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[leeroy2009]

just some advice please or comments.

i paid about £400 for a electrical appliance (classed as audio & visual equipment) from a acutuin site a few years ago. This item had a retail price of around £3000 for a brand new one.

i accidently spilt my tea onto it and some of the buttons no longer work.

insurance company are saying i have to pay for my own engineers report to detail damage if it can be fixed etc, which is my responsibility and i have to pay for, is this right???

also what will happen if the item cant be fixed? as this item is old it is no longer made, but the newer models also cost around £3000 new.

i really hope my old one can be fixed, but what is likely to happen if it can not be fixed?

my policy dose not say that i have to or am responsible for getting the report, however they are saying that is my responsibilty and are rellying on this statement in my policy booklet

"you must provide us with written details of what has happened within 30 days and provide any other information we may reasonably require"

now of course writing and detailing what has happened is no problem, but can this statement be used by them to make me pay for and arrange a engineers report??

many thanks

[barracad]

It does say you need to provide any information they reasonably require, so I would say yes they can ask for this.

As to what will happen if you can't get a replacement - I assume what you're asking is if they'll give you £3,000 to replace your £400 item. To be blunt, the answer is no.

[gyzmo]

unless its a new for old policy? My mother had one and a NEW TV worth £500 but purchased for £150 was replaced!

[leeroy2009]

well i guess ill have to wait and see what happens, im not very happy about paying for this engineers report but so be it.

as for the item i also dont no what will happen, i just hope it can be fixed, there is nothing in the policy that covers the situation of buying a second hand item amd it then gets damaged or destroyed.

the passage from the policy says this "contents we will at our option repair, replace or pay for any article covered, for total loss or destruction of any article we will pay you the cost of replacing the article as new aslong as: the new article is as close as possible to but not an improvement on the original article when it was new"

well the new models are not improvment models they are the same unit just updated.

ill keep this updated.

[gyzmo]

Its basically a term to avoid betterment (though it is daft because a new model is better than an old model though exactly the same in every other manner). It sounds as though you do have new for old.

the bit about the replacement not being an improvement is really to stop people from "trading" a crap model for a better one. If the current model is the only one available and it is similar in specification and price (new)then there should be no problem.

As for them asking for the report, as stig has pointed out, you are required to provide information (and to prove that a loss is covered under the policy). However, most insurers have loss assessors to do this, and it is in my experience unusual to ask the insured to provide a report. I personally think they are out of order asking you to do this, but it is a while since I last worked in insurance so practices may have changed. But it is something I would certainly question.

[leeroy2009]

im going to look into this report thing a little more, with my last insurance company when i claimed for damage to my hi fi speakers, they arranged for the repair people to come to my house and take the speakers away, they then forwarded the report onto the insurance company, the insurance company immediatly authorised them to reapir the speakers and i had them back within a week

looks like i should of stayed with my old company.

[leeroy2009]

and it seems as if they do still make the older model, just had a quote from a company who say they have 2 in stock and they are currently half price at £1172.

so id assume that if they are still made then a repair should be possible, fingers are crossed

[gyzmo]

that's how it normally works - they use their own loss adjusters. Is it a broker you are using or a semi direct insurer (such as a bank)? If so, it may be better speaking to the insurer themselves.

[leeroy2009]

just out of interest, who is responsible for dealing with me should i have a comolaint, is it the broker who sold the policy to me of is it the underwriters them selves?

many thanks

[LemonTwist]

Originally Posted by leeroy2009

just out of interest, who is responsible for dealing with me should i have a comolaint, is it the broker who sold the policy to me of is it the underwriters them selves?

many thanks

As it's a dispute about a claim, it's probably best to complain to the underwriters themselves.

[gyzmo]

both are responsible. If the broker is not playing ball then you can complain to BIBA (if they are a member), the FOS or take it to the insurer (the underwriter). Using the FOS means that you must first complain to the broker and wait until you receive a final response which you are not happy with or if the broker has fell oustide the timeframes.

[leeroy2009]

update

spoke to fsa.

the buck stops with the broker as they sold the policy.

now for the engineers report, fsa told me that the policy must be fair, clear and not misleading, it is certainly not clear to the policy holder that they have to pay for the report as it is not stated in the policy, which in turn makes it unfair, fsa told me a few other bits and pieces.

armed with this i decided to make a complaint to the broker, and now i have written confirmation that the underwriters will pay for the engineers report.

i belive that this certain underwriter are up to no good, they can NOT tell me over the phone that i need to provide the engineers report - when that is no stated in the policy.

it just goes to show that none of these big buisnesses can be trusted.

ill update later once the claim is in progress

thanks for the comments people.

[caro]

I wonder if you would really need to pay for the report. I'd be inclined to ask for a detailed quote from an engineer. After all he would get the job if it was feasible for it to be repaired. I can't see why you need to pay for it.