Norwich union "accidental damage" insurance

[calconnor66]

I have been insured with Norwich union off and on for over 10 years, I have never in my life made any claims on my household insurance and always had accidental damage insurance. My policy was taken out for my new house in July 2005, and I was sent a subsequent renewal notice last year, but no documents. If I am honest I would not have checked them anyway.
Bottom line is I have accidental damage for what I thought was most items that are electrical TV, Hi-fi. Sky boxes home computers blah blah blah. I bought a lap top for my son for Christmas and it fell off his bed onto the floor and damage the plasma in the screen. Contacted Norwich Union and they said I was not covered, as laptops don’t come into this. I bought the lap top as a computer as my sons room is small, and he needs all the space. I also told them I had always paid the additional policy. They said they would check the "tapes" of my call and get back to me. I am adamant I requested the additional insurance and surprise surprise they cannot access the info on the tapes. The bottom line is they will not pay out I have a three month old lap top, that I thought I was insured for ( I would have paid the ex tra to PC world when I bought it , if I did not have the cover) and NU are saying I am not covered.
I intend to write to them. I have gone over the policy wording and in the small print it says it does not include lap tops, but to me this seems totally incredible as normal bog standard insurance covers Tv etc. I intend on writing to complain, and then onto their second stage of their complaints but I feel slightly miffed, as I am adamant I requested this cover and I cannot prove it as the tapes have now 2myseriously" gone missing.
Any ideas
Carolyn

[bally35]

carolyn did you use credit card to pay for this?

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 is the law which sets out the rules that cover credit cards. One of the least known rules is in Section 75. This says that if you use your credit card to buy something costing more than £100 but less than £30,000, and something goes wrong, the people who gave you your card are liable as well as the seller. This covers both goods and services. Credit card companies accept their liability for purchases in the United Kingdom, although with some you have to insist on your rights. Please note that you do not have to claim against the seller first. For purchases abroad, there may be a problem. Credit card companies dispute that Section 75 applies to such purchases. But if you insist, most will eventually treat any claim, on a good will basis, as if it referred to a UK purchase. The Office of Fair Trading takes the view that Section 75 applies to purchases no matter where they are made.



Some credit cards give free insurance for the theft, loss or accidental damage of anything you buy with the card. This sounds good but bear in mind that the cover usually only lasts for a short period. Ninety to a hundred days is the normal.

[xrchris]

For most insurers it is standard practice to exclude computers that are designed to be portable eg laptops (most tend to exclude games consoles too!) unless you pay for the upgraded Accidental Damage option.

Was the A/D cover on your original inception documents in 2005? If not then (unless a mistake has been made) it is highly unlikely that it was deleted at renewal.

Of course as they cannot recover the tape to disprove you(although they could quite rightly argue you would have had the original documents to inspect for 12 months), you could just stick to your guns and insist they have made an error.

[benjee]

Under the standard NUDirect policy, laptops are not covered for Accidental Damage.The policy book (available online at http://www.norwichunion.com/library/...cy-wording.pdf) states under Part C,


We

will not cover:

• electrical or mechanical

breakdowns;
• computers or computer equipment
designed to be portable;
• radio transmitters and mobile
phones;

If you have paid an Extra premium to have FULL accidental damage then yes you are covered. If this was on previous years, then this would remain at each subsequent renewal unless instructed by you. They cannot remove it without your authorisation.

What has happened in the past 10 years is irrelevant (these days most Companies dont recognise long term custom like they used to) as this policy only applies from 2005 when you took it out for your new house.
Obviously you would have recieved documents at policy inception which you are responsible for reading and checking the information, and I presume you did? Remeber with over 1 million customers, the onus is always with the policyholder to check all details are correct as incorrect information can and may invalidate your policy or possible future claims.

Hope this helps.