£75 Windscreen Excess but No Cover

Sleepy_2

I took a Pru 3rd Party F&T Car insurance policy out online a few months ago with Pru (through Quidco :j).

When entering the car details online, I checked the policy excesses for Comprehensive...
£75 Windscreen
£200 Fire & Theft
£200 Accidental Damage Excess

I thought I would try 3rd Party F&T cover (car worth about £1000) and also the excesses...
£75 Windscreen
£100 Fire & Theft
£0 Accidental Damage Excess

I decided I would take out the 3rd Party F&T Cover.

4 months on and I've got a crack in the windscreen. When I called to claim on the Insurance, I thought that I would only be paying the first £75 excess only to be told that there is no Windscreen cover on 3rd Party F&T.

Afer some research on the Internet, it does appear that most 3rd Party F&T Insurance policies rarely offer Windscreen cover. I'm always learning the hard way!

I phoned Pru who were very nice, but could only forward the issue to the Web Team to look at in the future as they agreed it could be misleading.

Can Pru state in their online quotation that the policy will carry a £75 compulsory Windscreen excess on the 3rd Party policy, and then not offer the cover?

raskazz

Most internet insurers / brokers contain a term to cover themselves in cases like this. The Pru's site contains in its T+Cs:

"The information and descriptions on the Site do not necessarily represent complete descriptions of all terms, conditions and exclusions and the precise cover provided shall be included in the schedule of cover, policy documents and/or conditions of purchase issued to you."

So, as always - what is stated in the proposal form / statement of fact / policy schedule is what is key.

Have you checked your actual policy documents?

Sleepy_2

We're renovating the house at the moment with a rewire and almost a full replaster - I'm sure the documents are somewhere, er, safe in the bottom of a box!

I'm guessing that whe the documents turn up that they will say that the Windscreen is not covered as Pru have advised on the phone.

I just wish (with hindsight) that I would have double checked the cover when the documents arrived, but also hope that Pru will make it a little clearer for anybody else who may look into a 3rd Party policy from Pru.

Can anyone recommend the cheapest way to a replacement windscreen for my little 1999 Fiat Seicento?

raskazz

I would add that although Pru can avoid paying your claim, they have still made a significant error. if I were you I would raise a complaint - whilst this will not get your windscreen fixed - I would expect £20 or so goodwill that you can at least put towards the cost.