OT insurance

 Our insurers will pay for the damage caused by the fire but will not
pay for a new machine as it's a manufacturing fault.  Now we have to
tussle with the makers and to be frank, I'm not sure it's worth the
wait and the hassle.  But our insurance policy does not state this as
an exclusion and all the arguing done this morning hasn't budged them
one inch!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

 On 30/08/2011 13:11, Sacha wrote:

How did you pay for your washing machine?

If it was on a credit card then you could always go through them to get
your money back. Obviously you will need written proof from a fire
investigator that the root cause of the blaze was a washing machine of
defective manufacture. If it was still under manufacturers guarantee
your insurers might have a point but they are being unhelpful.

What proof do your insurers offer that the washing machine was of
defective manufacture? (apart from the fact that catching fire
spontaneously is abnormal behaviour for a washing machine)

Seems to me like their loss adjuster is being deliberately awkward.
Write to the CEO setting out your complaint and asking exactly where in
the policy it says they will not pay out to replace goods with
manufacturing defects. If you get no joy then try that tedious consumer
programme on Radio4 or one of the Weekend finance columns.

Be sure to keep a detailed log of who you speak to with date and time
and what is said. That way you can cause maximum embarrassment to them
later (assuming that is you have a valid complaint).

You could always name and shame the insurers and the model and brand of
washing machine! Bad publicity sometimes works much better and more
quickly than carefully reasoned argument. YMMV

Regards,
Martin Brown

 On 2011-08-30 13:54:33 +0100, Martin Brown


The machine is 4 or 5 years old, so is certainly outside any form of
guarantee. The firemen examined the machine yesterday and were
satisfied that the defect is in the control panel. To be honest, if you
saw the machine, there can be no doubt about it. That part of it is
burned out completely to the point where some of it melted and dropped
onto the cupboard floor.  So to that extent, the insurers are correct
and we have made no bones about that.  They're very helpful and fair
generally speaking but on this there's a sticking point.  I'm waiting
for the makers of the machine to get back to me but I'm not hopeful,
knowing how long these things can drag on!
--
Sacha

 
<pruned>


The Sale of Goods Act is what you need to swot up. After 4-5 years,
your claim is against the seller rather than the manufacturer and you
need to prove that there was an inherent fault (which presumably you
can at least try to do from the fire officer's report and any report
you can get from the insurers).


Cheers
Jake
==============================================
Gardening at the dry end (east) of Swansea Bay
in between reading anything by JRR Tolkien.

www.rivendell.org.uk

 

Don't phone any of them now you've made the original claim. Always write to
them, keeping a copy natch. If you phone, you get some spotty 17 year old
who can't read or write[1] who'll say " yeah, I'll tell the manager", and
then promptly forget you. A letter they have to log in and action.


Steve

[1] Despite having passed English with A* , obviously.