Mobile phone insurance

BridgeRoad

I bought a mobile phone from a refurbished site, one that is very well-known. I also purchased insurance. I dropped my phone accidentally and the screen cracked. I put in for the repair but was told by the insurance arm of the company that they couldn’t find the policy. It turns out that although I had paid for it, the mobile phone section had never registered the policy. 

Now this company are telling me they are sorry and will refund the policy price. When I tell them I bought the policy in good faith and expect my phone to be repaired they do not respond. 

What are my rights here? I am flabbergasted at this turn of events. How can they refuse to mend the phone when they have admitted not registering the policy?

Mark_d

I would absolutely fight this and pursue the company for a full refund of everything you paid to them.  You cannot be responsible for failures in the internal company business of the retailer.

Maybe try claiming via your credit card and also via FOS.

Phoenix72

Formal complaint and if no joy then Financial Ombudsman.

However, what would the excess be on making a claim? And how does that compare to getting it repaired yourself?

I'm assuming you took the re-sellers insurance? Note for future, you will probably get it cheaper elsewhere.

BridgeRoad

I bought it all via Klarna. Should I complain to them? Thank you for both very helpful responses. It’s a saga that has now gone on for weeks, they keep rewording their apology and say they can refund the policy cost. But surely if I bought the policy they should honour this?

Kim_13

Phoenix72 said:

I'm assuming you took the re-sellers insurance? Note for future, you will probably get it cheaper elsewhere.

With a refurbished phone, I would expect there to be fewer options as some insurers require the phone to be under a certain age to cover it. When you buy a refurbished handset you cannot be sure of the exact age of the phone. 

Did the company provide you with any details with which you could have registered the insurance yourself? If they did not, I can't see that they have even the slightest thing on their side, as you had no way of knowing that something was amiss (but your complaint is with the phone company and not the insurance arm.) If the insurance arm have terms saying that a policy has to be registered and it wasn't, then the only avenue against them is for that to be deemed an unfair term.

Don't agree to them covering the cost of repair and refunding the premium - that would probably leave you with a phone you couldn't insure in the future.  

Mark_d

BridgeRoad said:

I bought it all via Klarna. Should I complain to them? Thank you for both very helpful responses. It’s a saga that has now gone on for weeks, they keep rewording their apology and say they can refund the policy cost. But surely if I bought the policy they should honour this?

You need to have followed the retailer's complaints policy.  If/when this concludes without a satisfactory result, then go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.  It is simply not acceptable that the organisation fails to honour the insurance policy that you bought.

I don't know how Klarna works but you could certainly talk to them and ask if they can recover all the money for you.  This would be the easiest thing if Klarna's protection policy allows you to get a full refund for phone+insurance.

BridgeRoad

I paid the insurance to the seller, who have an insurance arm and set up the policy for you. They sent me an email saying this had been done. I had no reason to doubt them at this time. When I came to file a claim, the insurance arm said there was no policy registered. After several emails from myself, the seller said they have forgotten to set it up. I have asked them to repair my phone but they ignore me and just keep saying they will pay me back the insurance cost. What is the point of buying insurance if I can’t actually use it? I feel they have defrauded me. I will ask them how to formally complain because like so many companies they have no phone lines and information is sparse on complaints procedure. 

Thank you all for your helpful replies. It is a very unsettling experience with this company.

Kim_13

Do you still have a copy of the email? I would expect it to be a very easy win with the ombudsman with that if it got that far. Saying the insurance is set up (rather than just a recript for the amount) would mean any reasonable consumer taking no further action, assured that cover was in place.

A TrustPilot review might get some attention if they keep ignoring you.

BridgeRoad

I've spoken to Klarna, and they are going to contact the seller. I'm hoping this will solve the matter. Otherwise I will be going down the Formal Complaint / Ombudsman route. Thank you everyone for your advice. 

BridgeRoad

just wondering if trustpilot or twitter (x) is the best route to attract a company’s attention? 

BridgeRoad

Hello everyone, 
As an update: I've been offered a code for the full value of the phone. I would prefer a refund.I wonder if this will be a huge tussel or is a code for a new phone a code a good deal? It's been weeks of emails so far, and they largely ignore everything I write, including asking for details of their complaints procedure. I'm not sure how to proceed, so just wonder if anyone has experience and could advise? Should I accept the code or proceed with the complaint and ask for a refund instead?