Home Insurance Question

[Greg Hook]

Just after some help regarding home insurance. Never had to claim on it before but we had a bit of a calamity last night.

Basically, I thought I would try out my projector and see what the Xbox 360 games looked like. So I pulled down the projector and started to set it up. Next thing I know the projector rolls it self back up with a bang, comes off its hook, swings down, smashes on top of my Tannoy centre speaker and bounces off my Hitachi 32LD7200

Fortunately both still work, but the speaker has a nasty gouge out the top and the TV has a mark on the front. I thought the TV had got away unscathed by it must have taken a knock on the screen itself as there is now a small area of white light coming through from the back. Several pixels in size with a bit of bleeding.

Anyway, whats the normal procedure with home insurance? Phoned them up today and they are sending a form, but they were pretty useless and the girl I spoke too sounded like she wouldn't know the difference between an LCD TV and a hairbrush.

I'm going to take the speaker in to the place I bought it from on Saturday to get a quote for replacement, but what do I do about the TV? Do I get someone to look at it? I bought it from Comet originally.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers
Greg

 

[Dave]

Depends largely on the company. Most will want a quote for repair/ replacement then send you a cheque minus the excess so give comet a call and see what their repair procedure is.

Don't worry about it though, it will get fixed under accidental damage. May take a while and a lot of running around but at least it'll get done in the end.

 

[Dave]

Only get an estimate, don't authorise any repairs, mate.

Absolutely.

The main pain in the rear with claims is the amount of time it takes to get it sorted.

By all means, get quotes and find out what comet would do if the insurance company want to send it to them as it may save you some time later on but as Sean said, don't authorise anything cos they may refuse to pay.

 

[pave]

I had to claim last year...burnt my garden shed down and most of the fence...

Anyway,i called my home insurance people,sent a form,after a week or so i got a letter from an independent firm of assessors,

They came around to check on my claim,before they checked the damage they asked how much my contents insurance was ,just to see if i had enough cover,i was surprised when he said i was slightly under insured,
They can refuse to pay out if this is the case...

He let it go and after seeing the damage agreed to cover the cost of the damage,i had quotes to show him...got paid in full..

So,,get quotes for any repairs or replacement costs,as for your t.v,get a quote for a new one ,worth trying,they can only say no....

Hope some of this is helpful..

Oh,all this took approx 4-6 weeks,can't remember exactly

 

[Battle]

I dropped a can of paint over my sofa a couple of years ago - my insurance company was fantastic, I phoned them up told them what I had done and as I had accidental damage cover they offered me like for like, I said that I actually wanted to upgrade from a sofa bed to a proper three piece suite so they sent me a cheque for the value of the sofa bed I had totaled, they didnt quibble at all, didnt even want to look at the damage everything was done over the phone and i didnt even have to fill in a form. Had the cheque within two weeks. Fantastic. I think alot of it is to do with the value of the claim you are making - couple of hundred quid most insurance companies cant be bothered to follow up, its when you claim for a couple of thousand that they strt checking you out.

 

[Greg Hook]

Thanks for all the replies.

The speaker should be ok to replace as the mark on the top is very noticeable and I can easily get a replacement cost for that from the place I got it from.

My only concern is with the TV. The small pixels of light coming through on the screen itself are noticeable in semi-dark and dark scenes and isn't large in size, probably two/three pixels in size and some faint light pixels around it. But now I know it's there it is very annoying, plus this TV was pixel fault free beforehand and had no marks on the front. So my worry is that if an assessor comes out to look at it he will say it is not a problem and I should live with it. But if the screen was hit, what other damage has it done that may present itself somewhere down the line?

The policy covers me for individual items up to £1500, so the TV at £1260 comes under that and the Tannoy Centre speaker can only be about £100.

Anyway, I'm probably concerned over nothing, but will wait and see how it all goes.

