Claim on home insurance or pay up?

abby1234519

I read an article a while ago that said for claims under £1500 to pay for it yourself rather than claim. I'm not sure what to do or whether that article is reliable etc.

Son sat on MacBook pro (my fault for leaving it where he could, it was only for a few minutes)

So my screen has a lovely inch wide pixelation problem.

I can take it to apple and pay around £400 for a new screen. Plus fuel and parking in Leeds.

Or I can pay a £50 excess on my home insurance. I pay £13 a month at the moment which includes extra protection for things like laptops and games consoles. It's with First Direct insurers and my renewal is in March. I've held contents insurance for two years (previously didn't bother) and I'm trying to work out what the most cost efficient option is. I mean, if the claim increases my premiums by loads is it worth it? Never had to claim before!

teddysmum

If you inform the insurer and then they get out of paying by saying that negligence is not covered, your future premiums could still be affected.


Does the laptop have to be repaired via an Apple shop, as brands tend to charge more for repairs than independents do .( It's certainly true of Canon, Sony and Samsung, as my family have found.)

abby1234519

teddysmum wrote: »

If you inform the insurer and then they get out of paying by saying that negligence is not covered, your future premiums could still be affected.


Does the laptop have to be repaired via an Apple shop, as brands tend to charge more for repairs than independents do .( It's certainly true of Canon, Sony and Samsung, as my family have found.)

Funnily enough Apple have quoted cheaper than one of their approved resellers/repairers.

It's not like I put it on the floor, I put it on a coffee table but its quite a low one and he just decided to sit on it!

Quentin

You can find out now a good idea what difference a claim like this makes to your future premiums by doing dummy (ie anonymous) quotes online with and without this claim in your history.


Once you know the difference in premiums do the sums and make your decision

FutureGirl

When I claimed, it only put my premiums up £20 for the year. This was a £1,000.00 accidental damage to personal possessions claim.

xMonsoonx

teddysmum wrote: »

If you inform the insurer and then they get out of paying by saying that negligence is not covered, your future premiums could still be affected.

Ignore this B***S**** - its utter tripe!

Firstly you need to check your cover, read the policy booklet. Does the accidental damage to audio visual section cover portable items? if not do you have personal belongings cover or have it named on the policy?

So long as you have the cover you can make a claim, only you can decide if it is worth it or not.

paddyandstumpy

Without knowing what you have covered for the £13 p/m I'd say potentially you're paying a lot already.

Is that contents only for that rate or buildings and contents cover? If the latter then it's not too bad.

As suggested do dummy quotes with/without the claim to see the difference in rate.

Then shop around at renewal for a competitive rate. Don't just be attracted by a low monthly rate, the adage of "you get what you pay for" applies to some insurance policies too...

Aretnap

teddysmum wrote: »

If you inform the insurer and then they get out of paying by saying that negligence is not covered, your future premiums could still be affected.

Fortunately there is no chance whatsoever that the insurer will "get out of paying by saying that negligence is not.covered". This post is based on reading too many internet urban myths.

If your policy covers accidental damage to your possessions then the claim will be paid. Negligence or carelessness.has nothing to.do with it - most accidents after all involve an element of carelessness - or at least they could have been prevented with a bit more care and a little hindsight.

It is true that most insurance policies have a clause that says something along the lines of "you must take reasonable care of your property" however the courts and the ombudsman don't like insurers using such vague clauses to refuse claims so the level of stupidity required to activate them is very high indeed. Essentially the insurer would have to prove that the accident was the result of recklessness rather than mere carelessness, is they'de have to prove that you knew (or must have known) that what you were doing was dangerous but that you went ahead and did it in spite of the obvious risks. That might apply if you threw the laptop down a couple of flights of stairs for your son to catch... but not if he just didn't look where he was sitting.

That's different from the question of whether it makes financial sense to make a claim - that depends on how much of a premium increase it would cause. As suggested try some dummy quotes and remember that you'd have to declare it for 3-5 years depending on the insurer.

abby1234519

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

Without knowing what you have covered for the £13 p/m I'd say potentially you're paying a lot already.

Is that contents only for that rate or buildings and contents cover? If the latter then it's not too bad.

As suggested do dummy quotes with/without the claim to see the difference in rate.

Then shop around at renewal for a competitive rate. Don't just be attracted by a low monthly rate, the adage of "you get what you pay for" applies to some insurance policies too...

Just contents but it includes extra cover for laptops/games consoles. I previously was paying £6.91 a month for standard cover up to 50k. I then went up to £13 ish to cover the above etc.

abby1234519

It seemed to put it up by an extra £2/£3 a month with the same provider which financially is fine but I've always been funny about insurance, it's there for a reason but I've always felt that you shouldn't use it....I think its all the scaremongering re increased premiums and imposed conditions.

First time I've claimed on any insurance. £50 excess to get my screen repaired is quite good! I've made my claim today, the lady said that they had to physically inspect the goods because of the value of the MacBook and also because I'd only recently upgraded my insurance to cover it. Well thats sods law isn't it, as soon as you upgrade the insurance something happens! And surely if that was an issue they wouldn't offer immediate coverage from as soon as you upgrade.

Quentin

Don't worry - insurers will always investigate claims before paying out. and if there is a short time between cover starting and a claim you can understand why!


(To anyone coming to this thread for advice, as others have posted, they should ignore #2 from teddysmum - "negligence" is irrelevant when claiming for accidental damage, so don't know what she is on about - just scaremongering)