Home insurance - Computer - Barclays/IVal/?NU?

[shaniannie]

Sorry this is long, I want to try and explain fully! The actual question is at the bottom, in bold, if you don't want to read my essay lol

I've not got a complaint (yet! well, I have but it's minor) just after a bit of info from anyone who knows how these things work.

We have 2 desktop pc's (on laptop now) that went bang from what I'm thinking was a lightning strike in the storms last week (the router and 2 digital phones went too, but we're not claiming for them as they've already been replaced and it was pretty cheap, didn't want to complicate things). Anyway, Barclays put us through to a company called IVal and they arranged for our computers to be picked up. My partner called today and they said the computers are beyond economical repair and should contact us on Monday with a valuation and will offer us PC World vouchers.

Now, my partner works at PC World, so other than the fact we know that should anything go wrong with the new computers we'd be totally fine, we know we could get much better computers for the same price elsewhere. I've done my reading though, and know that we have the right to be offered cash to the exact same value as the vouchers (I hope I'm right in thinking that, I got it from another post on here).

Anyway, that's not what I'm worrying about.

Our computers although not that high spec compared to some new ones, did have certain specifications we were fussy about. They're custom built (my partner built them) and we've spent a lot of money over the years (although not so much recently because of the kids now).

To name a couple specs - the graphics cards in them - they were DEDICATED graphics, with dual heads, because we both run two screens on the computers. This is because my partner does a lot of web designing and 3D graphics, and I do some photo and video editing, and two screens make this easier (yes, we're computer nerds, him more so than I am lol ) Also, they were NVidia graphics cards, and my partner requires this graphics card because they offer open GL support (not that I know what that is) and no other does.

Another is the fact that one had a 250gb HDD (mine) and the other a 400gb HDD (his).

Another is that although the processors weren't that new (2.5+ and 2.6+) they were Athlon processors, not the crappy Celeron, which in real terms, even if they say the same mhz speed, don't perform the same (anyone who knows about computers will tell you this).

What I want to know is: Will their valuation have to take into account ALL the specifications, including the dual heads, Nvidia, decicated graphics, Athlon not Celeron, hard drive size etc? As the computer is custom built it'd be hard to put a value on how much it would cost to replace it as you can't buy one with those specs. They could match hard drive but if they go on that alone and go with the cheapest computer with that size hard drive it will not have the dedicated and dual head graphics we require! Where do I stand with all of this?

I know it's a lot of "what if's" right now, but I like to be prepared for anything they may throw at me!

[Beanie1]

Hiya

Have you kept receipts for all the spec upgrades? if so this should help the loss adjuster calculate replacement costs.

If not then you may not get what you are looking for

[shaniannie]

Thanks for replying

No, we haven't... Most parts were bought online, and only the hard drives upgraded relatively recently. All in all, we've spent over £1000 on each computer, but I know we can't prove that...

I was under the impression that receipts would only help the claim if something was stolen... But it's damaged "beyond economical repair", and they have the parts, so wouldn't the fact they have the parts in front of them make sure they'd have to pay out what it would cost to buy a computer to match EACH specification? For example, they could say "Well, the processor in this £299 computer is better than yours" But for that price you'd only get 512k RAM (our machines had 1024k) tiny hard drives, less than 100gb, and more than likely on board graphics with no dual heads... So although the processor would be marginally better (if it was a 64 bit or dual core) the rest of it would be completely useless to what we use the computers for....

I am just really worried that they'll want to pay out something stupid like £300 each (taking away the £50 excess) and even then the total for both wouldn't get us a computer to match the specs of just one of the ones we had

I know, I'm impatient, and I should just wait and see what they say, but I do like to be prepared, and know what my rights are before I go make an idiot of myself on the phone....

