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Insurance companies


idun
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I have had it said to me recently that insurance companies act as follow:

 

You walk into a restaurant and  are shown the menu. You order and then the waiter asks you to pay immediately, as apparently that is what they do. And no food comes, so you ask where they food is and they say.

 

We showed you the menu and you paid, but we never actually said that we would deliver any food.

 

I reckon from my perspective that that is how they seem to run; we always pay, but do they deliver? I think from what I've heard that they wriggle and squirm and avoid putting anything on the table if they possibly can.

 

 

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I think that I am at the moment, hence I was told that. And I am starting to believe it is quite true. 

Our trouble is that we have hardly any claims and they were for various cars AND not usually our fault and not a thing for any house or household thing ever and that is after paying for 36 years.

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I have to say that I have had nothing but good service from insurance companies in the UK on the rare occasions we have had cause to use them:

 for a pair of spex, broken when I drove over them;   for a suitcase and contents stolen from the luggage rack of a French train;  for a crack in an internal wall of our house, that the company tested, fixed - and then insisted on redecorating a large swathe of the house afterwards. 

Different companies, but same good service.

However, the only time we tried to claim from a French company, for a fax machine that had been grillée, we got nowhere.

Angela

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We haven't claimed for anything for the house buildings or contents,

having paid for many years, like Idun - so it's natural to wonder from time to time what might happen in the event of a claim!

We had some small cracks between a few bricks on our UK house years ago, which were monitored by the insurance company and declared to be no problem. We live on clay soil, and houses in the area have had to undergo underpinning etc over the years. Nothing further has happened; the cracks have stayed the same, with no internal cracks either. We stayed with that company for years  - just in case! As the cost increased we looked for other quotes over more recent years, and were told by various companies that they wouldn't cover us due to the cracks. However, a couple of years ago I tried Saga, amongst others, as we were eligible for membership by then! Saga offered cover at a much lower cost, and the crack problem was written in to their policy wording. There has still been no change in the cracks, and we've stayed with Saga ever since, with just small increases in cost.

We also moved to Saga for my husband's car insurance last December, as the brokers we've used for many years couldn't find a company at reasonable cost, despite a number of years without any claim - and the last one was for damage done to the old Porsche by a chimney falling on it during a storm a few years ago, rather than an accident while driving! We had to make a large claim for car damage just a couple of months after moving to Saga, and they were brilliant. The accident was in France and was totally my fault, for which I was covered on my husband's insurance; it was his car - and very new! Everything was handled extremely well, and on the renewal documents received recently the cost rose by a very small amount.

However, recently my own insurance company put the cost of renewing my policy up by about £250 because of the same accident, despite no claim being made from them, and a guaranteed no claim 'bonus' was in place. Reader, which company do you think I moved to? Saga's price was about £20 more than the cost last year, so about £230 less than the previous company. [:D]

Although not available to people abroad, I would commend Saga to people based in UK. I have no connection with Saga, despite my glowing tribute!  [:D]

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When a contractor was doing up our bathroom he found that a long-term leak in the ceiling had rotted the beams. In less than a month CA Pacifica had coughed up and we were able to get it all fixed.  When I crashe my car, MAAF paid up to replace it and I got 2k more than the Argus value.  They have been fighting my corner for compensation ever since and I have had some interim payments and all my medical bills, plus home help, paid for to date.  My top up insurer always coughs up without question -even giving me 250€ towards a wig!

So yes, sometimes Idun, they do do what it says on the tin.

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[quote user="gardengirl "]  We also moved to Saga for my husband's car insurance last December, 
Although not available to people abroad, I would commend Saga to people based in UK.  [:D]
[/quote]

Hi GG, my insurance is currently with SAGA and has been for some years, but initially I was told I was covered for 364 days a year fully comprehensively when in France. On renewal last year I was informed that I was now only covered for 30 days fully comprehensively after which it was only Third party? and I also had to notify them when I used that cover, though previously I did not. How does your cover work, how long are you covered comprehensively. Does anyone else have fully comprehensive cover when in France for more than 30 days?

 

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JJ, you sent me straight off to check our documentation, and it still gives unlimited cover for Europe. The booklet which arrived with our documents says ''Saga will provide the same level of cover in the EU as in UK for an unlimited period, although a replacement car will not be provided''. Nothing is mentioned about informing them about each trip abroad. I also looked up the policy online:

http://www.saga.co.uk/insurance/car-insurance/

We actually talked about the period of time we and the car spend in France with the Saga person when renewing a couple of weeks ago, as my previous company were very twitchy about having a car abroad for more than a couple of weeks. The car spends more time in France than we do, as we leave it in a locked garage when we fly back to UK; in UK our cars spend their lives on our drive. The person was quite specific that cover was provided up to 364 days each year.

Maybe you ought to check with them again.

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FWIW We use John Lewis insurance whenever we can: Contents and Car however there are somethings they wont cover, our house as it has been underpinned (we use another company) and me, for travel insurance as I have a condition (Virgin travel were very reasonable)

We also have accidental damage on our buildings insurance and have claimed on that twice when each child broke the leaded glass in the front door by pushing on it rather than the frame to open the door

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We used to be with Axa but changed to Pacifica - Credit Agricole. The Axa agent was not a nice man though I must admit we caused him some headaches.

Pacifica were good after the storm damage in ?2009. Our claim was settled quickly, but 2 neighbours who had bigger claims werent so pleased.

You have to read the small print which isnt so easy in french.

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My guess would be that most of us make some sort of claim once every five years: that would be either from our house (contents or buildings), vehicle, or (over here) health insurance. On the last-mentioned, I'm talking about a serious claim, rather than bits & bobs not covered by the Secu.

For the insurer, it cannot be in their interest to acquire a poor reputation for dealing sympathetically with legitimate client claims. They have to balance competitiveness of premiums with good customer service and energetic fraud investigation.

Oh dear: that sounded like an Ins Co PR spokesman! The point that I've finally got round to making is that it's in our interests to ensure that what we're buying fits our needs. Example: I've just finished cataloguing our books. Staggered to find that we have just short of 1,000: at a replacement cost of (say) £5 each ................  Next step is to enquire whether we're actually covered for their replacement: I'm not optimistic. However, I can seek to ensure that they are from here on.  My problem, not theirs.   

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just to mention that following a burglary when our house in France was damaged to the tune of 3,000 euros we had nothing but friendliness and co-operation from Pacifica, the insurance company of Britline/Credit Agricole.  No quibbling.  Not only did they not make a drama out of a crisis, they showed a warmth and willingness to help which reduced the trauma of the burglary dramatically.

I expected the worst when my policy came up for renewal, but the terms remained unchanged and the premium only rose marginally in line with inflation.

 

Chico

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