Home insurance claims (in the UK)

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gbbird
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Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by gbbird »

Hi All,

anyone here in the legal/insurance sector or have any experience of making a claim on home contents insurance in the UK? My wife and I have recently been offered a settlement on jewellery items recently stolen. A large portion of the settlement is in the form of a Signet 'Gift Card' which can only be used in certain high street jewellers. Cash was offered for some items, for example my CW watches and my wife's vintage jewellery.

I said i would prefer cash for the entire claim, as jewellery is a personal thing and both the wife and I would like the flexibility to buy from anywhere. After a good 30 minutes debate, they reluctantly offered this but with a huge 30% reduction in value.

Does anyone know if i have any legal right to insist on Cash without any loss of value, or do I have to accept the gift card?

regards

Greg

PS - they offered cash for the CW watches which is good :)
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by Paul Drawmer »

Hi Greg,
Firstly all insurance contract are different - there's no such thing as a standard policy.

The principle of insurance is to replace your items. Most household policies work on a replacement or 'new for old' basis on contents.

The insurance company can carry this out (usually) in whatever way suits them best. If they have a contract for a jewellery supplier that gives them a big discount, then they can buy the goods to replace yours at market value -their discount. Were they to give you a cheque for the new replacement cost, then this will mean that they can't buy the goods at the discount. So paying you cash at the new price to replace the items, is more expensive than them giving you a retail voucher which they have bought at a discount.

The issue is also about how you replace vintage and personal items where there is no direct new for old replacement. If the item is unobtainable then you could be looking at getting 'market value' for it. You will need to read the policy to see if there is a specific mention of this - look for wording like: "how we will settle your claim". It will probably describe there the options available.

This is a good reason to have photos of all the your precious stuff so that you can prove what it is you are talking about. Fine advice from me after the event, and I admit it there's a load of stuff that I should have photographed.

PM me if you need to discuss specifics. I sell household insurance but only represent one company and so do not know how other companies' policies work.
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by CornishDave »

Used to work in Insurance as a broker before retirement. Totally agree with what Paul says plus -

1. Not all Insurers go down the Gift card route but many do, back when I worked Direct Line was a prime example.

2. The principle of insurance is to "indemnify" you that is to place you in the position you were in before the loss took place. From either offer you should therefore be able to do this, albeit this would be very difficult with antique jewellery and as Paul says it is always wise to photo this sort of possession.

3. Your gift card should enable you to replace what you have with like for like replacements as should your cash settlement. If you can prove on any item that this is not possible you should go back to your Insurer with proof and explain your case. Don't forget as a cash buyer you may well be able to get a discount on replacements.

4. I suspect that somewhere in the terms and conditions of your policy you will find the Insurer reserves the right to offer cash or a replacement. I cannot remember who it was but I recall one Insurer would sometimes provide a replacement, i.e Currys would arrive at the door with a TV to replace your stolen one.

Dave
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by akirk »

A lot depends on whether you have agreed values or not / whether you had an itemised list / etc.

if you are offered a gift card for £100 / £70 cash, the insurance company could equally say that they ar prepared to offer you £70 - but if you would like it in the form of a gift card they can give you higher due to the arrangement they have with suppliers...

if they have agreed a settlement value, and then post that offer it in part form as a gift card, you would be justified in asking for it as cash, but if they have offered a settlement value of xxx + gift card, then they are within their rights to offer you a different settlement in cash as you are at that point negotiating the settlement as you are not accepting what they have offered...

ultimately if you have detailed notes / photos / agreed values you will be in a stronger position - if you don't then they are in the stronger position...

also, consider accepting the gift card after checking whether you might be able to sell it for a smaller discount - e.g. 10-20% off still give you more than a total of 30% discounted cash...

disclaimer - I have been out of insurance 10 years - Paul works for one of the better insurance companies (i.e. one who listens to their customers! - I am insured with them - not through Paul - and when I claimed for a bike that was stolen they were very good...)

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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by gbbird »

Thanks for the replies everyone. Very useful indeed. It seems i may be just as well accepting the settlement (as i mentioned earlier, value wise it is fair) and it could be extra hassle trying to convince them otherwise.

Shopping time it is then :)
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

CW - C60 blue, C60 black orange, C600 tit, FLE13
Gerlach - Orp Sokol, P50, LuxSport. Ball Engineer
Omega Speedmaster. Oris Aquis
Longines Hydroconquest
Magrette - Regattare, DualTime, Moana
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by gbbird »

One other thing I have herard is that when using a gift card for payment of goods, the high street jewellers will not offer any discount on pricing, as they have effectively done this with the insurance company. I am going to test this out when replacing my Tissot watch by negotating a price before presenting my card.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

CW - C60 blue, C60 black orange, C600 tit, FLE13
Gerlach - Orp Sokol, P50, LuxSport. Ball Engineer
Omega Speedmaster. Oris Aquis
Longines Hydroconquest
Magrette - Regattare, DualTime, Moana
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by Leo David »

Greg, your contract of insurance sets out the duties and obligations on you (as the assured party) and your insurer. Your contract is enforceable in English law under several separate statutes. You will need carefully to read the contract, policy wording and conditions of cover and also read any advertising material published by or on behalf of your insurer and make sure that what you are being offered in settlement is consistent with what the company says in its marketing blurb. Also an offer of settlement can be rejected and you and your insurer then enter into further discussion but do start with a forensic analysis of the conditions. Best of luck with it.
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by gbbird »

Thanks Leo. I think we will accept the offer as it is. There is a fair portion of it in cash anyway, and looking at the jewellers that accept the card we should have no problem replacing our stolen items.

I read my policy document and even under the settlement of claim section it does not go into great detail. it simply says 'we will pay you. ....'. Maybe there are more detailed t&cs on the website.
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

CW - C60 blue, C60 black orange, C600 tit, FLE13
Gerlach - Orp Sokol, P50, LuxSport. Ball Engineer
Omega Speedmaster. Oris Aquis
Longines Hydroconquest
Magrette - Regattare, DualTime, Moana
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by JAG »

Does anyone have any idea who are the top 5 insurance companies for building & con tense ?


Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes there will be
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by Paul Drawmer »

JAG wrote:Does anyone have any idea who are the top 5 insurance companies for building & con tense ?


Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes there will be
Here you are:
http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/ ... providers/
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Post by JAG »

Paul Drawmer wrote:
JAG wrote:Does anyone have any idea who are the top 5 insurance companies for building & con tense ?


Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes there will be
Here you are:
http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/ ... providers/
Cheers Paul & what ever happened to the old school insurance man like the Co-Op used to suspend around to my mums Lol


Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes there will be
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Re: Home insurance claims (in the UK)

Post by Paul Drawmer »

I do home visits where the contents get complex!
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