[mooreda]

You Are Entitled To A Like For Like Replacement On A New For Old Basis - So The Replacement Computer Offered Should Not Fall Short Of What You Already Have - If You Are Not Happy With The Validation Complain Directly To Barclays And They Are Normally Pretty Good At Working Things Out To Your Satisfaction

[shaniannie]

Thanks, that's what I wanted to hear After reading on this forum I am pretty confident that I'd have the knowledge to challenge any unfair claim

[Curlyben]

Shaniannie, can you get your old machine back, as it maybe very possible to salvage certain parts, like HDD and video cards.
I have found in lightening strikes these tend to be fine.
The poser supply and motherboard are the aprts that take the brunt of the electrical spike and fail, terminally.

[shaniannie]

Do you mean to get them back and not claim at all?

Before we even thought of claiming on the house insurance my partner (being the computer geek he is) tested the hdd to see if they'd broken (if it was as simple as PSU we'd have just bought new ones, cheaper than our £50 excess!) but the hard drives, when put into an external hard drive bay and connected to the laptop were dead... So I guess we could only hope to recover the graphics cards????

We actually asked for our HDD back, whether broken or not - one person told us "yeah fine, the insurance people (meaning barclays) usually don't mind this, but ask them first". On a different call we asked again and were at first told no way, then were told we'd be charged £15 each to send them back to us! As we're pretty sure they're dead I don't see the point in spending £30 to put a hammer to them ourselves (I have thousands of my kids pictures and some video clips on mine (which are luckily backed up onto an external HDD) and don't like to think someone may have access to them) but they have assured us that they will be crushed in 8 weeks time...

Ugh, all this hassle, I just want a computer instead of a stupid laptop, it's so hard to type on this thing lol (plus it's got rubbish graphics, 64mb onboard, so I can't play games etc!)

[Curlyben]

I have found that external drive bays are iffy in the extreme, especially the USB ones. The only sure fire way to see if the HDD is ok would be to fit it in a known good machine as a slave.
Even if the OS where gone the data maybe recoverable and the HDD usable.


Now if this was me I get down to the next compuetr fair and get all the needed parts for a rebuild.
There are serious bargains to be had and after all some of the old parts will be salavagable.

Ps there's nowt wrong with a laptop, just depends on the spec.
You'd love mine; Dell XPS M1710. Core 2 2Ghz, 2 Gb RAM, 100 Gb HDD, 512 Mb Geforce 7950GTX 17" wide screen running at 1920x1200
Dell XPS M1710 review - IT Reviews
Kicks bottom
And the best bit it's my work machine.

[shaniannie]

Oh that is SO not fair! lol Mine was just something my partner got for me for Xmas coz I whined lol It's only got a 1.3ghz, 512 RAM and 64mb on board graphics, and a 14" screen!!! Mind, I suppose you do have a DELL, I wouldn't touch those with a barge pole lol

The external bay works fine with 2 other hdd's we have that we connect to it (a 20gig and 60gig). My partner would be forever greatful if I told him we could go to a computer fair - but my credit card wouldn't lmao Plus, we live in the sticks, in Wales, so it'd cost us a bomb in petrol to get to anywhere!

I'm so negative and defeatist, aren't I? lol

I hate having to wait on other people to make decisions, but I think that's what I'll have to do...

Just a side thought - if it was only the motherboard and psu that had gone would IVal still have classed it as "beyond economical repair"?

[Curlyben]

Originally Posted by shaniannie

Just a side thought - if it was only the motherboard and psu that had gone would IVal still have classed it as "beyond economical repair"?

Yes as they would be looking at retail prices to replace.
Bear in mind the mobo would include the cpu and ram as well.

OK so it's a DELL but I couldn't get what I really wanted my boss wouldn't sign the PO; Alienware: Aurora mALX Notebook - Learn More! Droooooollllllll

[shaniannie]

So basically, only the hdd, if it was working (which I'm pretty sure it's not, it was dead lol ) I could salvage??? (and possibly the cd and dvd drives, which really, are only worth pennies)

Oh, my partner has ALWAYS gone on about the alienware pc's... Just "for fun" he went and priced one up he'd love to have... it came to about £4k!!!! He knows that it's TOTALLY out of the question lol

[xrchris]

Wouldnt bother with Alienware as they are ridiculously overpriced for what they are and remember they are part of Dell now. Personally i have no problem with Dell's XPS line as they have their own dedicated support unlike their more average notebooks which you have to deal with an offshore call centre. I went with Rock who are a UK supplier who are also at the cutting edge of laptop technology.

