After being made redundant and going to court to argue the lies and then losing (costing me exactly my 12 years worth of redundancy payment) when we all knew they had lied (proved it in court). Ive now just been told my first ever claim on my 10 years worth of house contents insurance is not being honoured!



Its took Legal and General 10 weeks to tell me my tv's power supply was worn and i threw it ont he floor, but it was working fine.

I really dont know what to do except cancel all insurnce policies as its obvious they can say what they like.

He said I can contest it, but I had to have an independent engineers report to counter theirs. But when I questioned him saying if I got a report (at my cost) that said it was indeed worn but unable to say if it was working or not when it fell over what would happen and he just said they would look at it. Im not trying to argue if it was worn or not, it is 4 years old but it was working when it fell over and no engineers report can prove/disprove this.

What shall i do? i know im in the right but even with a report saying 'it might have not been working as it is worn' its still down to thier engineers report verses my 'story'.

HELP!

Sorry to hear all thye bad news.
But here is a point. How on earth does a power supply get worn?? they either work or they don't as no moving parts??

But either way, sounds like you are a bit stuffed one way or another. bah. I actually try to avoid insurance claims, don't have accidental damage cover, and high excesses on all policies. My take is the money I save over the years will be greater than the claims I have to make (zero so far)
Same story with the cars.....

[Edited on 12/4/11 by cliftyhanger]

Power supplies are well known for failing...

Infact Toshiba, who offer a 3 year waranty on their laptops, specifically state that the power supply will only be covered by a 1 year waranty. And believe me, I have seen a fair share of failed power supplies after about a year....

Have you tried writing to the insurance obudsmen to explain in detail the issue?

i agree not ever making a claim on my house insurance which costs £300 a year, that £3000 i could have saved to buy a new tv.

It seems if you dont complain, are a little shy and dont want to cuase a fuss u get bent over a table when you finally do make a claim. Just had the arguement with the missus, saying im stopping allt he insurances for her to argue that she doesnt want to incase we have to claim for a flooded house or other. Yet she didnt seem to understand that the insurance company could just say the same for that claim.

Love girls logic! lol

He said the TV model had a history of bad power supplies, but it still doesnt show it was not working when i knocked it over.

Really fed up now, whats the point in being honest and kind. grrrr

Give Consumer Direct a call and ask their advice.
If your telly is only four years old you may be able to claim off the shop/manufacturer.
Or, they may take action against your insurer.
I have found it well worth giving them a call in the past.
You can claim up to six years after purchase, on some items.
Forget guarantees, they are not worth the paper they are written on and have no meaning in law. Your consumer rights trump any guarantee conditions.
Got my siste-in-law a new washing machine after hers packed up. it was three years old and the shop didn't want to know.
They know now!

I'd raise a formal complaint with the insurer ASAP, if only as they'll have to follow it through and log it for their audit procedures.

Another avenue would be the insurance ombudsman (assuming there is one).

You could also try contacting the TV manufacturer with a view to having the set inspected by them and a statement obtained on the likely cause of failure - they might well be retiscent to go against the insurer though.

Ultimately the insurer will do whatever they can to wriggle out of the claim, they employ people specifically for this purpose. Even if it costs them more in resources to rebuff the claim than payout, their bean counters will be happy as it minimises their payout losses. They'll work on the basis that you won't do without a TV for too long and will relent and buy yourself a new one.

Find their head office and arrive with TV, aerial, cabinet, armcair and lamp and set up for the long haul in their reception area

The point is that the TV is broken, so the manufacturer/retailer has no need to be involved, the insurance company should pay out. Flipside is that they may have rather too many claims of this nature, so refuse them as a matter of course (or something similar)
I suspect raising a complaint is the best way forward, and pursuing via the ombardsman if needed.

BTW I would not suggest you have NO insurance cover for possessions, the lady is right, if the house burnt down/flooded etc the cost of replacing everything is enormous. Probably at least double what you expect. We have 60K worth of cover, and I doubt that would replace what we own BUT it is on a basic, no frills policy (free with the buildings cover IIRC from churchill)

See what they mean by "engineer"...

If its just someone thats done an appreticship or degree, im sure there are PLENTY of people on here who would be "tame"...

I have a friend who works in H&S and he's done a couple favours for me. As long as I'm not really taking the mick with things, he'll write me a nice report when needed

Any maybe change insurers next time? I'm with M&S - just renewing for £216 on a bungalow and it includes Unlimited buildings, unlimited contents, and loss/theft damage away from my house too (their premium policy).

I made a claim 2 years ago with them when the metal extractor filter fell and cracked our brand new induction hob. They sent a guy round in 2 days, and 3 days after that a man turned up with a new identical hob and put it in. All we paid was the excess which I made back when I sold the broken one on Ebay. I've stayed with them ever since as they have been excellent (had a claim recently for a blocked/broken drain - handled that well as well).

You really do want some insurances against flooding; in particular buildings we have had to claim and it's made all the paying to date worth while...

Dan

Personally, I'd simply smile happily and then a few months down the line when you're house gets broken into and lots of stuff stolen then claim again, for the legitimately missing items...................................

the sales of goods act covers electrical items upto 5 years if its made to last longer. i assume they wont write to you advising they dont expect teh tv to last less than 5 years so they should fix it. they did fix my pc power supply after 4 1/2 years.

In your original post you state that the tv's power supply fell over? Maybe if you explained this a little more. Im not sure how a power supply can just fall over. May be if you shed a little more light on what happened maybe it would be worth speaking to contest this. As others have said, they will try to get out of paying. Does your policy detail that in order to claim you have to have an engineers report. If its not a condition of insurance then throw it back at them and threaten legal action against them.

Just keep on at them. so it starts to cost them more than to settle.

