Wine + Expensive Laptop = Short Term Disaster with a dash of Hoop Jumping with insurance company

[Colywobbles]

So the wife (yes the wife) decided my very expensive Surface Book 2 Pro needed a drink of wine and promptly emptied a glass into my beautiful laptop not long after I sold my backup Surface Pro Doh!
That was only the start as after I promptly rang the insurance today the started to errect hoops for me to negotiate before they pay out!
So it seems if you don't have a proof of payment for the laptop through a bank statement it becomes incredibly difficult to enter claim and you go through (upto now) 3 long and exhaustive phone calls where they ask you several important questions like.
Have you had any floods?
Do people other than your family live with you?
Do you suffer from subsidence?
Do you work from home
ect ect ect but nothing related to the actual claim for accidental damage!
When they eventually get to the claim in question you then have to supply multitude of detail that lasted almost 1hr in total over the three calls where they kept cross refrencing the same questions! in the end I actualy felt like I was doing something illegal and started to feel guily for no reason.
WTAF! I feel like telling them to stick their insurance where the sun don't shine and I bite the bullet and just buy one regardless if they contribute or not!

Moral of the tale always get a receipt when you buy something used and have proof of funds leaving your account regardless if you have the money to hand which I actually did. Having the broken laptop with a report from your local computer shop with pictures is not required which if find strange.
Anyways im expecting a call tomorrow with a request for DNA and retina scan which ill arrange but no way any insurance guy sticking his hairy fingers where my sun don't shine.

As for laser work im managing through a small shuttle ive rigged up for the time being and thank god for the free google icloud backup. Take note: FREE GOOGLE BACKUP!

 

[Spandangler]

I feel your pain mate.
I once phoned Bennett’s bike insurance for a quote on a bike that I didn’t own. It was in a dealer and I knew the index plate. I wanted to know if it was viable to buy hinging on the insurance costs.
At the end of the call, the call taker says “thankyou sir, that policy is all set up for you”
I replied “beg your pardon? Well just ‘unset’ it up. I don’t even own the bike and at no point have I ever alluded to the fact I want the policy.”
He replies “well I can cancel it for you but you will incur a £30 admin fee”

A back and forth then ensues where I end up speaking to the manager, who tells me reassuringly to ignore the muppet call taker and forget it.

a few days later I receive a letter from Bennetts, saying we’re sorry for your cancellation however you are required to pay the remainder of the years policy which is £132!!!!!

I call Bennett’s who explain it’s a computer generated letter when a policy is cancelled and I should ignore it.

Several of these letters arrive over the coming weeks/months, which culminates in asset recovery letters from the bailiffs.

Buy now at least 6 months has passed and when I call Bennett’s, no one has any idea what I’m talking about and I need to pay the balance of £132 or the bailiffs will attend.

I’m literally boiling pi$$ now and to cut a long story short, I end up paying the initial £30 admin fee to make the whole thing go away .

The next Bennett’s called and noted that my policy renewal is due and would I like to stay with Bennett’s. .

This was about 15 years ago and i sure as sh1t wouldn’t roll over and pay now. It still boils my pi$$ thinking about it.

 

[James]

I feel your pain mate.
I once phoned Bennett’s bike insurance for a quote on a bike that I didn’t own. It was in a dealer and I knew the index plate. I wanted to know if it was viable to buy hinging on the insurance costs.
At the end of the call, the call taker says “thankyou sir, that policy is all set up for you”
I replied “beg your pardon? Well just ‘unset’ it up. I don’t even own the bike and at no point have I ever alluded to the fact I want the policy.”
He replies “well I can cancel it for you but you will incur a £30 admin fee”

A back and forth then ensues where I end up speaking to the manager, who tells me reassuringly to ignore the muppet call taker and forget it.

a few days later I receive a letter from Bennetts, saying we’re sorry for your cancellation however you are required to pay the remainder of the years policy which is £132!!!!!

I call Bennett’s who explain it’s a computer generated letter when a policy is cancelled and I should ignore it.

Several of these letters arrive over the coming weeks/months, which culminates in asset recovery letters from the bailiffs.

Buy now at least 6 months has passed and when I call Bennett’s, no one has any idea what I’m talking about and I need to pay the balance of £132 or the bailiffs will attend.

I’m literally boiling pi$$ now and to cut a long story short, I end up paying the initial £30 admin fee to make the whole thing go away .

The next Bennett’s called and noted that my policy renewal is due and would I like to stay with Bennett’s. .

This was about 15 years ago and i sure as sh1t wouldn’t roll over and pay now. It still boils my pi$$ thinking about it.

Did you get your NCB?

 

[Spandangler]

Did you get your NCB?

No. Fackin cants

 

[Pick Holder]

Insurance never wants to pay out.

These days it is even worse due to all the fiddly scams people are doing (not directed at Colin obviously!) - my friend who works in insurance says that they are getting a higher than ever amount of claims as people are at home more, and untrustworthy people are thinking of new scams.

The reaction of 'telling them to stick it' is exactly what they want - as they have had your money - and not had to pay you out.

Keep at it Col. You are an honest chap.

 

[ianw]

You should see the number of accidental damage claims to older flat screen tellys we got in the last few days!!

 

[Sako-TRG]

This is why I never bother with accidental damage on my home insurance.
1. I’m generally careful
2. I’ll take separate cover with TVs etc..
3. Can’t be bothered with the clowns on the other end of the phone after an experience in 2003
4. Keeps my premium lower
5. If you claim it puts the premiums up so counter productive

The question about “Do you work from home”
Can’t believe they are still using that line.
I dropped my laptop carrying it down fold ladders from the attic in my old house, knackered, rubbish technique ..
Insurance company asked above question, I said I do some emails from home but work for a company in Newbury- that was it!!! Twat argued the toss for almost an hour saying he had me on recorded telephone conversation that I was a business user.
He refused to put me onto his supervisor/ Management.
I asked if he was the only guy who works there
Only when I threatened him with the Insurance Ombudsman he saw the light
In the end, got the laptop looked at, they replaced for a comparable model.