Hermes 'Insurance'; guitar headstock snapped in transit

[Quanta]

Hi all,

 

As you may have guessed, I am new here (I imagine you get a lot of us)

 

First off,  @BankFodderyou are a legend! This particular Hermes thread and all of your guidance contained within has been extremely useful for my own similar journey so far.

 

My case is similar; have used Hermes in the past with no issues until now.

 

I purchased their services to return an electric guitar to a store valued at ~£600.

 

I declared 'electric guitar', and was offered insurance, which I added to the purchase without question (how naïve of me...).

 

The guitar's headstock was snapped in transit - it was packed extemely well (I have been buying / selling fragile music equipment for ~10 years now).

 

The receiving store notified me upon receipt, and I proceeded with the initial Hermes claim process, they asked for images of the damage which I submitted, and was promptly notified that musical instruments are not covered by their insurance.

 

I notified them of my intent to claim on 8/6/21, and did actually receive a response that day, but after a bit of back and forth I was offered a 'postage refund' only.

 

I then proceeded with the claim via the MCOL portal that evening (not sure if I was supposed to leave more time?) to which Hermes filed an acknowledgment of service on 11/06/2021.

 

As I understand it, more than 28 days have now passed since their AOS - so my question is, what should I do now?

 

Any help much appreciated!!!

 

Note:

Just to be clear, the basis of my claim is not that Hermes damaged the guitar in transit, it is that they sold me a service + 'insurance' upon my declaration of the item being sent.

As others have pointed out on this forum, it would be so easy to implement an item categorization system (similar to eBay), that notifies the customer by not allowing them to add insurance to an uninsurable item, and subsequently dissuading them from using Hermes at all to send a valuable item.

Does the business depend on this shady implementation?

[Quanta]

Thanks for the prompt reply @BankFodder.

 

I believe I have already done so (unless there is some other portal?)

 

This is the progress so far:

 

Claim History

You submitted a claim on 08/06/2021 at 19:38:16

Your claim was issued on 09/06/2021

HERMES PARCELNET LIMITED filed an acknowledgment of service on 11/06/2021 at 08:05:28

 

I was under the impression that their AOS means I have to wait for them to file a defense.

 

The 'request judgement' button is available but I wasn't sure if I had to do anything else prior to that.

 

 

[Quanta]

Thanks for your help.

 

I will do some reading and familiarize myself.

 

The guitar is repairable - I imagine the cost would be around £200 to £300 (I have had immense difficulty in obtaining an actual quote for the repair or partial refund from the original guitar retailer that I returned it to.)

 

When you say post up the claim form, do you mean my 'particulars of claim' used in the form?

[Quanta]

As I don't currently have a way to blank the identifiers in the PDF, I have pasted the particulars for you below and hope this is sufficient. I have also now noticed I have not followed up on the last sentence...

 

The claimant used the courier service provided by the defendant courier company to send an electric guitar to a third party.

Reference number (redacted). The defendant company has admitted that they have damaged the item and refuse to compensate the claimant.

The value of the item sent was £599. The delivery fee was £20.18. The claimant claims full reimbursement of £619.18 (item value plus delivery fee plus insurance cost).

I will provide the defendant with separate detailed particulars within 14 days after service of the claim form.

[Quanta]

My cause of action was that Hermes damaged the guitar and refused to pay any compensation (I intended the sentence about the 'basis of my claim' in the original post to be read rather informally but apologies if I have confused matters - I understand that your are just trying to help.)

 

As stated - I have not sent them a separate 'particulars of claim' within 14 days and have just realized this mistake on my part.

 

Would you advise I do this now; or revise my claim down once I have a cost-of-repair quote?

[Quanta]

I cannot recall whether or not I clicked the checkbox that said I would send an additional particulars of claim.

 

I certainly don't have my hopes up for them not filing a defense - will monitor the claim portal closely over the next few days.

 

Point taken regarding posting documents and your advice - I will post a PDF of the defense here if / when it appears.

 

I believe I did send a proper letter of claim, but only via email and not physical post - perhaps another error on my part. PDF of this attached.

 

 

Hermes Claim.pdf

[Quanta]

As predicted by @BankFodder, defense has been posted now.

HermesDefense_Redacted.pdf

[Quanta]

Yes they do at least make clear that the cover is only up to £300, which I would have accepted if it had been offered upon my initial attempt to claim reimbursement with them directly.

 

I have attached a recreation of what the initial transaction would have looked like to me prior to making initial payment.

 

The latest update on the claim portal is 'DQ sent to HERMES PARCELNET LIMITED on 13/07/2021' which I am guessing means 'defence questionnaire'?

 

I take it I will then need to complete a questionnaire as well, and respond to the points raised in their defence?

 

Thank you for you help again @BankFodderand I will certainly be making a donation to the group regardless of whether or not any additional guidance is provided.

pasted image 0_Redacted.pdf

[Quanta]

DQ received. It doesn't seem to indicate anything in relation to Hermes' willingness to go to mediation, but as I'm sure you're aware the first section of the DQ is my YES / NO to mediation.

 

It seems straight forward enough but I can post it up if you want to see it.

 

Once I have completed and returned it, I will continue to prepare for mediation, if that stage is reached.

[Quanta]

Yes I received a copy of their defence (posted earlier) along with a blank N180. Completing this now.

 

The only questions I am not 100% certain of are:

 

At which County Court hearing centre would you prefer the small claims hearing to take place and why?         (I will simply choose my nearest hearing centre; not written here in order to maintain anonymity)

 

Are you asking for the court’s permission to use the written evidence of an expert?                                               No

 

How many witnesses, including yourself, will give evidence on your behalf at the hearing?                                   1

[Quanta]

Thanks @honeybee13.

 

The MCOL portal reflects both myself and Hermes having filed our DQs.

 

Is it just a matter of waiting now?

[Quanta]

Haven't received an N157 yet, and yes my DQ was submitted in July.

 

Covid delays perhaps..?

[Quanta]

Thanks @Andyorch; I sent an email and have since received a separate email with a mediation date now set.

 

Will study up and prepare and post back here with the end result.

 

Thank you all.

[Quanta]

Thanks all for you help. I have made a donation.

 

Awaiting bank transfer of settlement before sharing further details of the mediation appointment today, but I am pleased with the result.

[Quanta]

Apologies for the late update. Thanks everyone.

 

Mediation Summary

 > Initial claim was for £599 + postage (~£20) + claim fee (£70),  they offered a postage refund upon the opening of mediation.

 > I said no, then they offered £300+postage (the insurance max clearly stated as £300 at my time of ordering and would have accepted from them pre-claim).

 > I expressed that I would have accepted that when I first contacted them about the transit damage but they would now have to pay my claim cost of £70, as it is Hermes fault we are at this stage given that they have already agreed to owing £300, they agreed.

 

The mediator was extremely pleasant to deal with.