OK

Just before Easter my husband bought a really nice Cannondale Bad Boy bike worth £400 (ish), rode it to work the very next day (Aprox 2 miles from home), locked it up with a heavy-duty motorcycle cable chain to the permanent metal bars in the cycle store which are sunk into the concrete in the cycle store floor, alongside half a dozen other bikes that were there already.

At lunchtime (just 15 hours after he purchased it) it was stolen

The heavy duty cable lock left on the floor cut in 2. Reported to police, crime number given. They assured Hubby they knew the local youths who do this, but they cant just go round their houses, they have to have just cause (!!).

Rang insurance Comapny L&G, who say it's not covered as was stolen away from home property.

I've finally got my hands on the Policy Document Swinton (The broker we went through gave us) and it clearly states:

We will pay up to the personal possessions sum insured for:

- Theft, loss of or damage to personal possessions, personal money and credit cards which you own or are legally responsible

for, whilst within the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the world for up to 60 days in any one period of insurance.

- The most we will pay for theft from an unattended vehicle is £1,000

- The most we will pay for any one claim in respect of personal money is £500

- The most we will pay for any one claim in respect of credit cards is £500

- The maximum number of pedal cycles covered is 5 and the most we will pay for any one claim in respect of each pedal cycle is £500

It then states:

We will not pay for:

Theft of an unattended pedal cycle while in the garden or outside the boundary of the home, unless in a locked building or attached by a locked security device to a permanently-fixed structure or a motor vehicle.

So they declined the claim as it was away from the property, yet it clearly states it would be covered outside the boundary of the home if it is attached by a locked security device to a permanently-fixed structure - which it was.

I've just rang them, as I'm not named, they couldn't go into the claim or why it was turned down, but he spoke to me 'hypothetically".

He said "We're not trying to wriggle out of paying up an any insurance claims, but we cannot specifically word each policy as to how far outside the Boundary of your home you are covered. It could well be in your Husband's claim, the area outside the boundary of the property would just be on that path outside the front, so just a period of meters"...

When i asked if he could appeal i was told "I really don't think it'd be a good use of your time to be honest, for what the bike was worth, you should just accept the decision, as the likelihood of any exception would be nominal".

Well to us, £400 is a lot of money to spend on a bike and very much a lot to simply lose after 15 hours of owning said bike!

Can I have your thoughts please, if you do think we have grounds for appeal, or would it simply be a waste of time for us as the Insurers say?

Thanks

Insurance companies do try anything to get out of paying.

I would suggest that you first make a written complaint to the insurance company, stating what has happened and the evidence you have to back up your claim eg crime number etc.

You then need to exhaust the companies complaint's procedure - in other words until they say in writing that they definitaly will not pay you. After this point you can take it up with the financial ombudsman serivce.

However, the first thing to do is to make a written complaint to the insurance company - don't listen to some nobody on the telephone trying to put you off claiming - that's their job

Your husband needs to phone Swinton to ask them whether bikes are covered away from home under his policy. If they say yes, perhaps Swinton can phone L&G on his behalf to ask why they are declining a claim.

I think L&G operate a lot from overseas offices and English is not the first language of the staff on their helplines. It could be that they don't understand the policy and have just turned down the claim due to their misunderstanding.

Advice is to stick to using a UK based company and don't use Swinton who have a poor reputation for customer service.

Swinton just said the decision was down to L&G and we had to call them.

The L&G call centre we spoke to was definitely in England. Get a total feeling of being fobbed off in the hope we go away.

I know that a £400 bike isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things - in comparison to total house burglaries etc.. but it is a lot to us, and we genuinely believed we were insured for this

Swinton just said the decision was down to L&G and we had to call them.

 

The L&G call centre we spoke to was definitely in England. Get a total feeling of being fobbed off in the hope we go away.

 

I know that a £400 bike isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things - in comparison to total house burglaries etc.. but it is a lot to us, and we genuinely believed we were insured for this

When Swinton arranged the policy, was cover for bikes requested ?

On some policies, you have to take out cover for bikes under a specific section to cover them away from the boundary of the home. Check whether this is the case and if this cover is missing, if this was mentioned to Swinton, ask them why they have not included it.

Some people get confused by mention of bikes cover under Personal Possessions, when there is also another optional cover for bikes. There may be a separate add on premium section to be paid, to make the cover for bikes fully operative.

If you remain unhappy with Swinton and L&G about the policy arrangement and claim, make complaint to the FOS. If the FOS take on complaints, it will cost these companies an FOS case fee of £500 an you nothing. Sometimes companies will make a payment, to avoid you going to the FOS.

Hmm,

the boundary being, your home, garden etc, outside the boundary is .. well anywhere from the first kerbstone/bit of street outside your house you don't own to the rest of the world. If they want "outside the boundary" to mean anything else, they need to say so. If they do, then you have trouble, i'd imagine they define boundary so anything that's not is outside the boundary.

I don't think it's L&G being awkward, just dim. Call them and ask to speak to a grown up.

locked it up with a heavy-duty motorcycle cable chain to the permanent metal bars in the cycle store which are sunk into the concrete in the cycle store floor

 

We will not pay for:

Theft of an unattended pedal cycle while ... outside the boundary of the home, unless ... attached by a locked security device to a permanently-fixed structure

Doesn't matter where it is, if it was locked as you say it was then it is covered.