I purchased a leather three peice suite 2 years ago that developed a major fault just after 12 months. At the time of purchase I took out a 5 year warranty cover with AXA. I made a claim which they have tried to wriggle out of by claiming it is not covered, which it clearly is. I have followed all thier complaint procedures bar going to the omsbudsman. Does anybody know if it would speed up the process if I took the court instead?

It would depend...

For it to go through the court, you would need independant reports advising that it is faulty, etc..

Going through the ombudsman AXA would have to do this.

Have they sent someone round to look at it??? If so, what does the report say is the cause of damage??

To find what you are up against, it might be best you obtaining an SAR to get the report

We had an inspection from one of their guys who agreed with us and wrote down accordingly. However AXA are claiming he stated it was wear and tear. We have been in contact with the selling shop and spoke to the original salesman who also agree with us. Great idea about the SAR though, I hadn't thought of that. You said that if we went to the omsbudsman AXA would have to pay for a report. Do they get to choose who it is or do we get to approve it?

Interesting!

We also (wife and I) bought a fairly expensive leather suite from a well known and up market store about a year or so ago.

Because of the leather finish, we included a 5 year repair/replacement warranty from Homeserve.

At the beginning of this year, we noticed a mark on one of the seats, and using the kit that was supplied to us, tried to remove it with no success.

An expert visited, and despite all his efforts, also failed to remove the stain.

Some weeks later, we received a letter from Homeserve saying that it was going to replace the seat unit (these are not removeable).

Months have passed, and just as we were going to call them for an update, we received a letter from them stating that the claim can now be resolved. Apparently, the 'manufacturer are no longer able to supply the replacement parts required to complete the claim'.

Homeserve are offering a cah settlement of £828 in lieu of repairs or replacement and that we would keep the goods in their present state. Oh, and the warranty will cease immediately and no further claims will be accepted.

At first glance we thought that maybe the offer was fair, but then after taking away the initial £300 that the warranty cost, and the fact that we have lost nearly 4 years of cover, is this such a good deal? Should I go back and hang out for more compensation? I am not greedy, but I also hate the idea of any insurance companies duping their customers out of correct cover/compensation. How did they come up with that figure?

Champy