Insurance company trying to force us to use specific jewellers.

johncoatjasper

Most insurance companies use LMG jewellers as they are experts at undervaluing items. They have their own in-house manufacturing arm and will offer to make a replacement from either a photo or description from the original receipt.

We had a burglary in February 2018 and LMG sent around their Personal Jewellery Service representative to design a replacement which came to a "cost" of £3450, which we accepted. LMG then refused to make this article stating that "their" valuation based on the original price paid was only £1250 and if we wanted to have a like for like replacement which their own PJS had quoted at £3450 we would have to pay the difference. We obviously declined and took the case to the Ombudsman.

This was a mistake as the Ombudsman came down on the side of LMG stating that "we should not expect to have our item replaced with something of a higher value". This was unexpected as LMG's own in-house PJS had costed the replacement at £3450 and even admitted that their manufacturing cost was only £1500. They further stated that "as most insurance companies can negotiate high discounts then any cash settlement would be lower". This has led to either a voucher for £1250 or cash of £637.

My recommendation is never take an insurance claim complaint to the Ombudsman  but use the Press & Social Media to try and shame the insurance company into putting the victims of crime back into the position they were in prior to the theft,after all it is a traumatic experience and items of sentimental value can never be replaced.

The item of jewellery that was stolen was over 30 years old and bought for a wedding anniversary so would have been cheaper then!!!