Help! Under Insured on a claim

Shevek

Hi All! Hope someone has some advice for me.

We recently had a burglary and had around £7k of gear stolen

The insurance co sent a loss adjuster round who estimated we need £35k cover based on our 4 bed house (he estimated this just by counting the rooms)

However we only had £25k of cover, this was based on our previous cover at our old 3 bed house - this is our second policy in the new house, been here just 14 months and not really accumulated any extra possessions since the move.

Their estimate of the value of our stolen items is actually pretty close, less than £1k off my estimate and I'm going to challenge that figure as a matter of course.

However the insurance company are saying that we're only covered for 72% so they'll only pay out 72%.

Is there anything I can do to challenge this decision?

Please help as it's nearly £2k difference!

TIA

Shevek

mattymoo

Do yourself a household inventory, room by room and attach a new value for item except clothes / linen where they deduct for wear and tear.

Hopefully the end result will be closer to your £25k than his £35k and you use this to justify the sum insured you set along with the explanation you gave above about moving house.

Room counting is a bit of a joke really. I'd be tempted to include that in the report so the insurers can see how the adjuster has taken such a simplistic view.

Shevek

Thanks for your reply.

Only problem is that we've since moved again and 75% of our stuff is boxed in storage awaiting some construction work...

Quentin

You will need to explain all this to your insurer. Tell them you will supply a full inventory asap, and in the meantime see if they will agree to any payment being subject to further review (as you cannot agree their valuation based on room numbers).

Do not accept a settlement described anything like "full and final".

Shevek

OK, from memory (it's not that long ago plus it was me personally who boxed it all up :rolleyes:) I've made a list

The only things I'm not sure about is clothes, crockery, cutlery.

Can anyone provide any averages for a family of 4, kids are 6 and 2

Thanks again

Smi1er

And remember to count stuff like beds, curtains, carpets etc. At £25K I would say you are underinsured

Shevek

OK, the inventory comes out at £26k - we live quite sparsely. I've written a letter, how does this sound:

Dear Sir / Madam,
We would like to take issue with the estimates and findings of your appointed Loss Adjuster for our claim.
Firstly we feel that the valuation of some of our items is too low, specifically the Sat Nat and DVDs.
The Loss Adjuster has estimated the value of the Sat Nav at £120 however the unit cost £320 new (receipt provided) and an equivalent current model retails at £250.
The estimate provided for our stolen DVDs was based on an average of £10 per DVD but as the majority of DVDs stolen were Box Sets, TV Series, foreign imports and Special Editions we feel that an average of £15 would be more accurate.
Therefore we feel that the overall value of the claim should be increased by £715.
Secondly we feel that the Loss Adjuster’s estimation of our cover is incorrect.
The £35,000 figure he has quoted was calculated purely on the basis of asking how many rooms are in the property - he did not actually enter any room other than the living room so in our opinion he could not have made any real calculation of the value of the contents therein.
When taking out the policy we requested cover for £25,000 because we moved into this house just one year previously from a 3 bedroom house and in that year have accumulated very few extra possessions.
I enclose a Household Inventory which shows that our contents value is £25,695. Please note that I am unable to provide an exact inventory as we have since moved again and the bulk of our possessions are boxed and in storage while we await construction of an extension at our new property. However this list is accurate as we boxed up the entire house ourselves less than 3 weeks ago.
[FONT=&quot]Yours faithfully,[/FONT]