Need your help please with contents claim

[honeybee13]

Hi guys, need your input please.

 

My OH moved our house and contents cover last year and it renewed a few weeks ago. I couldn't find the renewal papers when I rang to claim [they're still AWOL at the moment], but the 2009 renewal says the excess is £100.

 

When I spoke to the insurer, they said that our excess increased to £200 at renewal and they also waffled on about a voluntary excess that I can't find in the paperwork.

 

Do you have any comments please? If the £200 excess had been drawn to my attention, I wouldn't have agreed to it.

 

My best, HB

[unclebulgaria67]

 

Ask for a copy of the renewal documents, which they should be able to print off.

 

It sounds like they increased or added a compulsory excess on the policy, which they should have drawn your attention to on the renewal letter and/or endorsement.

 

Once you have sight of the renewal documents, you can then take this further if necessary.

[honeybee13]

Thank you Uncle Bulgaria [i love your name]. My OH says he knows where the documents are it seems, will ask him to find them.

 

HB

Edited August 9, 2010 by honeybee13
typo.

[honeybee13]

Hello again. My OH found the renewal docs very quickly from where he'd hidden them. I haven't seen them before and it does say the excess is £200. I guess he didn't check the schedule, but on the covering letter the 'IMPORTANT NOTICE' overleaf only mentions how to complain, rights to cancel a CCA and other information about the CCA.

 

Do we have a leg to stand on here? When I spoke to the insurer, they wittered on about the £100 excess being an introductory offer. Have they increased the excess in an effort to keep the premuim down as in another thread here?

 

Thank you for any help.

 

HB

[unclebulgaria67]

 

Difficult, but might be worth sending a complaint letter. The renewal letter will tell you to check information carefully to make sure you are happy. But I thought that if they had made any significant changes to the policy and the standard excess would be, that they had to draw your attention to this.

 

So on the basis that neither the renewal letter or important notice, made you aware of changes to the standard excess, I would make the complaint about that. Without looking up the precise FSA rules, I would say that your Insurers may have compliance questions to answer. So if you do send a complaint letter, just say that you have been advised that the renewal documents received, did not meet the FSA's required standards to bring any significant changes to the policholders attention in a clear manner. You therefore suggest that they refer this matter to their compliance department to inform their response, as you are tempted to refer this to the FOS, if a satisfactory response to your complaint is not received.

 

Always worth a go on this basis.

[honeybee13]

Uncle Bulgaria, you're a star and we owe you. It's the last time I let OH deal with this. It was all OK when I handled it! I will do what you suggest. Thank you.

 

HB x