Mum stepped on TV while laid flat on floor, can I claim on house insurance?

Sherbet83

Hi Guys

I just brought a new 55 curved tv from a deal I found on here. Had it about 4 months.

My mum didn't see that my dad and I had laid the TV on the floor on its packaging and stepped on the TV by accident.

The TV has a massive crack in the screen now.

Would this be classed as accidental damage? Could I claim under home contents insurance?

Thanks so much for your help in advance.

Sherbet83

Btw, we laid the Tv on the floor because it's wall mounted and we wanted to pull some wires through the wall.

bsms1147

Does your insurance include accidental damage?

Sherbet83

Yes it does. What I am trying to find out though is whether this would be classed as accidental damage or is this negligence?

EdGasket

Claim and see. I should think it would be covered after all the insurance companies always give an example of spilling paint on a carpet as 'accidental damage' so why not accidentaly breaking a TV by stepping on it?

magpiecottage

Sherbet83 wrote: »

Yes it does. What I am trying to find out though is whether this would be classed as accidental damage or is this negligence?

The fact that an accident may be the result of the policyholder's negligence does not stop it being an accident.

Suggest that she sends a press release to the BBC saying she is going to do something spectacularly outrageous next time she wants to be on the telly!

Aretnap

If it wasn't deliberate it was an accident. So yes, it's accidental damage.

The fact that it was a bit careless won't lead to the claim being rejected - most accidents involve an element of negligence, or at least could have been prevented with more care. There might be a clause in the general exclusions requiring you to take "reasonable care" of your property, but the ombudsman doesn't like insurers using such vague clauses to reject customers' claims so the level of stupidity that's required to activate them is very high.

dacouch

Definitely covered under Accidental Damage providing no unusual exclusions for televisions.

This is the type of accidental damage that could be used in future to give a good and modern example of an accidental damage claim.

Replacing the example of your mum hitting the tv screen with the hoover handle whilst cleaning (This is used to be a common method for fraudulent claims)