Does Anyone Here Work For Currys/pc World?

[Brennan]

Ok guys, been with Currys for the past 10yrs or so bought a laptop and took out the 'Whatever Happens' insurance policy on it, as you do, this policy covers accidental damage and has been running for all this time, I pay 7.99 a month for the cover.

My mum was using the laptop whilst cooking for online recipes and dropped it by accident on our hard slate kitchen floor.

Now the laptop had been damaged from a previous drop earlier in the year which made the screen come loose, but I never did anything about that. As you can imagine the 2nd drop on a hard slate floor, with the loose screen was the final blow and it died, the laptop is quite damaged as the screen split open and cracked.

My mum contacted the KnowHow company, which is the trading name for the insurance company as the insurance is in her name, they told her that someone would be out to collect the laptop for repair.

It was collected and brought back to the company and after numerous phone calls to get an update on the situation, it has been returned unrepaired with a letter attached

The relevant part of the letter reads..

"We have carried out an inspection and in the opinion of our engineer the damage seen is inconsistent with the reported explanation and/or the damage exceeds what we would expect given the circumstances. As a result of our findings repairs are not covered by your Agreement and we are returning your product to you unrepaired.

If you do not agree with our conclucion or you have further information that contradicts what our engineers believe then please send details in writing to:

DSG Retail Limited
Knowhow Claims Investigations
etc..
When further details are received the matter will be reviewed and we may in the interest of impartiality pass this mtter to third party investigators. If this is necessary H.M. Investigations will contact you to discuss your claim in more detail. It is essential that you keep your product untouched pending this process."

So basically they are trying to say that I have damaged the laptop intentionally in a case of fraud.

As you can imagine I'm very hacked off, finding it hard to do daily online tasks without a laptop and I often use it for work too.

Where do I stand and what are my options?

 

[Brennan]

I have had this laptop for a fair few years, I'd say 4 or so.

I have a notion of calling them up and demanding that they refund me the money that I have paid monthly for the duration that I have had the laptop, this amounts to around £400. The original cost of the laptop was £449

 

[jdp1962]

Hi, Aaron

I don 't know what type of policy you took out with the laptop when you bought it, but does it actually provide cover for accidental damage? If it doesn't, your claim was rejected correctly. If the policy does cover accidental damage, complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service about the insurer's decision to reject the claim.

Failing that, do you have a contents insurance policy? If you do, and it covers accidental damage, you could always make a claim on your contents policy.

Oh, and be mindful of the forum policy on swearing.

 

[jdp1962]

Sorry, you did say the policy covers accidental damage. But the rest of my post still stands. Make a complaint, but try to claim on your contents policy if you have one.

A word of warning, though. If the contents policy pays out, you'd have to withdraw the complaint about the Currys policy decision not to. That's because you can't recover the loss twice.

Let me know if you want more info, and I'll PM you tomorrow .

 

[opelfruit]

They aren't saying that it isn't covered, they are saying that the level of damage (in their opinion) exceeds what they would expect from what you have told them happened.

This could be because they would not expect that level of damage to the screen, as it's an old accident that has weakened it. If this is the case there isn't much you can do as the current damage, and the claim you are making, would be due to a historic and unreported accident. The policy will be something like "to be valid you have to make a claim within 24 hours of discovering the issue" ........ they would have to repair the damage to the screen from the previous accident as part of this claim and as it wasn't reported at the time it makes the entire claim void.

..........you may find a similar issue with your house insurance too.

 

[Andy1608]

I've seen and read a few things about people who have had a similar problem with different kind of products.
Apparently when it gets sent there is basic information on the paper work attached too it that the person inspecting it see's so it maybe that it's just said 'been dropped' that's what they assess the damage on.
I know most of the postpost's I've read the people have actually shown or gone into more detail about the height it was dropped from and the kind of surface it him. It seems 9 times outof 10 the claim has been re assessed and the product repaired.

 

[Oranoco]

Had this with a mobile phone claim a couple of years ago. Complain and insist to discuss it with someone senior and keep going higher. Once I'd gone as high as I could I then threatened a complaint to the insurance ombudsman. A brand new boxed handset was with me 24 hours later.

They like to try and wriggle with any claim, fight your corner and don't take no for an answer.

 

[Nilz]

DSG Group and Knowhow dont have a great rep to be honest, you would probably be better having the accidental damage cover on your contents insurance.

However with regards to this claim, i would fight my corner if I was you and take it as high as you can, end of the day it was accidental damage and it should be covered.

Insurance companies nowadays will do what they can to get out of a claim and will hope that you give up at the first hurdle, now you dont sound like that type of person, so go forth and see if you can get it sorted

 

[Brennan]

Thanks for the advice guys I'm going to call them again and threaten them with the insurance ombudsman

 

[jdp1962]

Thanks for the advice guys I'm going to call them again and threaten them with the insurance ombudsman

Aaron, it's called the the Financial Ombudsman Service these days Make sure your threat carries maximum weight by referring to the correct body..

 

[Brennan]

ok thanks buddy

 

[Imola-S3]

This is exactly why I never take out these policies...

At the time of selling you the policy they make it clear that you can damage the item accidentally and it'll be repaired under the conditions of the policy being sold, but when something does go wrong they worm their way out of paying wherever possible.

Then you feel robbed having paid £££'s for a service that was basically never ever going to pay out. The whole idea of the policy is to give you peace of mind, you went to make a claim and you were refused because they believe you damaged it on purpose.

Had you never took out the policy you'd have been £400 better off since purchasing it... that £400 alone, being saved up in a jar instead of in PC Worlds bank account... would've accumulated to an amount that would've easily paid for a screen repair... or a brand new laptop that's a better specification than your currently broken 4 year old unit.

I hope you get a fair conclusion to this... either a refund of the premium you've been paying or a repaired laptop.

 

[Lukeyb]

+1 above. These policies are "peace of mind" which they will weasel out of any way they can, not worth the paper they're written on