Insurance declines to pay for damaged phone

[chrisc]

I have this Galaxy S4 (which I bought in England in April for £390). Anyway, I also have a Nokia which I have been using for a while. My friend who I know fairly well, had his phone stolen so I offered him the Galaxy since he was able to do a SIM swap and get a micro-sim

He has it 10 days and brings it back. It will switch on, but the swipe function does not work. I take it to a cellular repair shop, in 2 hours they call back, it has been dropped into water and is unrepairable.

Friend says he did not drop it in water, but in any case has no money to buy a new one. So I submit claim, my All Risks covers unspecified items up to R8000 in value.

After 5 weeks wait, I am told that this is a case of "mechanical derangement" and is thus not covered. I ask for clarification on this, since I can not see this clause on the policy, but they are adamant.

Is next step the Insurance Ombudsman? When I submitted a case to them in 2007 when M&F charged me for collecting an excess recovery from the owner of a minibus who drove into me, they cancelled my policies and I was without cover for 4 days until I found out. M&F in their wisdom, spent R 11000 trying to recover R3500 from a taxi owner and expected me to contribute

 

[Humberto]

I don't know if the insurance company is within their legal rights to repudiate your claim; it depends on what the contract says.

But I will say this: Insurance companies should stop acting like they're doing people a favour when paying out. So often I hear people say: "let's cross our thumbs that the insurance company pays out." Bah! Insurance companies get paid good money to take over our risk. They're not doing us a favour when they pay out, they're fulfilling their legal obligations.

 

[SoulTax]

Ombudsman straight up.

But the other question is, why did you lend the S4 to the friend instead of the Nokia? Unless it was a super pricey nokia.

 

[Chevron]

Lol yes. Never lend expensive items to "friends". They usually end up broken or lost.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Lol yes. Never lend expensive items to "friends". They usually end up broken or lost.

+1

@OP Learn to say "No!"

 

[Arthur]

Lol yes. Never lend expensive items to "friends". They usually end up broken or lost.

-1

@OP Thanks for having the generosity of heart to say "Yes" and lend your cellphone to a friend. You make the world a better place.

 

[azbob]

-1

@OP Thanks for having the generosity of heart to say "Yes" and lend your cellphone to a friend. You make the world a better place.

Kum****ingbaya.

 

[upup]

friend had a similar problem.

His phone were only in his pocket, they say it was moist/ sweat.
No payout /fix from a 2 year qaurantee.

You can ask the assurance, would they like you to be skelm and have the phone stolen.

 

[rrh]

Unfortunately you stand a good chance of losing on this one.

"Mechanical derangement" is normal usage / wear & tear / etc. and is generally not covered under all-risks, especially all-risks that are part of a normal house contents insurance. If the phone had been stolen the insurance would have paid but in this case they are arguing that the damage was as a result of daily usage.

It's the equivalent of motor vehicle insurance covering your car against an accident but not for the replacement of an exhaust.

Some specialised cell-phone policies do cover "mechanical derangement" (e.g. replacing a cracked screen) but most policies - including those for cell-phones - will specifically exclude such cover.

 

[reactor_sa]

Cellphone insurance, you should get some.

 

[chrisc]

Well, I have since found out that Samsung may look kindly on a repair. So that is where I am going tomorrow, they have a new office in Century City apparently

I lent him the Samsung instead of the Nokia, as I hadn't had the time to get a micro-SIM. I went to this truly useless shop called CellC Worcester and met some clueless and semi-clueless people. Micro SIM? Oooh, what is that please, kind of thing.

 

[chrisc]

Samsung were amazing. They took one look, plugged it into a USB lead, printed a form for me to sign and gave me a new phone in the box. Total time 20 mins. They even found the name of the dealer in Leicester, UK from whom I bought the phone in April and commented that I got it cheap

 

[Jola]

Samsung were amazing. They took one look, plugged it into a USB lead, printed a form for me to sign and gave me a new phone in the box. Total time 20 mins. They even found the name of the dealer in Leicester, UK from whom I bought the phone in April and commented that I got it cheap

That is good to hear !

 

[Ancalagon]

That is awesome! Glad the story has a happy ending!

 

[F1 Fan]

Samsung were amazing. They took one look, plugged it into a USB lead, printed a form for me to sign and gave me a new phone in the box. Total time 20 mins. They even found the name of the dealer in Leicester, UK from whom I bought the phone in April and commented that I got it cheap

Wow. Lucky you, but also excellent service.

 

[satanboy]

Cellular phones have to be SPECIFIED AFAIK.

 

[Cool E]

I have this Galaxy S4 (which I bought in England in April for £390). Anyway, I also have a Nokia which I have been using for a while. My friend who I know fairly well, had his phone stolen so I offered him the Galaxy since he was able to do a SIM swap and get a micro-sim

He has it 10 days and brings it back. It will switch on, but the swipe function does not work. I take it to a cellular repair shop, in 2 hours they call back, it has been dropped into water and is unrepairable.

Friend says he did not drop it in water, but in any case has no money to buy a new one. So I submit claim, my All Risks covers unspecified items up to R8000 in value.

After 5 weeks wait, I am told that this is a case of "mechanical derangement" and is thus not covered. I ask for clarification on this, since I can not see this clause on the policy, but they are adamant.

Is next step the Insurance Ombudsman? When I submitted a case to them in 2007 when M&F charged me for collecting an excess recovery from the owner of a minibus who drove into me, they cancelled my policies and I was without cover for 4 days until I found out. M&F in their wisdom, spent R 11000 trying to recover R3500 from a taxi owner and expected me to contribute

next time you must insure your cellphone under All Risk Specified Cover.

 

[Jola]

Cellular phones have to be SPECIFIED AFAIK.

Depends on the policy wording. This is not a general thing, could be different for each policy.

 

[MR V]

Can I be your friend

 

[SauRoNZA]

Unfortunately you stand a good chance of losing on this one.

"Mechanical derangement" is normal usage / wear & tear / etc. and is generally not covered under all-risks, especially all-risks that are part of a normal house contents insurance. If the phone had been stolen the insurance would have paid but in this case they are arguing that the damage was as a result of daily usage.

It's the equivalent of motor vehicle insurance covering your car against an accident but not for the replacement of an exhaust.

Some specialised cell-phone policies do cover "mechanical derangement" (e.g. replacing a cracked screen) but most policies - including those for cell-phones - will specifically exclude such cover.

Actually if it was stolen from anywhere but the house it wouldn't have been covered under all risks either.


All Risks has a very specific set of exclusions, which pretty much always amounts to all portable electronics outside the house.

****

Even with specified insurance I've learnt my lessons in the past. If it breaks just tell them you lost it and throw it in the pin.

It's amazing that you can't water damage a phone and get it covered, but if you "lost" it in a pool then they replace it.