Help With A Claim For Damaged Phone

dibble34

Hi all
I am insured with the AA and recently went swimming with my IPhone in my pocket😳. They have passed me to Direct Validation services to get the phone looked at. Few issues I have are as follows
1 - They want the 200 excess up front before they look at the phone. Is this right?
2 - They want my password for the phone and say they can’t do full diagnostics without it. I explained the phone is dead and if they get it to power up I would remotely wipe it so they wouldn’t need my password which I use for other devices. They got very funny about this, I am being fussy?
3 - They will only provide Cash value of what they can get the phone for, not what I paid from the Apple store?

They feel a bit dodgy to me and I feel like they are trying to put me off claiming! When I was insured with someone else years ago and my surface tablet broke. They inspected it and just gave me the money money minus the excess as it couldn’t be repaired so I could buy another from Microsoft. I would rather get a new phone from Apple as not sure I trust these people!

Any advice great fully received!

Chickenlips

1- There will be a cost to transport and inspect the phone. Your insurance will state that you are responsible for the first £200 of each claim. For there to be a successful claim, you will need to pay this first before costs are incurred.

2- They will validate that the loss happened when and where you said it did. They can do this by going on your phone. Do you have a recent inception (policy start) date? They may be suspicious that this happened before you took out insurance. If you have nothing to hide, give them the password and let them carry out the checks. Saying things like "I'll remotely wipe it" are likely going to see your claim transferred to their fraud team. You'll also note that there will be a condition on your policy that means you have to assist with the claim and give information required. If this does apply, they may well refuse your claim in full.

3- Check your policy wording. It may well be that their limit of liability is the cost of a like for like replacement - including second hand. The amount you paid for your policy should also guide you on how much cover you have. Does your policy state that you will be provided with the full replacement value for a brand new phone from the Apple store? If not, they are probably acting within the terms of the policy, the terms you agreed to insure under.

Blibble

As per above, it is standard for the excess payment to be made before proceeding with the inspection of the unit. Otherwise, repairs could be carried out without your contribution to the claim, leaving the insurer up repair creek without an excess fee.

Usually, insurers will request that both the password and removal of the handset's Apple ID are provided. This is the same procedure as advised by Apple; the former is to quality check any repairs performed, and the latter to confirm you own the handset due to Apple's strict security protocol.

& lastly, if the handset is beyond repair, delivery of a replacement or vouchers for the retail price of a like-for-like & brand new replacement are offered. Your insurer will have their own preferred suppliers, and should you wish to use one outside of these (including manufacturers like Apple directly), you would be required to take a cash payment at the trade price your insurer could source the handset for from their supplier.

All standard stuff, sounds legit to me.