Insurance claim, is this greedy?

[dl8860]

Last week my wife dropped her iPhone 6 and the screen smashed and it would no longer turn on.

I call the insurance company the next day, and am told by the nice bloke on the phone that although for screen smashes they normally send for repair, as the phone no longer turns on then that isn't worth it. He then said that the way it will be settled is for a cash sum equal to the RRP (£459) of the phone on Apple's website, less the exceess which is £100, so £359.
The next day my wife goes into the Apple shop, and they say that they can give her a like-for-like replacement for £229, and take her phone off her. Result.

I contact the insurers today to check how the claim is processing, as I hadn't heard anything back from them yet, and the person on the phone says actually they want to do a repair. I question this, saying that I was told they would be doing a cash payout, but she refers to the terms of the policy which say that a repair is the preferred option.

I then say that the phone is not operational, we were definitely told that it would be a cash sum, and that my wife has already bought a new phone and traded the old one in. At this point she backs down on the repair idea, and then asks for a receipt from the purchase, and they'll then settle cash. This would be £229 minus the £100 excess, so £129.

Now, am I being really greedy by wondering if there is any way I can hold them to their word and payout the £359 mentioned above?

The other thing to mention is that this is probably going to impact my premiums going forward, which is a much more worthwhile thing to do for the sake of £359 than £129. But I guess that doesn't give me much to stand on.

This is actually the first time I've ever claimed on insurance, so I don't really know the ins and outs here.

 

[monkeyspank]

I would not call them again, and suck up the repair cost

 

[joeyjojo]

It's up to them whether they return to the first offer, since you changed the situation by trading the broken one in. Worth asking, but expect the £129 outcome.

 

[tom_e]

You're lucky they're offering anything to be honest.
All they've got now is your word that the phone was broken and no way to prove it.

Also I imagine Apple will repair and refurb the phones that come in from these swaps and if you go ahead with the claim they'll black list the IMEI rendering the phone useless and leaving you open to a claim from Apple that you gave them stolen goods as the phone is no longer your property.

A little far fetched but possible.

 

[Wazz-1]

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Is it phone insurance or house and contents insurance?

If house insurance, i would personally just pay apple and not make a claim. Dont bother messing with your premiums for the sake of something like an iphone. As for holding to their word, they are not required to give you the cash sum you mentioned if they now prefer to take the repair route. TBH if it was really smashed up and the insides are busted, they would probably do a like for like exchange but still not worth claiming on house insurance imo.

If its phone insurance...claim and cancel it, your getting ripped off

 

[dl8860]

It's home insurance, the premiums are only £14 a month which covers all contents, and wife's ip6 and my Nexus 6P for accidental damage including outside of the house. Which I think is fairly decent.

I actually have another claim going as I lost my watch too (bad week - payout for that is £350 value of watch minus £100 excess so £250 voucher), so the whole 'don't claim because premiums will go up' might not be as relevant? Do 2 claims do twice the damage, or is it just 'you made a claim in the last year so premium goes up a bit'?

Anyone have any insight into how much I might expect premium to rise by as a result of this?

 

[Cyanide]

Usually insurers want the damaged item sending to them even if they're cash settling as it becomes their property. By trading the phone in you've scuppered yourself a bit - by rights the insurers don't have to pay out at all.

Personally I'd drop the claim and pay the extra £129

 

[tom_e]

It's home insurance, the premiums are only £14 a month which covers all contents, and wife's ip6 and my Nexus 6P for accidental damage including outside of the house. Which I think is fairly decent.

I actually have another claim going as I lost my watch too (bad week - payout for that is £350 value of watch minus £100 excess so £250 voucher), so the whole 'don't claim because premiums will go up' might not be as relevant? Do 2 claims do twice the damage, or is it just 'you made a claim in the last year so premium goes up a bit'?

Anyone have any insight into how much I might expect premium to rise by as a result of this?

You're normally asked to list claims separately when applying for insurance, try running some quotes with the claims declared and see what you get back.

 

[Cyanide]

It's home insurance, the premiums are only £14 a month which covers all contents, and wife's ip6 and my Nexus 6P for accidental damage including outside of the house. Which I think is fairly decent.

I actually have another claim going as I lost my watch too (bad week - payout for that is £350 value of watch minus £100 excess so £250 voucher), so the whole 'don't claim because premiums will go up' might not be as relevant? Do 2 claims do twice the damage, or is it just 'you made a claim in the last year so premium goes up a bit'?

Anyone have any insight into how much I might expect premium to rise by as a result of this?

There's no way of telling how much it'll go up by as there's loads of different factors in it but a lost watch and a dropped iphone in short succession, especially if you've no longer got the phone won't look good if you have to make any claims in the future - you'll almost certainly be flagged for additional questioning.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Anyone have any insight into how much I might expect premium to rise by as a result of this?

