Cat has scratched sofa - can I claim?

Clarey22

Hi, we have a leather sofa which was bought nearly 3 years ago. When our cat was a kitten about 18 months ago she scratched the arm quite badly (bless her!) and also the back on the sofa has got lots of scratches but you can't see them as it is now against the wall. Our previous contents insurance didn't have accidental damage but I have just renewed with Barclays last month and opted for full accidental damage cover, but on reading their policy booklet last night it states they wouldn't cover for damage caused directly by your pet but that is in the audio, tv section. Would I be able to claim for a replacement sofa or does it sound unlikley? Have never claimed before so not sure how easy/difficult companies can be. Thanks for any advice/help.

courtjester

You can't claim for damage which occurred before you had the cover !

Even if the scratching occurred during the period of your current 'accidental damage' insurance cover, it will depend on the precise terms of what the policy defines as 'accidental' - generally, this will be anything that is NOT excluded, so you need to look at the exclusions section.

From what you describe, I think this would anyway be caught by the 'wear & tear' exclusion in reality as this is not a single incident, but ongoing damage over a long period.

beverleyhills

I found to my cost that cats and leather furniture don't mix.

GoldyR

Courtjester is correct, you cannot claim for something that happened before your policy started! Barclays are only covering you from the date the policy was incepted, not things that happened in the past!

Most policies do exclude damage caused by pets, so you wouldn't be able to claim even if it was within the period of cover, unless you happen to have a policy that doesn't exlude this....which is very rare!