Insurance Voucher

Tea_Jay

Hi there

This is my first time posting, so apologies if this is in the wrong forum but seemed relevant to insurance. A little back story ...

My fianc!e and I were recently clearing out the loft / garage for some insulation that we are having done. When we had finished, to her and my dismay she realised she had somehow lost her engagement ring We think it's either come off when we were moving all the boxes and baby things from the loft or it is somewhere in garage. After searching high and low for it to no avail, we decided to ring our house insurance, M & S, who have been extremely helpful, to find out what our options were.

As I said, they were very helpful and as we had the receipt (I was amazed we had this as it's a couple of years old!), finance document and fairly accurate description, they said other than an increase in our premium, they would send somebody around to take us through the next steps.

This gentleman, again very helpful, has just left and has basically said we will be getting vouchers to the value of the ring. Now this is good news that we are actually get anything, so please do not get me wrong. The problem is the ring is no longer sold at Leslie Davis where we purchased it, so using the vouchers kind of limits us to where we now have to buy a replacement ...

Sorry for the long ramble but feel I needed to give some context. My question is, can we go back and ask for cash, as it seems a little .. I don't know, cheeky, I guess. I'm just not sure of our options and don't want to come across as money grabbers We just want to get a nice ring again and not be forced into buying one for the sake of using vouchers. An engagement ring is special after all

Phew. If you made it this far, thank you for your time and help and I look forward to any advice that anyone can give.

Warm regards

Tom

Moris

Hi Tom,

Just out of interest what does your policy documents say about lost items?

Moris

dacouch

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/92/92-insurance-claims.html

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/10/oct-repair-replace-cash.htm

Tea_Jay

Hi

Thanks for the links, my policy doc's say:

How we settle claims

We can choose to repair, reinstate or replace the lost or damaged property,
however, you can decide to have a cash settlement instead.

Where we can offer repair or replacement through a preferred supplier, but we
agree to pay a cash settlement the amount we pay will reflect:-
• any discounts we may have received had we replaced your contents or
• the amount it would have cost us had we repaired or reinstated your buildings and contents based on their current energy ratings.

If no equivalent replacement is available then we will pay the full replacement cost of the item with no discount applied. We may appoint an approved supplier to act on our behalf to validate your claim. They are authorised to arrange a quotation, a repair or a replacement.


Which I guess implies they would offer me cash? But does it mean it is their choice?

Tom

forgotmyname

If they offer cash it will be less than the voucher value.

How much less depends on what discount they got.

You can only ask.