I would expect making two claims would be significantly worse than none and one considering the time frame. Even if premiums went up a little bit, it will be an additional cost on each month for quite a while.

You wont know until it comes to renewal.

 

[dl8860]

There's no way of telling how much it'll go up by as there's loads of different factors in it but a lost watch and a dropped iphone in short succession, especially if you've no longer got the phone won't look good if you have to make any claims in the future - you'll almost certainly be flagged for additional questioning.

This is why I dislike the whole way insurance works.

You actually use the service you pay for and you get penalised. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[tom_e]

This is why I dislike the whole way insurance works.

You actually use the service you pay for and you get penalised. Absolutely ridiculous.

They're a business and you will be seen as higher risk than others why shouldn't you then pay more/have additional checks to make sure you're not just robbing them?

Don't like it then don't buy insurance and cover the costs yourself.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

This is why I dislike the whole way insurance works.

You actually use the service you pay for and you get penalised. Absolutely ridiculous.

Well, for them its about managing risk and profit, they are a business after all.

For the customer, insurance is peace of mind and a way to manage the financial part of a disaster if it were to occur, rather than to save money on what might break. If you make several claims, you are seen as more likely to claim compared to those who have never claimed and to remain profitable in case you may need to claim again, they must increase premiums for people who have made claims.

It would be unfair on those who never claim if everyone paid the same premiums, it would also make for a pretty poor business model if claiming was always a better option to not claiming.

 

[Cyanide]

This is why I dislike the whole way insurance works.

You actually use the service you pay for and you get penalised. Absolutely ridiculous.

It isn't a "service" though. You're paying a set premium to cover a specific set of circumstances based on a specific risk profile. If you make claims you're more of a risk and therefore premiums will increase.

Insurance works by having lots of people pay but not many claim. If everyone claimed every year then the insurance industry wouldn't be sustainable and you'd just have to pay to replace everything yourself.

 

[Feek]

You might be surprised. Both my home and contents insurance are with Lloyds and over the last five years, I've had quite a few claims, the largest being for slightly over £10k following a near lightning strike. My premiums barely changed afterwards. Don't automatically assume that because you've made a claim, your premiums will rocket.

 

[Cyanide]

You might be surprised. Both my home and contents insurance are with Lloyds and over the last five years, I've had quite a few claims, the largest being for slightly over £10k following a near lightning strike. My premiums barely changed afterwards. Don't automatically assume that because you've made a claim, your premiums will rocket.

It entirely depends on the claim. Insurers don't tend to mind claims such a lightning strikes, fires etc as they don't happen very often and it's an easy enough thing to verify.

Accidental damage & lost items is where things get a bit more tricky as they're much more common, a lot hard to prove and statistics show you're more likely to make another AD claim after having one.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

No but generally small claims are considered not worth it if you have never claimed previously currently. Number of claims are assessed as well as the cost of claims. Claiming several small claims that add to £100 will effect you more than a single £100 claim afaik. It is pretty hard to argue you have had another lightning strike to the insurers a year later but they understand that people who claim for their phones will be more likely to claim the next time it breaks.

 

[dirtybeatfreak]

Usually insurers want the damaged item sending to them even if they're cash settling as it becomes their property. By trading the phone in you've scuppered yourself a bit - by rights the insurers don't have to pay out at all.

Personally I'd drop the claim and pay the extra £129

This, I work for a company who deals with damaged items on behalf of insurance companies (laptops, phones etc) and it's rare you will get to keep the phone if it's not repairable. The claim handlers aim is to put you back into the position you were in before the incident (unless you have a specified old for new policy) and this is why you are now being offered less as they have discovered a cheaper way to get you to said position. Usually you will be asked to send the phone in for inspection but as you have traded it already it may cause problems. You have kind of shot yourself in the foot twice

I wouldn't be claiming in quick succession either, it will flag you and then you will be writing written statements and all that. Even umming and arring (sp?) on the phone call can get you flagged to be checked for fraud.

 

[Reality Bites]

Usually insurers want the damaged item sending to them even if they're cash settling as it becomes their property. By trading the phone in you've scuppered yourself a bit - by rights the insurers don't have to pay out at all.

Personally I'd drop the claim and pay the extra £129

I've never had this. I recently claimed for an AV amp and my insurance company didn't even want to inspect the damaged one let alone want it back. I was sent a cheque for £1350 to buy a new one.

It was also the same with a claim i made for some damaged sports equipment.....sent a photo of the damage and i got put in touch with a company to have it replaced. No in the flesh inspection and no call for the damaged kit to be sent to the insurers.

OP - for the amount you're claiming, i wouldn't bother.