Insurance Claim What Are My Rights

[tomsk]

About 5 months ago I had my home broken into and would like some advice on what I can do with any offer from the loss adjusters.

In short they appear to want to replace stuff and I would rather a cash settlement and replace the items at my own pace.

What can I insist on?

 

It depends in the first isntance on anything your policy might say on the matter. Have you checked it?

 

[tony84]

That sounds strange, most would prefer to give you vouchers for the likes of comet or give you the money to replace them albeit usually a little short.

If your not happy with their offer, but a complaint in writing to them. They will either agree with it or reject it and give you the details of the financial ombudsman (this will cost the insurer about £500 just to be investigated) and they will make a decision.

The insurer may back down as it might not be financially worth it to them to argue the toss, just put in the letter you are prepared to go to the ombudsman.

As for what your rights are im not 100% sure if there is legislation which states it must be paid in a certain way or whether its down to the individual policy.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

The reason they probably want to replace the item is that buy giving you cash/vouchers you may not replace what was taken and get something better. i.e. two laptops could have been stolen buy you figure they were too old anyway and you've had your eye on that fancy new 50" 3D TV, so you get that instead.

Not saying that's what you're doing, but could be the reason that they want to actually replace things themsleves.

 

[chalkie99]

The principle of insurance is to indemnify you, in other words to place you back in the same position as you were before the loss.

By replacing the goods claimed for the insurers would be doing just that. Expecting cash instead *might* suggest you were rather relieved to get rid of those items and make the claim look slightly less genuine.

 

[tomsk]

. Expecting cash instead *might* suggest you were rather relieved to get rid of those items and make the claim look slightly less genuine.

This is what has been a real eye opener for me, wife came home the house had been burgled and they drove off in my car.

Several people saw the people etc - cctv footage at the local store with them on it all reported to the police and the insurance people have this air of yeah nudge nudge wink wink

All items documented etc but I simply may want to replace the items at my pace and perhaps add money to items etc.

The question is can I simply say no just want a cheque please.

 

[chalkie99]

I don't believe you can - for two reasons.

1) As stated before, their liability is to put you back in the same position that you were before the loss. You might see that by demanding the cash instead they may see that you may have been struggling for money before or that you just wanted a cheap way of updating old goods.

2) The insurers will have arrangements with suppliers for bulk purchase discounts so they can replace those goods more cheaply than you, thus saving themselves money without causing you any loss.

 

[lockyer]

With most modern home insurance policies, and under this the policy gives the insurer the right to replace the item with a new one.

You can opt out of this, but most insurers policy wordings mean they only have to pay you the cash equivalent of what they could purchase the item for, which is a hell of a discount usually.

Most will allow you to upgrade your items if you ask, and you maintain the same level of discount as they do, so it's not all bad.

Ps - if you do complain to the ombudsman they will only look into it if you have gone through the insurers complaints procedure first. And contrary to one of the posts above, it's nearer £260 that the insurer is charged for handling your complaint

 

[Alex C.]

With most modern home insurance policies, and under this the policy gives the insurer the right to replace the item with a new one.

You can opt out of this, but most insurers policy wordings mean they only have to pay you the cash equivalent of what they could purchase the item for, which is a hell of a discount usually.

Most will allow you to upgrade your items if you ask, and you maintain the same level of discount as they do, so it's not all bad.

Ps - if you do complain to the ombudsman they will only look into it if you have gone through the insurers complaints procedure first. And contrary to one of the posts above, it's nearer £260 that the insurer is charged for handling your complaint

As above - speak to your insurers and they will usually offer you a cash settlement (as a guideline expect to see a 15-30% reduction in the value of your claim by choosing a cash settlement) at the discounted price they obtain items for. This is perfectly acceptable and has been tested by the ombudsman before and they accept this - see this page on the FOS's website.

I'm not sure about the £260 fee though - the FOS's published information states that a fee of £500 per case is chargeable on every case above the first three in a year (here) - as I read it, the first three are 'free' and then any above this are charged at £500 per case.

 

[lockyer]

I stand corrected, its a long time since I checked, and I've never paid one (touch wood).

 

[Deleted member 61074]

Many years ago I worked for an electrical retailer whose customers were insurance companies. An insurance company would process a claim then send it to us to be fulfilled.

We in turn would use our database to look up a product ie a 10 yr old tv and would identify the current equivalent - we would then offer a replacement. At the time we were turning over 1 million a month so you can imagine our buying power.

If you insist on a cash settlement you will be very much out of pocket. But you probably can speak to the replacement company and pay extra to upgrade the items stolen. We often would get requests to upgrade a tv with a larger screen, hd etc etc.

Ask, and negotiate.