Norwich Union Claim - Any thoughts

Peartree

Some thoughts on this one please!

On Friday night one of the little darlings around here threw something at my front door and smashed one of the panes. I have a 1930s house and the ‘front door’ (which encloses the porch – I have another front door inside it) is actually double doors, with four large panes in each one, and an overhead fanlight enclosing a big arched space. The glass is patterned with quite a pronounced design.

The firm who came out to make it safe had never seen the design of glass before (it is probably quite old) and weren’t sure they could match it. I suspected as much when I originally called the insurance company, Norwich Union, and did ask whether they would replace all the other panes if they could not get a match – they were evasive and said they needed to do a survey of the damage.

I feel that I am paying my insurance company to make my door ‘good’ in the case of damage. I think that a pane of glass which does not match the rest will look like a complete dog’s breakfast and does not bring my door back to its original state.

What do you think? Am I being unreasonable in expecting them to replace all the panes if they cannot match the original glass? Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Any comments, particularly from someone in the insurance trade, would be welcome! I’d like to be forearmed when we start negotiating!

I'd also be interested to hear any experiences with Norwich Union because, even so far, it has been a bit of a saga of poor service.

Here's a bit of a rant, why is it that no customer services department seems to be able to understand the concept of customers HAVING A JOB. You give them a home number and a work number and they persist in leaving messages at home and don't even try the work number during the working day even when you request it quite explicitly. Is this experience unique to women? Are these customers services departments under the impression that every woman who calls must be at home all day? Does this happen to you men? They also seem to think that you can be at home at the drop of a hat and don't have a responsible job with meetings and other commitments. 'We'll come any time between 8 am and 1 pm' - for goodness sake! We have cars, computers and mobile communications and these guys are still in the 19th century!

And for an even bigger RANT. They gave me an 0870 number for the settlements department. I pay them to provide me with a service and they want to screw even more money out of me when I actually come to want the service I've already paid for! (Thank God for say no to 0870!).

Feeling a bit calmer now!

Peartree

FlameCloud

What they tell you and what they actually have to do is another matter.

They will tell you that they do not match items.

However, the omudsmen considers this unfair. There are two ways they can offer to settle if you push them (and I mean really push them).

-First Option is for them contribute to 50% of the cost for replacing the undamaged items to match
-Second option is what they will go for first- offer to split the cost of the panes in two, pay half each. Note this way you will end up paying more than the first.

You wont get them to pay up for the whole lot if (as I suspect) it mentions this in your policy.

Hope this helps.

Jo6673

are you with Norwich Union or Norwich Union Direct

mattymoo

While their tradesman may not be able to get a match it does not mean others cannot. Suggest you indicate you are not prepared to accept their repair attempt unless they can get a match. Ask them to put something in writing saying they are not confident in this area.

In the meantime, ring around the local glaziers and ask if they have experience on stained glass / glass in listed properties. If they do, see if they will do you a quote and pass this to NU. May take a bit longer and involve a few phone calls on your part but at least you get a repair you are happy with.