Insurance claim: Wedding dress destroyed in Dry-Cleaners fire

Littlelad_2

Hello,

Recently, my wife's wedding dress was destroyed in a fire whilst at a dry cleaners being "professionally" cleaned. They never actually called to tell her this, they just happened to mention that fact when she called them to find out when it would be ready!!!

We are currently going through the dry cleaner's insurance and its being handled by a Claims Management Service Company. We are not happy with the valuation they put on dress and they actually sent her a link to a three year old gumtree advert to "back up" their valuation.

I'm just wondering what options we have with this? Do we just have to grin and bear their offer?

magpiecottage

Your claim is against the dry cleaner, not the insurer.

Do you actually have receipts for the dress (or if it was bought on a credit card, can you get the records from the credit card company?).

Littlelad_2

magpiecottage wrote: »

Your claim is against the dry cleaner, not the insurer.

Do you actually have receipts for the dress (or if it was bought on a credit card, can you get the records from the credit card company?).

Yes I have all receipts for it, however I gave them all in when i filled the forms out so they can see the amount that I paid for it, but they are now saying it is second hand so wont give me the full amount. They are offering at least 500 pounds less than what i paid for it.

It just seems like the insurers are coming back with any excuse not to pay the full amount. Are Claims Management Services middle men between the Dry cleaners and the Insurance company?

Any advice appreciated, thanks

hugoshavez

Littlelad wrote: »

Yes I have all receipts for it, however I gave them all in when i filled the forms out so they can see the amount that I paid for it, but they are now saying it is second hand so wont give me the full amount. They are offering at least 500 pounds less than what i paid for it.

It just seems like the insurers are coming back with any excuse not to pay the full amount. Are Claims Management Services middle men between the Dry cleaners and the Insurance company?

Any advice appreciated, thanks

They're not obliged to pay you the full amount, only what it's worth second hand.

How much did you pay for it, and when?

And, don't take this the wrong way, but did you buy it new?

Littlelad_2

hugoshavez wrote: »

They're not obliged to pay you the full amount, only what it's worth second hand.

How much did you pay for it, and when?

And, don't take this the wrong way, but did you buy it new?

Not taken the wrong way at all, I'm the one here asking for your advice.

Dress including veil was £1650. It was a new dress from a big name designer, but from a couple of seasons ago (my wife's words) which we brought in 2012.

geri1965_2

They are not obliged to pay new for old. It can be difficult working out the value of an item. Are you able to find any similar on eBay or anywhere else?

hugoshavez

In all honesty, offering around two thirds seems pretty reasonable (admittedly I've never bought a wedding dress, new or s/h).

No harm having a look around gumtree or other places yourself to see if you can find anything similar priced higher.

Worth remembering though that the prices listed on places like that are asking prices, and sellers would usually expect a final sale price to be haggled down somewhat.

Your own contents insurance would pay full price if you had the appropriate cover, but there'd be an excess and a rise in premium to consider.

Littlelad_2

Thank you all for your feed back, its been a great help. She is very upset by the whole thing and I just wanted to make sure we were making the right decisions.... As I know who would get the blame if "we" didn't.

hugoshavez

Littlelad wrote: »

Thank you all for your feed back, its been a great help. She is very upset by the whole thing and I just wanted to make sure we were making the right decisions.... As I know who would get the blame if "we" didn't.

No problem, don't be scared of trying to squeeze another £100 or two out of them, they can only say no.

eddddy

I believe a court would award damages based on the price you paid, less a deduction for wear and tear.

This is confirmed in a CAB Consumer Fact Sheet on Dry Cleaners:

If the item is totally ruined, your compensation would be based on the value of the item. This takes into account the purchase price but the dry cleaner can make a deduction to allow for the use you have had.

Link: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_fact_sheets_index.htm and scroll down to 'Dry cleaning'

So if it were a suit that you wore frequently and expected to last 4 years, and it was ruined after 1 year - you would expect to get 75% of the purchase price.

It's harder to judge with a wedding dress, but perhaps you could ague that having been worn just once, it had 90% of it's useful life left.

Littlelad wrote: »

...
I'm just wondering what options we have with this? Do we just have to grin and bear their offer?

No - you can claim damages from the Dry Cleaner if you wish, potentially using the small claims court. (The court will award what they think is reasonable.)

Littlelad wrote: »

...
Are Claims Management Services middle men between the Dry cleaners and the Insurance company?

Claims Management firms work for insurance companies. Their job is to save the insurance co money, by making sure they don't pay out too much. (Whether they go too far, and try to underpay is debatable, I guess.)

magpiecottage

If the local press found out what happened it would probably cost the dry cleaners a lot more than the price of the dress.

So I would have expected them to pay the full price in exchange for a gagging agreement.