Ask for a copy of the report etc.
If the does not have much information. ask for more.
If they have the TV still ask for it back. Even make them think you are prepered to get your own engineer's report.


Recent PSU's / PC Mother borads / LCD backlight power units often have 'Leaky' capacitor problems.
It may look faulty but still work for the moment.

quote:

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Originally posted by jossey
the sales of goods act covers electrical items upto 5 years if its made to last longer. i assume they wont write to you advising they dont expect teh tv to last less than 5 years so they should fix it. they did fix my pc power supply after 4 1/2 years.

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quote:

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Originally posted by AndyW
In your original post you state that the tv's power supply fell over? Maybe if you explained this a little more. Im not sure how a power supply can just fall over. May be if you shed a little more light on what happened maybe it would be worth speaking to contest this. As others have said, they will try to get out of paying. Does your policy detail that in order to claim you have to have an engineers report. If its not a condition of insurance then throw it back at them and threaten legal action against them.

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Thought that was the case. I would continue to persue it. Good luck and please keep us informed want to hear you had success!!

Well hang on if there was accidental damage cover then surely getting annoyed at having to reach over the back of the TV to make sure everything's plugged in right, then knocking it over on your way back is an accident

Sounds like the usual insurance thing. You are insured right up until the point where you make a claim. Then.........

Sorry fair wear and tear.
Sorry that particular item is known to be faulty and therefore not insureable.
Sorry those items are not covered on that policy.
Sorry that item is covered on contents not bricks and mortar (TV roof aerial bolted to chimney 15m in the air, because you would take it with you when/if you move)
Sorry... (put any excuse they care to use here).
ETC etc etc.

Mant thanks for the replies.

Yes the tv was fine (in A1 condition without a scratch) then i knocked it over trying to tidy the wiring up behind it.

As im with Britania building society this is who i pay for the house insurance, but as from March this year they changed the insurance co for a different one so my house insurance is with another one anyway. My claim was on 07/02/11 and its only now the ring me up to tell me its a no go.

Ive told them i wish to argue it and asked for the tv back to take to another engineer and this is what they told me to do so im now waiting for the arguement with their engineering firm who i assume wasnt to charge for the delivery of my tv back to me.

I will be checking it over for missing parts or more damage when i get it back, the slightest mark or screw missing and im complaining.

Thanks for the offers to give me a report, but unless you are local its going to be hard to deal with so im taking to a local place and ask them that in the report i must have a statement that reads 'the tv was definatly not working when it was knocked over' or 'may have not' so i can tell them unless they can show it was 100% not working (which i know as i was watching it all morning!) then they cant stop a claim on this basis.

Makes me sick, if they say this about my first ever claim whats going to stop them saying 'sorry its not brand new we arnt responsable' for any other items int he future? whats classed as 'old and worn'?

GRRRRR

Im going to wait for the tv to show up, im hoping they cant be bothered, lost it, skipped it or have damaged it more as this gives me ammo agaist them not allowing me a fair appeal.

The guy was polite and understood my comments, but was very careful to not fully answer my questions when i asked what if my report cant conclude the state of the tv when it fell over, which he replied with 'we will look at it (so just argue their engineers are better than mine!) and to the question about the report and did it actually say 'it was the psu' NOT ' looks worn might have been and issue' which are two different statements from an engineer. Besides i was flipping watching it that day!

will update you but might take some time.

Good luck - updates would be appreciated!

My experience has been somewhat better. Over 10 years, I've had three claims on household insurance and have been happy with them all.

The first was a freezer failure, they paid out for the lost food within a week.

The second was when my wife picked up a plant-pot and the dish underneath dropped off and cracked the washbasin. I'd already cracked the rim of the toilet some years before by dropping an oil burner and we put in a claim for both. They hunted down matching replacements despite the suite being out of production. They said that as it was two separate events, they'd have to charge two excesses, however when I said I'd fit them myself, they said they'd pay me for my time and then when I didn't invoice them for it, they dropped both excesses to £0).

The third was when my (at the time) three year old son dropped my watch onto a tiled floor, cracked the glass and bent the catch. That cost £390 to fix and again there was no quibble, despite the manufacturer insisting on a full service as well as the repair in case any glass could possibly have got into the watch.

Correct me if I have the wrong end of the stick here but what your insurance co is saying is that you deliberately threw your TV to the floor in order to damage it beyond repair to cover up the fact that there was a fault with it therefore allowing you to claim on your insurance.

This would be a fraudulent claim.

Therefore they are accusing you of attempted fraud. (Do you have this in writing).

This is a very serious accusation and if you do not deny it then it could be taken as an admission of guilt

I would be asking them for the following:-

1) Evidence that you deliberately damaged the TV.
2) Names of any witnesses.
3) The name of the individual that made the decision to accuse you of fraud.
4) When are they going to report the alleged crime to the police.


The fact that the power supply was "worn" is completely irrelevant in this case.

i think if your going to claim there is a definate difference in the quality of cover and service between insurers, they get you which ever way, but i reckon if you pay more for the policy in the first place, i.e someone like castle insurance or hiscox your claims would be much easier, but the go-compare brigade are great for saving money, as long as u are only going to claim if the house gets nicked... in the end every claim adds to ur premium unless u pay again for a protected policy...

Yes they are saying (without actually saying it) i did it on purpose. Which i will keep my cool as always and tackle the problem like a professional.

Im getting the TV back in 10 days time and on monday i am asking for the above items.

I must have all this in writing and i will tell them that if i dont as far as i am concerned the case is not closed. I want a copy of the engineers report also as i am sure it doesnt fully define the tv was not working. so i can use their own evidence against them when i seek legal advice.

I also pay way over the odds for being with them, i should have shopped around every year but i didnt (lazy) and my latest qoute was almost half and covered more stuff!