Cheers
Greg

 

[unique]

I dropped a can of paint over my sofa a couple of years ago - my insurance company was fantastic, I phoned them up told them what I had done and as I had accidental damage cover they offered me like for like, I said that I actually wanted to upgrade from a sofa bed to a proper three piece suite so they sent me a cheque for the value of the sofa bed I had totaled, they didnt quibble at all, didnt even want to look at the damage everything was done over the phone and i didnt even have to fill in a form. Had the cheque within two weeks. Fantastic. I think alot of it is to do with the value of the claim you are making - couple of hundred quid most insurance companies cant be bothered to follow up, its when you claim for a couple of thousand that they strt checking you out.

i'm about to get my living room painted shortly, and i fancy a pair of new matching sofa's. you've just given me a great idea

 

[Mrs AutomanUK]

I wish I could have seen this happen... cashed in with sending a recording of it to you've been framed !! I bet you screamed... even a little... lol.

Get the claim in and it will all get sorted out. Get a fixed mount for the PJ too !!

 

[Pat_C]

They came around to check on my claim,before they checked the damage they asked how much my contents insurance was ,just to see if i had enough cover,i was surprised when he said i was slightly under insured,
They can refuse to pay out if this is the case...

I would guess that most people are under-insured without realising it, some significantly. It's a real eye-opener when you walk round and tot up the rough cost of replacement for all items (assuming there was a fire and the house was gutted).

But if you are under-insured I was under the impression that any payment would be made on a pro-rated basis, rather than simply refusing to pay. Maybe that depends on the insurance company?

 

[pave]

Yes,i agree with your post ,in my case he did say they might refuse to pay...so i guess it is down to the insurance company....

Oh,i did increase my contents insurance...

 

[BobBob21]

As others have said, it depends totally on the insurance company involved. Some will make you jump through hundreds of hoops and get you to complete forms then make you pay for the repairs/ replacement and finally send you a cheque. Other insurers however would immediately appoint their authorised entertainment equipment company who would then contact you by phone to decide if they need to view the items first or can simply send a person out to deliver the replacements straight away.

Needless to say there are lots of shades of grey between the two extremes too

 

[TeeDoubleUDee]

Yes,i agree with your post ,in my case he did say they might refuse to pay...so i guess it is down to the insurance company....

Oh,i did increase my contents insurance...

I know this isn't going to help the OP but I changed my home insurance a couple of years ago to the Halifax. Their policy is unlimited house AND contents cover so no need to worry about totting up all your contents before applying. They were £100+ cheaper than my previous insurers, Direct Line.

BTW Halifax are currently offering a 20% discount on home insurance if ordered on-line; and you can pay monthly at no extra cost

(I'm not connected in anyway with the Halifax)

 

[Greg Hook]

We probably will be changing our insurance next time as I am shortly to own half the house so I will be taking more of an interest in it. But with any insurance you never really know if the company is any good until you have to make a claim.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers all
Greg

 

[pave]

I know this isn't going to help the OP but I changed my home insurance a couple of years ago to the Halifax. Their policy is unlimited house AND contents cover so no need to worry about totting up all your contents before applying. They were £100+ cheaper than my previous insurers, Direct Line.

BTW Halifax are currently offering a 20% discount on home insurance if ordered on-line; and you can pay monthly at no extra cost

(I'm not connected in anyway with the Halifax)

I'll look into that...thanks for the info...seems a good deal..

 

[Greg Hook]

Update

Received the claim form today from the insurers. Changing the speaker is fine as I've just got a quote for the replacement Fusion model (tannoy MXC not available anymore), but with the TV they want me to get someone out to look at it. We spoke to Comet who were useless, then on to Hitachi who were helpful and gave me a number for a local company, but they want £80 just to look at it, thats with us taking the huge thing in to them.

I know this may vary between insurers but would I be able to claim back the cost of getting the engineer out from them? Also, does anyone know any companys that will come out to look at it, that aren't rip off merchants? I'm in Northants.

Thanks
Greg

 

[Goody]

Generally speaking, the call out cost should be included as part of the claim even if it cannot be repaired as you are attempting to pursue the most cost effective course of action. That is the usual practice.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

 

[Greg Hook]

Cheers goody.

Spoke to Comet again today and got someone who knew what they were doing this time and Comet are sending someone out for £30.

 

[Goody]

That's a rarity. Someone at Comet who knows what they're doing!

 

[Greg Hook]

Not only did she know what she was doing, but I asked her to fax the receipt to my work so I could send it off to the insurance company which she did, then she even phoned my work to confirm it had come through, made someone put it on my desk, then ran me back to say it had arrived.

A rarity I know, but excellent customer service from this person in particular.