Help with home insurance claim

kittennose

We have had TV break today, one of our children who has some issues threw a remote control and it clipped the bottom of the TV which has smashed the screen.

The TV was £1000, our excess is £250 for accidental damage.

I have never claimed on insurance before and unsure if it's worth it as I assume premiums will be sky high. I also wonder if this is considered 'accidental' even though it was as a result of anger (she did not mean to break the TV).

If we did claim, do they replace like for like or at the used value?

CSI_Yorkshire

kittennose said:

If we did claim, do they replace like for like or at the used value?

Depends on what your policy says.  Both are possible, it's down to the ords in the policy you agreed.

kittennose said:

I also wonder if this is considered 'accidental' even though it was as a result of anger (she did not mean to break the TV).

I think the insurer would struggle to justify saying it was anything other than accidental damage.

I've certainly dealt with house fires that were caused by children playing with lighters or matches and these were deemed accidental.

DullGreyGuy

It will come down to the age of the child

Unfortunately I've dealt with fire cases that went both ways depending on the age of the child, one sad case of self immolation by the policyholders teenager ultimately was considered a deliberate act and therefore not covered. 

You can always do a dummy quote with details very similar to your own but not identical and see the difference of renewing with no claim and having to declare the claim on the Contents section with its impact on the number of years without a claim. It will give you the percentage uplift that occurs and so just apply that to your current premiums to give an idea.

kittennose

Update: We received the full value back for the TV.