TV insurance repair gone wrong - what are my options?

svens

Hello, long time lurker of these great boards. Something happened recently and so I finally registered to seek some advice.

I purchased a top of the line OLED tv last year, so I also bought expensive insurance for it to cover accidental damage or other problems.

A few weeks ago, the screen got a small chip in it, possibly from the cleaner but I'm not sure. Anyways, it wasn't a huge deal - not that easy to notice unless watching in a bright room where it reflects, or in certain movie scenes with light colors. I was initially going to just live with it, but decided since I had accidental damage coverage, I should call and see if they could do anything about it - this being an expensive purchase and I want to enjoy the TV as much as possible. Well yes, that was my first mistake!

I didn't expect much, but I spoke to a nice lady and she said it would be covered. She noted a chip on the screen in the claim notes, then said they would schedule an engineer to come have a look.

The engineer comes over, says he's not having a good day. Uh oh. I show him the chip on the screen, and he says yeah that is definitely noticeable, but we'll have to take it to our shop to repair and it will take at least 10 days. Warning signs going off in my head here. I know these screens can be replaced at a home visit, and it's usually how certified engineers for the manufacturer handle it, because they are very fragile and it's risky to transport. Despite my best judgement, I let him then proceed to dismantle the TV. He puts it face down on my hardwood kitchen table, no protection or anything, to remove the stand. I offer him a cover for the screen to protect it but he says no that is not necessary. Then he takes it out of the house and sticks it in his van - without wrapping the screen, or taking even the most basic of precautions. I was pretty peeved about it, but I assumed they would just replace the panel anyways at this point so it wouldn't matter.

14 days later I get a call that they are bringing my TV back. The engineer arrives, and this time it's nicely wrapped in bubble wrap and properly packaged for transit. However, he tells me, the insurance company denied the claim as cosmetic damage so they couldn't replace the panel. Okay, fair enough I thought, although the insurance company had okayed it, and so had the engineer they sent. The chip is not big enough to be especially noticeable, so I could see that could argue it is not at the threshold of non-cosmetic, and at this point I can't be bothered arguing with them about it further.

So I unwrap the screen while the engineer is there, and there is, unfortunately, other damage to the screen, most likely from when the original engineer transported it. It is not bad damage like deep scratches, but noticeable permanent markings near the bottom of the screen where he must have slotted it into whatever they transported it in. Also the screen is covered in light scratches and marks elsewhere. None of this was there before they took it of course - TV was in perfect condition apart from this chip.

I tell the engineer this isn't acceptable - and show him the scuff marks on the screen, and explained how the first engineer hadn't even wrapped the screen. He says there's nothing he can do about it, and unless I have photographic evidence the repair company will deny any wrongdoing. Then he quickly ran out the door with me fuming!

I called up the insurance company and complained that the TV was basically returned in worse condition then when it was taken. They have opened an investigation and said they would get back to me. That's where I am now.

I'm thinking at this point I'm pretty stuffed in what I can do. I didn't take detailed pictures before the engineer came. I assumed he was coming to assess if it was covered, and the insurance company wouldn't send a TV repairer who couldn't do the basic of transporting a fragile TV safely. Obviously my mistake, and I have learned my lesson. Secondly, I should never have let him take the TV in the first place.

The whole experience has been quite stressful, needless to say. Any advice for next steps? 

Thrugelmir

Seems the insurance company are dealing with the issue. 

svens

Thrugelmir said:

Seems the insurance company are dealing with the issue. 

Yes maybe this post is premature in retrospect. I'll wait to see what they say. Thanks.

[Deleted User]

Do you have any paperwork stating the fault? Presumably it says "small chip" and doesn't mention the other damage, so there's your evidence that it was fine when you gave it to them.

A chip on the screen is hardly cosmetic, it's a high end TV and you pay for the image quality. What does the insurance policy say about damage to the screen and cosmetic issues?

TELLIT01

Too late for the OP, but possibly a timely warning to the rest of us to take photographs of the item before removal if it needs to be taken away for repair.

pinkteapot

For future OP, when you say you bought expensive insurance, do you mean a dedicated appliance cover policy just for the TV? 

If so, it would almost certainly be cheaper to upgrade your home contents insurance to include accidental damage - which would then cover accidental damage to ALL your stuff. Standard home insurance accidental damage cover would cover things like a chipped TV screen. 

svens

[DELETED USER] said:

Do you have any paperwork stating the fault? Presumably it says "small chip" and doesn't mention the other damage, so there's your evidence that it was fine when you gave it to them.

A chip on the screen is hardly cosmetic, it's a high end TV and you pay for the image quality. What does the insurance policy say about damage to the screen and cosmetic issues?

I couldn't find anything too specific in the policy about the definition of "cosmetic" - it just says it's cosmetic if it doesn't impact the functionality of the TV. I agree with you though, that's why I thought it wouldn't be classified as cosmetic. The repairer said that it had to be visible up to 3m away but that's all he told me.

pinkteapot said:

For future OP, when you say you bought expensive insurance, do you mean a dedicated appliance cover policy just for the TV? 

If so, it would almost certainly be cheaper to upgrade your home contents insurance to include accidental damage - which would then cover accidental damage to ALL your stuff. Standard home insurance accidental damage cover would cover things like a chipped TV screen. 

Yes I'm sure it would have been cheaper to go that route. In this case, the policy specifically covers burn in protection which is fairly unique for OLED TV insurance, so that's why I went with it. I'm not sure contents insurance would cover that, at least not so explicitly. Based on my experience though so far, they may just claim that is "cosmetic" so meh!

It's still under investigation, and I spoke to someone very nice who was surprised the claim had been rejected. I've sent pictures so we'll see where it goes.

[Deleted User]

Good luck. Clearly the TV's function is to display an image, so anything that interferes with that is affecting its functionality.

svens

Well unfortunately nothing came out of the investigation. The insurer said I had to take it up with the repairer themselves, and they could make a public liability claim. I said that didn't sound right, considering the insurer are the ones who organized the repair in the first place. But they insisted they could do nothing. The repairer already told me they will do nothing about it.

So if I want to keep pursuing it, what are my next options? Get the insurer's response in writing, than contact the ombudsman? Although from what I've read, the FOS is a long shot.

MalMonroe

You said "I purchased a top of the line OLED tv last year, so I also bought expensive insurance for it to cover accidental damage or other problems."

What exactly does the insurance policy say?

And why isn't that expensive insurance now covering you for accidental damage or other problems?? You say that you phoned and 'spoke to a nice lady and she said it would be covered'. So during that phone call, a representative of the insurance company told you that the damage is covered. Now they need to get on with either repairing properly or replacing as they should have done in the first place. 

I'd really have to chase the insurance company because they are not delivering the service for which you have paid.

"The insurer said I had to take it up with the repairer themselves" - NO. The insurer has to sort this out for you and you've waited too long already for them to get their act together. What exactly have you paid your expensive insurance premium for? To be messed about and left with a damaged TV?

Normally, you'd have some kind of guarantee when you buy a TV. I bought one last year from Richer Sounds and it came with a free six year guarantee, which also covers it for accidental damage - and I didn't have to pay a penny extra.  My basic household contents insurance policy also covers electric/electronic equipment for accidental damage. 

There's some info here in this link - https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/what-to-do-if-your-insurance-claim-is-rejected 

and here -

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-complain-about-your-insurance-provider-a8zvI2n9gOBE

You can certainly try the Financial Ombudsman, don't let what you have read put you off, they are busy, yes but that shouldn't put you off contacting them.

FlameCloud

Where was the TV policy brought from?