Contents insurance - ruined carpet

ironman1

Hi all,

I have had contents insurance in the six years of living at my house but never had a reason to make a claim. However our daughter has recently tipped over a tub of blue paint onto our light carpet which just wont come out.

I know we will need to ho over the terms but does anyone know the probable outcome of this from Legal and General? I dont even know if its woryh claiming. Do they usually clean the carpet or replace and is it only the room thats affected?

Thank you

huckster

Depends on the cost of the carpet, as to whether it is worth it. They will only replace the carpet in the room that has been affected, unless it runs continually into another room without any breaks.

They may see if it can be cleaned first and the cost may be less than the excess if it can be.

In this situation, you should make enquiries with the Insurers and see what the process is. Some use companies to carry out inspections and to quote if a replacement is required. If they say a replacement is required, you usually have to use the Insurers preferred supplier.

This is provided you have accidental damage cover for carpets.

McKneff

Think long and hard about it before you ring them and only do so if you are defo going to make a claim. Your call will be logged and put down on your record. You will be telling them that you are now more of a risk and your premium will go up substantially next year.

Not fair, but it happens.

rs65

The first step is an attempt to clean. What type of paint was it?

chanz4

Hire a rug doctor, it will get it out

bouncydog1

OP suggest you look in yellow pages and find a specialist carpet cleaner before doing anything else. Get them to come along and see if the paint can be removed without further damage to the carpet. alternatively if you purchased from a specialist carpet shop contact them. Also have a look at your policy and see what cover is provided. You need accidental damage cover for this to be covered.

Once you know whether the carpet can be cleaned you can go from there weighing up what the cost is versus the excess on your policy. and to the person who suggested a rug doctor, they wouldn't get oil based paint out.

withabix

bouncydog1 wrote: »

and to the person who suggested a rug doctor, they wouldn't get oil based paint out.

...and you might get a large bill for a new Rug Doctor as well if you try and use one to remove any sort of paint in quantity from a carpet...

phill99

What is the point in having insurance if you don't claim on it? Granted you don't want to make a habit of it, but this is the kind of incident that you have insurance for.

They will send out someone like 'Servicemaster' to see if it can be cleaned, otherwise they will pay for a new one.

*Scarlett

First check you policy schedule to see if you have accidental damage cover for carpets. You would usually have to have requested this as an extra.

Check your excess fee for an accidental damage claim -if it's £200 or £300 it might not be worth claiming. If it's only £50 then it might be worth your while.

The insurer will normally try to repair / clean the carpet and if this is not possible will replace the damaged carpet (but only in the room affected even if you have the same carpet throughout several rooms so you might end up with a slight variation if you have an unusual or hard to match carpet).

If you are concerned as to how the claim will affect future premiums you can do a few dummy quotes online to include the claim which should give you a rough idea. Whilst it will have an impact, one small relatively small claim in 6 years should not have a huge effect. You would only have problems if you need to make another couple of claims in the next 2 or 3 years.

I agree that if you are covered and the terms are ok you should go ahead and claim - it's what you are paying for after all.