Custom PC insurance claim.

Mr_Eko

Hi,

I have recently damaged my custom built pc which I paid £2600 for about 20 months ago.

Barclays had a company called iVal take it away and they have deemed it unrepairable. iVal then contacted their supplier and sent me an email of the PC they were prepared to replace it with. This PC was of course nowhere near the original. I've asked for them to re-evaluate it.

My issue is this; the original was custom built. It was overclocked, contained customised liquid cooling, had sound absorbing foam, and more. This was all from a reputable company which I spent weeks researching. Half of this stuff isn't even available anymore.

So, in terms of like for like, do I have the right to request that the PC come from the original supplier - seeing as that is the only place that offers the customisation that I had.

For example, I can understand if they want to replace the CPU with th exact same one, but if the company that offers the liquid cooling only sells this years model which is more expensive, but obviously the current model in relation to the one I had previously, am I to expect the upgrade?

They have very kindly given me a spec for around £2000 which is all this years versions of the ones I had originally. I spent so much time and money on this thing I just want it to be right!

It anyone can help, I would appreciate it.

Many thanks.

InsideInsurance

23% depreciation for a computer in almost 2 years? Sounds generous if anything.

They arent obliged to use your supplier however if their own supplier cannot provide a suitable replacement then a cash settlement cannot be reduced for not using the preferred supplier.

Have you asked your supplier to provide a quote for a insurance replacement? They will need to be realistic about what equivalents are for anything that is no longer available, if something it still available and they just dont stock it any more then they should really be using standard pricing for the original part and not doing an upgrade

So for example, using technology I understand, if you had a Pentium II 600mhz but PII chips were no longer available then your supplier shouldnt now quote for a Pentium III 600mhz as this isnt like for like. Instead they'd be expected to use expert judgement and say the Pentium III 450mhz would be the nearest equiv if PII.

Nasqueron

Mr Eko

Did they say what was wrong with it specifically (e.g. damage from non-distilled water leak or chips burned out)? I was just wondering as if the m/board, CPU / memory / gfx card were damaged you could probably replace those and keep the same unit.

Did they offer you cash instead or as a possible option so you can get the kit back and replace the bits yourself (you can probably get similar models (even if slightly better spec) online or even from ebay) - so long as they fit in the same case it would be ok?

Can you not get the unit back and remove the custom cooling/case and then do the repair?

You might actually get a better PC anyway for your money and then you can always overclock it again so long as you get decent cooling.

Mr_Eko

Hi, thank you for the replies.

I don't know if I can get I back.. I don't know how it works as I've never claimed on anything before. I could ask. I'm not sure I should be doing the work myself though!

I can be more specific. The CPU I had was the i5 3570K (overclocked), that was the go to gaming chip in 2012. The exact same model for this year is the 4780K. The supplier doesn't stock the 3570K - you can buy them but these guys don't supply them anymore. If they went somewhere in the middle in value, they would not be giving me enough cash to buy an overclocked CPU from the same supplier - bearing in mind that these guys are the only source of the liquid cooling I had installed. So there's simply no choice other than to get the latest chip to accompany the other parts. Same with the GFX card, RAM, and HDD. It's such a nightmare! Wish I'd just not had the accident - I'd have the original, repaired, back in a second! It was my baby and I used it for everything!

Anyway - sorry if this should have been posted in the technical forums!

I will communicate with them further over the next few days but I mainly wondered if anyone knew for sure before I lock horns with them.

Thank you!

PS: What should the depreciation be? For reference. Thanks.

InsideInsurance

Mr_Eko wrote: »

PS: What should the depreciation be? For reference. Thanks.

The fact that technology goes down in price rapidly.

New for old means a like for like specification not if you had a top of the range TV from 10 years ago we will give you the top of the range TV today.

If you paid £1,000 for an off the shelf computer 2 years ago you'd expect the same performance to be achieved by something closer to £500 than £1,000 now.

Mr_Eko

Thank you.

I think the issue is half the PC is the exact same price (cooling etc), but the tech is cheaper. However, they don't stock the tech. So, I can have either the custom stuff without the tech, or I can get the tech without the custom stuff. But I can't have both, due the nature of the growth of technology. However, like for like says, paradoxically, that I can and more importantly, have both.

If they can get all the exact same custom equipment AND the same or equivalent tech at whatever depreciated price is deemed appropriate, I'm happy. But I doubt it.

InsideInsurance

Mr_Eko wrote: »

Thank you.

I think the issue is half the PC is the exact same price (cooling etc), but the tech is cheaper. However, they don't stock the tech. So, I can have either the custom stuff without the tech, or I can get the tech without the custom stuff. But I can't have both, due the nature of the growth of technology. However, like for like says, paradoxically, that I can and more importantly, have both.

If they can get all the exact same custom equipment AND the same or equivalent tech at whatever depreciated price is deemed appropriate, I'm happy. But I doubt it.

Do they only fit the cooling/ silencing to systems they build or do they retro fit to existing rigs?

What actually happened to your computer to kill absolutely everything in it?

The problem with specialist kit is that its difficult to deal with high street insurers who are there to deal with the 99%. You need to keep your insurers in the loop and tell them that the alternatives do not represent a suitable replacement because of X, Y and Z plus dont allow them to just palm you off onto their preferred supplier. Its their problem not the suppliers.

Mr_Eko

Unfortunately they will only fit to their own builds, so bringing the replacement tech to them separately is not an option.

I knocked over a full carton of Pepsi and it washed straight through the cooling grates on top of the unit. Silly, in hindsight. It was on - the whole thing just went pop. From what I can gather, if it's too much effort to repair, iVal will just write it off. So there's no way of telling whether anything was salvageable!

And thank you. I will be in contact with them over the next few days. I'm not looking for a big upgrade, I just want to make sure the custom bits are replaced.

karvala

Mr_Eko wrote: »

The CPU I had was the i5 3570K (overclocked), that was the go to gaming chip in 2012. The exact same model for this year is the 4780K.

Er no, it really isn't. The core i5 3570K is a 4-threaded chip; the current equivalent of that is the core i5 4670K (both are 3.4Ghz stock speed). The one you mentioned is the substantially more expensive 8-threaded core i7 4780K, which is an absolute top of the range chip.

You elected not to put a core i7 chip in the original build, so I don't think you can reasonably expect them to upgrade you from a core i5 to a core i7 in the replacement.

Mr_Eko

Ah yes, that's the new i5.

To be honest I had a guess at the exact number! I was technically only one digit out ;-)

But thanks for the interest nonetheless.

Nasqueron

You can get an "off the shelf" cooling unit and fit it yourself which will do a decent cooling job and allow you to clock the chip without paying someone if you are desperate for that route.

I got an i7 920 in October 2009 rated at 2.66ghz, I got a Zalman enclosed water cooled unit in April 2012 (sort you bolt to the m/board rather than integrated system unit) for £85 and currently run the chip currently at 3.8ghz, think around 4 it goes a bit silly but it's running fine around 30 degrees now, max 66 (well under safety limits) - that may be an option