show the new excess?

I wonder how many of us actually check it? Just assume its paid and your covered.

*Scarlett

If you bought it over the phone you should have been told the total excess fee.
If this is the case and you weren't told, you may have cause for complaint depending on what was said to you.

However if you had previously had a quote in writing or online and were phoning to accept the quote they would assume you had read it and were happy with the terms.

I'm sure not many people take the time to read the full policy documents when they arrive, but this shows the importance of checking main terms and conditions.

InsideInsurance

Insurance rarely is about claiming for a single item as the loaded premiums for the next 3-5 years means it isnt worth it unless its an expensive engagement ring or such.

Insurance is about large losses where someone breaks in and steals all those items that you list at being about £300 and so the single claim then gets into the thousands.