Getting back on topic - I wouldnt even contemplate salvage as you dont know if another component has been affected long term. Replace it if i were you. As Mooreda said (capitalised for some reason) the principle of indemnity is to put you back in the position you were in prior to the insured event occurring.

[shaniannie]

Thanks for your input

So basically, for instance on the machine with the 400gb hdd, they found a machine (to estimate the cost of replacement) that met all requirements other than the fact it had a smaller hdd, could we refuse that estimate of cost by saying it has a smaller hdd so it's not putting us back in the position we were in originally?

[Curlyben]

Have they reported which parts are dead as it seems they are simply looking at a replacement.

[shaniannie]

No, they haven't. My partner only spoke to them briefly (he called from work). If they don't call during the day tomorrow I'll call them and see what they have to say

[shaniannie]

Slight development.

My partner call IVal and they didn't have that much to say other than they've done an estimate through Spire computers (NEVER heard of them other than one other post on this forum, which didn't sound too good!), could only manage VERY brief description of specs, and said they've passed it back to the insurers to see if they accept it....

I called Barclays and they've not processed the fax yet...

From reading the other post on here (which I came up with in initial searches on Ival and computers, hence why I joined this forum... Barclays Insurance Services ) I am REALLY worried that we're gonna get fobbed off with $h1te!

On the phone to my partner they mentioned 3ghz machines which were Athlon (yep, that's fine) no knowledge of HDD size, 128mb and 256mb graphics cards, but no knowledge on brands (partner needs Nvidia for open gl support) or whether they were dedicated (shared will NOT do as this'll eat up the RAM) or whether they have dual heads (as I've said before, we both have two screens connected up). No mention of disk drives, or the card reader (my partner had in his pc) or anything - she basically answered "don't know" to everything, and she wouldn't even give my partner the price at which they've valued them!

I'm waiting for my partner to call back right now, so I can tell him what Barclays (or rather what they didn't) say.

Surely IVal know what specs the computers they've quoted have?????? It's just absurd if they don't!

Do they have the right to force us to use their supplier? We were told on the phone on Saturday that we'd get PC World vouchers!

I've also found this comment previously written on this forum ( Norwich Union Don't Pay Out...... )

I see this claim scenario time and time again and it makes me so mad because insurance companies are still trying it on. The fact of the matter is that if the insurer's supplier CAN NOT replace Like for Like then you are entitled to a CASH SETTLEMENT at the full value and NOT at the DISCOUNTED RATE i.e. what the insurer would pay its supplier. Insurers are not supported by the Ombudsman if they try and insist on replacement through it's suppliers. See repair, replace or cash? - october

The Ombudsman says: -

"Policyholders should be allowed to choose where they purchase a replacement and they are entitled to a cash settlement if they cannot find an acceptable alternative. In such circumstances, we would not regard it as reasonable for the insurer to make a deduction from the cash settlement to represent any discount it would have got if the policyholder had bought a replacement from one of the insurer’s nominated suppliers. Nor would it necessarily be appropriate for the insurer to offer vouchers to the policyholder. If the option of replacement is not available, then the only way in which the insurer can indemnify a claimant is by a cash settlement.
In some cases, policyholders may not wish to purchase a replacement for the damaged or stolen goods. This may be, for example, because their circumstances have changed, or the object had sentimental value. Where this is the case, we will normally ask the insurer to agree a cash settlement".

MY STRONG ADVICE IS POINT THIS OUT TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY AND IF THEY STILL TRY AND FOB YOU OFF COMPLAIN TO THE OMBUDSMAN. IT'S A FREE SERVICE.

I am thinking that if they try and fob us off I'll be using some of this.... Hmmmmm.....