Claiming off contents insurance for accidental damage

jimbo747

Bought a 3d LG TV april last year from currys, £725, specifically because it was 3d capable. Unfortunately daughter broke the screen yesterday. Our insurance is £100 compulsory with Axa.

I have the receipt online so that shouldn't be a problem. However I've never claimed off insurance before, can't see anywhere mentioned on the documents or terms - do they try and replace like for like (not possible as the 55uh850v specific to Currys is no longer in production), pay out on its initial value, or pay out on its value now? Our insurance renewed with them a week or so ago at a cost of £280, so with the £100 excess if they value the TV now at £400 then it wouldn't be worth doing, whereas paying out our initial outlay of £725 would be.

Quentin

Most contents cover is based on new for old

Assuming yours is (check out the policy wording) you can expect the settlement to be the cost of buying a similar spec model now less your excess.

Make sure you intend to make a claim before contacting your insurer (once notified of the loss it will go on your record irrespective of whether or not you make a claim and will have to be disclosed to other insurers you go to for quotes if they ask about claims or losses)

Chickenlips

Typically it's new for old based on spec.

The easiest way to explain this would be iPhones.

If you had an iPhone 4, your insurers are unlikely to be able to replace this. They would look at the nearest equivalent (maybe the iPhone 5c).

TVs, phones, and laptops tend to go down in value rather than up. Look for the same brand, the same size, and the same features as your current TV. Your insurers will settle at that less the excess. Axa do with with an electrical firm that replace these items for them at a discount (around 20%). This means that if the replacement is £400, if you took cash you would get £220 (£400 * 80% less your policy excess).

Blibble

The claim will be based on a new-for-old & like-for-like basis, meaning that your replacement will be a comparable spec TV.

Note 1) This does not necessarily mean an LG TV, but may be a comparable brand (in the insurer's opinion)
Note 2) Brand new 3D TVs are discontinued, so you will not receive a 3D replacement however it will be like-for-like on all other available specs.

Of course, this is all presuming that repair is not possible; the insurer may opt to send the unit for inspection to confirm this.

jimbo747

Thanks, problem is 3d TVs are no longer manufactured and that was a key feature, just don't want them replacing with a base range model, a lot of the new mid range lg '4k' LCD sets aren't actually 4k anymore either, but I can imagine trying to argue that one with one of AXAs service reps could be hard work.

Will see how it goes....

jimbo747

Chickenlips wrote: »

Typically it's new for old based on spec.

The easiest way to explain this would be iPhones.

If you had an iPhone 4, your insurers are unlikely to be able to replace this. They would look at the nearest equivalent (maybe the iPhone 5c).

TVs, phones, and laptops tend to go down in value rather than up. Look for the same brand, the same size, and the same features as your current TV. Your insurers will settle at that less the excess. Axa do with with an electrical firm that replace these items for them at a discount (around 20%). This means that if the replacement is £400, if you took cash you would get £220 (£400 * 80% less your policy excess).

The 'new' version of my TV, ie the 8500 series, is currently £900 or so, reduced by £750 (no way is it worth £1600 - my version of the TV had the same discount from RRP which is why I bought it).
Do I buy the TV first, then they pay me the money, or do I tell them the model of the TV? Its a currys specific model AFAIK so is the nearest like for like.

I guess what I'm getting at, is if they offer me cash minus whatever discount they get, minus my excess, am I better off waiting a week for the TV to shoot back up to £1600?

Blibble

jimbo747 wrote: »

I guess what I'm getting at, is if they offer me cash minus whatever discount they get, minus my excess, am I better off waiting a week for the TV to shoot back up to £1600?

You could try playing the waiting game, but in all honesty you don't know if your particular insurer's claims' process is 24 hours or 24 days. There are too many variables to consider; how backlogged they are, whether they will send the unit for inspection, whether they have concerns (for whatever reason) and a fraud team is appointed, issues with policy validation etc.

Rather than getting as much as you can, would it not be better to be satisfied with having enough funds to purchase a suitable replacement, net of any excess fee?

jimbo747

Blibble wrote: »

You could try playing the waiting game, but in all honesty you don't know if your particular insurer's claims' process is 24 hours or 24 days. There are too many variables to consider; how backlogged they are, whether they will send the unit for inspection, whether they have concerns (for whatever reason) and a fraud team is appointed, issues with policy validation etc.

Rather than getting as much as you can, would it not be better to be satisfied with having enough funds to purchase a suitable replacement, net of any excess fee?

If it was £50 I'd agree, but £750 I'm happy to play the waiting game. If I don't actually have to buy the TV, i'd wait until next year for a replacement incase 3d makes a comeback, I use it far more than 4k / HDR and my large collection of 3d blu rays are useless without it, so in effect I wouldn't be buying a suitable replacement. I don't want to spend £800 on a TV that isn't what I want, if I don't have to.

Chickenlips

You'd be looking at the nearest equivalent LG TV (Assuming yours cannot be fixed). As 3D didn't seem to be an option, you'd likely get a 4k TV for £550. The cash value would be £490. After excess, £100. Do you have an optional excess? That would be applied too.

Obviously, the cheapest option for all is if you let them replace it for you. You need a TV, they have a claim to settle... let them deliver a new one.

This is all based on the assuming that yours cannot be repaired.

Carrot007

jimbo747 wrote: »

replacing with a base range model, a lot of the new mid range lg '4k' LCD sets aren't actually 4k anymore either

Since all "4K" content outside of cinema's is 3840 x 2160 you are probably better off with UHD anyway. Blurays, netflix, and broadcast all use it. I would sat the real 4k tv's are pretty pointless and just a marketing gimick to sell a poorer quality set.

Carrot007

jimbo747 wrote: »

Ii'd wait until next year for a replacement incase 3d makes a comeback

Never gonna happen! It has had the same drawbacks since 1915 and as such is only ever brought back when manufacturer have nothing decent to bring to the table and want to sell more sets. Maybe 2025. Where they still won't have sorted the problems. More suited to a headset per person which may occur. But then that's not a TV as such is it.