Brighthouse Insurance???? HELP PLEASE

jonuk7

Evening,

Quick Fill in:

Got a TV from Brighthouse about a month ago and it came with all the service cover and liability etc, got home today and some thieving little F%^$*rs have broken in and stolen it, not touched anything else in the whole flat just the tv, they even went as far to hang around and unscrew the brackets from the wall and took them too so i got back to see 4 holes in my wall where my gucci new tv was :-(

Oh and around 50+ DVD's

Rang the police and they came round took a statement etc and ive told them who it is (Well im 95% sure it is him) they've given me a crime number and advised S.O.C.O to come and take prints etc see if they can pull any off, still waiting for them (6 hours so far lol) but reading through the agreement it doesnt make clear what happens under "Theft" it simply states:

"If you do not initially take out or cancel the DLC Policy you must keep the goods insured against fire theft or accident."

So does that mean it is covered or am i still going to have to pay the installments for a tv that some !!!!! is now watching??
Cheers guys
Jon

mattymoo

They are simply saying that if you do not take out their insurance policy with someone called DLC, then you must make your own insurance arrangements.

Basically, they are not going to let you out of the finance agreement simply because the TV has been stolen. Hopefully you either took their policy or made your own arrangements.

jonuk7

yea i took their agreement at the same time but it doesnt make clear if they will replace the tv, right off the agreement or leave me just paying?

mattymoo

You need to check what you have been sold.
You may be paying payment protection cover - in case you are ill and cannot pay.
They may have sold a breakdown cover. Some of these policies do extend to cover theft.
Finally, if you do not have theft cover from Brighthouse, you may be covered on your household contents insurance.

I suspect Brighthouse and their insurers will replace the TV if you have theft cover purchased through them.

jonuk7

Well went in today and they have filled in a DLC Claim form, this is their approved insurer, he said they need to do a home visit and take photographs which i found weird in its self but then he said something a little more concerning, once they have the photos done he will pass it to the "Store Manager" and he will decide wether to approve or decline the claim? how can that descision be left to the store manager when we have had the police round for statements, S.O.C.O all over the place dusting for fingerprints etc is this not enough evidence?? dont quite understand how it is his decision??

roblfc

Brighthouse do their own finance, (Caversham Finance). You are covered in the respect of, You no longer have to make any further payments on the TV and thats it.

They will make a best guess on the visit and depending on their opinion whether it is legit or not, they will resupply the product, they may not knock off what you have paid or might offer a used one for you to continue paying on.

They are under no obligation to resupply product!!!!

If in their opinion you never took reasonable steps to protect THEIR goods they will decline the claim. (ie. left window or door open, window boarded up) they will tell you to continue to pay for the product until they have processed the claim, thats up to you, the main thing is the account was up to date at the time of the theft (ortherwise claim is declined)

They insure the goods themselves so they are claiming from the shops own profit and loss account, they will do everything to keep you paying to minimise the loss.

Let me know how you get on, and from which shop you purchased from.

mattymoo

Roblfc - sounds like you work for them so perhaps in best place to help.

Have searched for DLC and Caversham on the FSA registers and ABI (Association of British Insurers) and can find no mention of either firm being authorised as an insurer. Is this an insurance product or some in store thing?

roblfc

DLC Damage Liability Cover. Like I said they don't use an Insurance agent they take the hit themselves.

The income they make on "optional" DLC far outways the write off value of a product. Think about it they are writing off the cost or book value of a product, not the retail price.

There are many possible outcomes that could happen here dependant on many factors, how good the cust is, does he pay for other products, the value of the tv stolen, was the account up to date when stolen, are just a few.

Another thing (you will like this one) is the manager having a good sales week? if not he will delay making a decision till he is, then he will write off the TV from his good sales, as not to get too hard a time off his area manager!!

Like I said let me know what happens next.

I don't work for the company but I was shafted by them once upon a time.

jonuk7

Evening all,

Well the "Photographer" came out (its actually just a sales guy who they give a camera phone too) he came in walked into the room and took 1 photo and that was of the 4 screw holes where the TV once was, he took no pictures of the windows the door anything, then as they were leaving and looking at the front door the sales guy said "i doubt the will approve the claim as there is no forced entry" now im not been funny any non-oppurtunist thief isnt going to just come up the stairs and kick the door through, as stated before they have known what they wanted where it was and how to get it due to the fact the place wasnt touched apart from the tv. So it was clearly somebody who knew what they were doing, this is also backed up by the police not finding any form of mark/print anywhere.

So looking at it at the minute because the thieving gits didnt just smash the door down there not going to pay out/write off the agreement and where going have to continue paying £6 p/week for a tv some torag elsewhere is enjoying.

As for the other bits, the OSC was taken out the same day as getting the TV, and so far the account is bang up to date bar 1 late payment at the begining of the agreement due to shop/our confusion with when/what day it is to be paid. other than that its spot on and only last week did we take another agreement for another £12 a p/week so at the min we have 2 agreements with them.

mattymoo

By the sounds of it you live in a block of flats with a communal stairwell as you mention the thief coming upstairs.
How did they get into your flat? Did they force the door or enter via some other route.
Kicking open or forcing open doors with a gemmy / crowbar are the most common means of entry. Most insurers define theft as using forcible or violent entry - the tools being the force.
If they entered through an unlocked or open door then many insurers would not pay out so Brighthouse are not alone there.

What does concern me though is the lack of regulatory approval for this type of cover. It means that you have no higher power (such as the Financial Ombudsman Service) to complain to if things go wrong.

Based on Roblfc's post it does not even appear to be an insurance product so normal rules may not apply.

jonuk7

Morning,

Yes live on a 1st floor flat, the problems been raised are that the back door into these are constantly left UNLOCKED and the front door where the numbers and "buzzers" are somebody has superglued a rock into the frame to hold the door open, probably down to laziness of having to get there keys out to get into the flats. Now when we go out we shut all the windows except the one by the balcony.

The police have said that they have either scaled the building and come through the balcony window or they walked into the block and got there hand through the letter box and managed to undo the latch etc...

On a seperate note would we have a case against the council for them NOT maintaining the security of the Block itself? mainly due to i tried to move the said rock and it has been covered in glue and is not moving.

and because of the front door not been smashed or if they scaled the building and come through the window (a good 70ft up) there is no "Forced" entry however it is still Burglary so surely it shouldnt matter if it was kicked in or even someone who had somehow got a key, we pay the cover for the tv and it looks like its just a con paying it.