Removal insurance

nicky_boo

We moved house just before Christmas. We used a removal company and paid a small fortune for it. Insurance was included in the price.

There is some damage to some of our furniture - scratches to a side board which we bought a couple of years ago. It is solid wood. They had to disassembe it and reassembe again. It is a bit wonky now and scratched a lot, besides, there are other bits and pieces damaged, caster from our divan bed lost, knocks on the walls, broken lamp shades etc.... We wrote to them and they say we should get 2 quotes. We don't even know who to turn to for these sort of quotes.
I don't want the removal company to get away with this. It took us 4 months of chasing before they said "get some quotes and send back to us". Anybody there with similar experince? What can we do?

Any help will be appreciated.

Gibbonmaster

Hi,

Check what sort of insurance was provided with the removals and if your covered call the insurer and starts a claims process. To be honest I work in insurance and I'm not sure what they are reffering to regarding getting quotes. Is this quotes for the cost of repairing the damage done or for another insurance policy?

mara

I agree with Gibbonmaster, you need to check the insurance they provided.
How quickly did you report the damage to them? A lot of removal companies have clauses which will only pay out if you notify the claim within 7 days. I have also seen a lot of clauses limiting their liability to about £45 per item.

Gibbonmaster

Oh also check your own home insurance, they sometimes do cover for household removals.

mara

Good point Gibbonmaster, I'd forgotten to suggest that!

nicky_boo

Hi again,

The removal company is trying their best to confuse us and to make it very difficult to make any claims.

Thanks for your replies. I wish I had seen an insurance policy, I haven't. You just pay for it and have the piece of ind that you are insured. I feel so naive!I will call them to find out more. In the mean time, someone else that I explained our problems said that we should provide them with receipts. My interpretation was to provide quotes for repairing the items. Well, how do you do that? That is why I sent my post, to find out what you guys thought.

As I said, I will give them a call. BTW, I don't think my home insurance covered removals. Will double check though.

Thanks again.

FlameCloud

Alot of policies cover removals provided the insured used a professional firm, so you might be in luck.

You could even be pushy and claim for contents outside the home, but then you'd get hit by the limits (if they accept it at all)

If you dont mind me asking, what contents policy do you have? It would make it easier to help you!

nicky_boo

Yes, you are right, at the time of removal, we had Abbey Peace of Mind insurance policy and I checked on their web site yesterday, it seems to cover damage whilst moving. We changed our insurer now though. We moved house in mid-December. Will check with them as well.

However, shouldn't the removal company pay? I spoke to them again this morning. They say they would like to resolve this without claiming via their insurance. I don't know... Cowboys. I should name and shame them somewhere.

Thanks again for advice and help.