is this normal for contents insurance claim?

sweetnest

Hi

i have just made a claim against my contents insurance for a dropped camcorder.

I was booked an hour long phone call for one of their team to phone me yesterday

What to me was a very simple, less than 30 seconds tripping over the dog, dropping the camcoder, turned out to be a 45 minute grilling of every minutest detail you could imagine. I felt like a liar and a fraud, i was picked to pieces.

I now have to get a damage report done via comets which i have to pay for, and all this has to be returned within 14 days other wise my claim is cancelled

Is this normal procedure? i had a headache afterwards and i was so stressed the way i was being interrogated, i said to my husband i will never, ever make a claim again

Thanks

FlameCloud

What insurance company is it?

I work in the SI department of a major insurance company and it is becoming more standard to investigate any AD, AL or theft claims.

sweetnest

hi

it`s egg insurance, which i think is Axa

i do understand that they have to be thorough, but there`s thorough and OTT

Thanks

mattymoo

Did they make any mention of Digilog or other voice analysis systems being used on the phone call. IIRC they have to advise you of this.
See http://www.digilog.org/

sweetnest

hi

no, he didnt mention this, but i did think to myself that maybe this was happening as to start with i had to report to him in my own words what had happened while he listened, then he would take detailed notes. As i am a very nervous person on the phone, even i could hear my own voice shaking !!! but anyway, he kept putting me on hold and i was thinking...i bet he`s recorded my first bit and he`s going back to check what i said etc

it wasnt a nice experience

FlameCloud

How long have you been with them?

If its a company called VFM or Aquilo (commonly called claims units by insurance companies) they do conversation management. They will tell you before that they may use software to aid them. When you speak to them, you get a line graph on the screen which measures your voice stress. Amazing bit of kit.

Basically, they will ask you the same question 3 times over asking it different ways to check your story.

I'm suprised it was even covered at all, alot of policies have an exclusion of AD caused by pets!

sweetnest

i have been with them for over 3 years and the last time i ever made a claim was 20 years ago (much simplier back then)

well, just came back from comet and currys and none of them do damage reports. This is totally different to what the bloke said to me on the phone when i asked where to get a report done. He said, just take it to comet or currys, they are used to dealing with insurance companies and will only charge you a couple of quid. Both shops looked at me as if i were deluded, and comets said they only can get an engineer to look at it for £40 and no report.

Where can i get one of these done? and approx how much am i looking at?

Why doesnt the insurance company get their own assessor to do a report on it and why do i have to pay ??

darren28

how did you get on m8 i have just had exactly the the same when one of the kids throw a ds at the tv and took soom chips out of the film in the plasma tv when my missus was in the shower, i now have to get a engineers report and the claims woman she said her only concerns are the screens are very tough, but obviously something has done this so they cannot be that tough.

huckster

Did you notice the date of the last post. It is over 2 years ago, so I doubt they will reply.

I believe that Currys and Comet can provide reports regarding the damage and advise whether repairable or not. But only through their large stores and the TV would have to be sent away. You may also find local companies that can do this advertised in yellow pages.

farmerboy

I know this is a 2 yrs old thread, but thought I'd just add that its best to look at the whole picture when making a claim, i.e. what the actual cost to you will be in the long run. The excess and increase in next years premium that you pay may be larger than the value of the claim.

My uncle found this last year, he was going to lodge a claim for a broken TV, but after taking into account the excess and how much his premium would go up on renewal because of the claim, it worked out cheaper to buy a new TV himself.

Sponge

It's a great system, isn't it? You pay to insure goods against damage, loss, theft, etc, but try not to/are scared to claim because it's too expensive to do so. Makes me wonder if it's worth it at all. (Barring major claims like your house burning down.)