Mobile Phone Insurance - Excess

mrsmarmalade

Hello

Just looking for some advice if possible? I recently dropped my iPhone 4 in a cup of tea (:eek:) and as such found cause to claim on my mobile phone insurance which i get as part of my bank account - I pay a monthly fee for this.

I sent my phone off and I was well aware there was a £100 excess to pay. Fair enough, I thought as my own stupidity was to blame here. I signed a claim form and sent my phone off to be repaired. The day the repair centre got my phone they debited £100 immediately from my account.

Now, I have a problem with this. My belief about an excess is that you are liable for the first, in this instance, £100 of costs incurred to fix/repair or replace the item. The repair people took the money without even making a determination about what the repairs would be. When I queried this with the bank they told me as I signed a form to say they could take £100 once my claim had been accepted, I basically had to cough up the cash. I tried to explain that how did I know what the cost of the repairs actually were? In all probability the cost could exceed £100 but say if it only cost £60 inc parts and labour, surely that is all I should pay. They told me it doesn't work like that. When I asked for a repair bill they told me I wouldn't get one. So, how do I know I have paid too much to have my phone repaired?! The bank have accepted this comment but tell me there is little I can do about this. I have gone through the complaints procedure and said that they shouldn't refer to this £100 amount as an excess, because they haven't treated it as such.
So much for transparency in the banking sector!

I feel really strongly about this in terms of it being misleading for customers. But I'm not sure what I can do to take this further?

Advice/tips gratefully received!

SuperHan

Are they repairing the phone? I know some banks will just send you a refurb phone/a cheque to the value of your phone rather than mess around with repairs, and obviously you will pay the full £100 then.

If they are doing the repair, I assume that it's in the T&C of the account that you pay £100 for any claim - no matter what the repair cost.

mrsmarmalade

Hi SuperHan

Yes, just heard today that the phone has been repaired and I should get this back in a couple of days.

I think it is in T&C's that I pay the £100. My issue with the bank is I think it's misleading to call it an excess. Maybe this is a case of 'should have read the small print' but if I knew it was a one off flat fee I may have tried to see if I could have had this repaired for less than £100.

rs65

What is the definition of 'excess' in your policy?

mrsmarmalade

Hi rs65

Just checked my policy document and it gives the following definition:

Excess.
The policy excess payable by you for each successful claim. The excess varies depending on the mobile phone you claim for. If the claim relates to an Apple iPhone the excess is £100 and for all other handsets it is £50.

It also goes on to say:

Cover will not be provided for:
1. The policy excess payable by you for each successful claim. The excess varies depending on the mobile phone you claim for. If the claim relates to an Apple iPhone the excess is £100 and for all other handsets it is £50.

I think I'm being blinded by my own misunderstanding about the way an 'excess' works. I still want to believe that it means I should pay the first £100 of the cost of repairs which I'm happy to do if they exceed this. But if true is less than the excess amount I don't think it's particularly fair that the bank is able to profit in this instance.....wait, what am I saying???!!!!:rotfl:

rs65

It does seem different from a traditional excess – more like a charge to make a claim.

Normal advice is that where the value of damage does not exceed the excess then there is no claim. You are not getting the option.

I would challenge it out of principle.

mrsmarmalade

Hi rs65

I think I will try to take this further through the complaints procedure and see what response I get.
I'm also going to try and get an industry standard definition of the meaning and function of an excess on an insurance policy. Hopefully may give me some more evidence as part of my complaint.