Insurance issues - worth checking about Car Parts

[Smac01 12]

Thought this could be a good heads up for some of you.....

Recently our house was broken into. Annoying.

Thieves took lots of stuff, including a set of BMW wheels / tyres I was about to sell. Very annoying.

Insurance company said they won't cover them. WTF

I have Contents Insurance / full Motor Vehicle insurance with one insurer, but they said that car parts are not covered by the Contents Policy, and not covered by Motor Policy unless they're on/in the vehicle.

I'm currently fighting this, but it's worth checking your own policies before it's too late.

If your garage got broken into, and your prized set of tri-spokes BBS RS's got nicked, would you be covered? Or if you're halfway through a project with new bits of gear lying around.

This varies for each insurance company....

Don't get caught like I *might* do.

(I'm sure some of you are aware of this, but just thought I'd make a post anyway!)

[lbirgel 0]

Cheers for the heads up. I never thought about that. I’m going to ring my insurer and check my policy.

I would have just assumed it’s under contents.

Good luck

[Wom 0]

yea I would've assumed it would fall under contents insurance too

sounds like the insurer is just doing their normal tactics of doing everything possible to get out of paying, and will only pay once you've battled them

if you try to fight it with them and don't get anywhere, lay a complaint; if that doesn't get you anywhere then contact the insurance ombudsmen and tell the insurer you're going to do that, they may fold just at that suggestion.

If that fails, tell the insurer that you are going to contact Fair Go. Bad publicity is a heck of a lot more damaging then them giving into you and paying a couple of grand. I've seen first hand claims that should not be even considered that were eventually paid because the client threatened to go to Fair Go.

this goes for any type of insurance too

[Smac01 12]

Cheers Chris - that's exactly the path I'm on.

Luckily I don't urgently need the cash, so have all the time in the world to challenge it. Can see why so many people cave in early though.

Once it ends I'll post up the email chain, it makes for hilarious reading!!

[Docile 64]

hmm would have thought as a reasonable person would that under "house and contents" one would presume everything in the house. as with their premise of car insurance "on / in" the car.

[Wom 0]

... Can see why so many people cave in early though.

yep that's exactly why insurance companies do it, because most people wouldn't bother fighting them

it's just like the whole extended warranty business, they sell them because people don't want to put up a fight come claim time

[Smac01 12]

That was my thoughts, but over a month later, I'm still fighting with them.

Definitely read the small print of your policy to see if car parts/accessories are covered.

Most have a $1000 limit too which is bugger all.

hmm would have thought as a reasonable person would that under "house and contents" one would presume everything in the house. as with their premise of car insurance "on / in" the car.

[Ben 0]

My insurance covered me when I had about 2k worth of car parts stolen from my hous last year.

And they werent inside my house they were in my back yard and car port.

Just hassle them till they pay up I say.

[westy 614]

That was my thoughts, but over a month later, I'm still fighting with them.

Definitely read the small print of your policy to see if car parts/accessories are covered.

Most have a $1000 limit too which is bugger all.

What does your policy wording say?

Company? Pm me if you like.

Seems a strange exclusion but if it's there, it's there.

[Smac01 12]

Basically my Contents has a clause excluding car parts (which I hadn't noticed).

So it comes to my Car insurance, which defines my vehicles as:

"The motor vehicle, caravan or trailer (registered for use on public roads) specified in the Certificate of Insurance including spare parts, attached equipment and accessories (including any built in telephone) or tools which were factory fitted or supplied with the vehicle."

But there is a clause in the Vehicle insurance covering accessories which states:

"We will pay up to $500 for loss of, or damage to unattached vehicle accessories contained in your vehicle (maps, torches, tool kits etc), which are not covered under any other insurance policy."

They are saying that they don't have to cover them as they were not attached to the vehicle, or inside it.

However I'm arguing that the first wording doesn't say they need to be.

They since said they'll give me $500 for them, because there's a $500 limit, as they claim that wheels are accessories. I disagree with this - especially as they were the OEM wheels. A car doesn't function without wheels, therefore doesn't fit in my classification of an accessory.

We will see what happens, but I genuinely believe they should be covered given this wording.

(And so does a lawyer I talked to).

Will keep the company involved private for now...

[Wom 0]

tell them they were collectors items that you were tidying up to display in your lounge

if I was still at my old job I could've helped you out, but I deal solely in life and income replacement insurance products now; working in fire and general made my soul feel dirty

[Smac01 12]

Thanks anyway.

Yeah I can imagine it would do!!

tell them they were collectors items that you were tidying up to display in your lounge

if I was still at my old job I could've helped you out, but I deal solely in life and income replacement insurance products now; working in fire and general made my soul feel dirty

[westy 614]

But there is a clause in the Vehicle insurance covering accessories which states:

"We will pay up to $500 for loss of, or damage to unattached vehicle accessories contained in your vehicle (maps, torches, tool kits etc), which are not covered under any other insurance policy."

f**king good of them to offer $500 in all honesty.

A spare set of wheels are accessories.

[cliffdunedin 8]

Thanks for the heads up!

I remember buying new Alloys for my Subaru and letting my insurance company know and being informed that my stereo equipment already uses my $1000 accessory limit and they would not be covered

Do you mind letting us know what insurance co you are with?

[cytamen 1]

I'm surprised the fair go line has ever worked for anybody. That line gets thrown at me from time to time in my job, and it has absolutely no impact because why would fair go give a sh*t? And who actually watches fair go and makes decisions from it anyway? Reminds me of this http://www.fat-pie.com/thechildthatsmeltfunny.htm "I think you'll find all the ingredients for a good complaint in that room over there!"

I think the ombudsman is a much better way to go as the people on the phone you are speaking with know that even if you go to the ombudsman and don't win, they still have to pay them money. The rep's on the phone couldn't care less if you went to fair go. They don't get paid enough to care.

[cliffdunedin 8]

who actually watches fair go and makes decisions from it anyway?

I would think that a popular show that has been around 20 odd years and still going strong would certainly have some merit, that people make decisions based on that show!

The biggest thing would be the bad publicity and having your business' name thrown around the nation, i can guarantee no business owner really wants to end up on fair go!

[5amchris 45]

"Fair Go said i shouldn't buy a warranty cus its a rip off" 15 months later there TV f**ks out and its our fault they didn't buy the warranty and they pay $65 for a court case and lose. Then they go around to there friends and family getting us a bad name. Fair Go and Target do change peoples minds.

[steve R 0]

^ the point is under the CGA you don't need to buy the warranty as a a TV shouldn't die after 15months. But buying the warranty makes things alot easier on the customer should something go wrong.

[Smac01 12]

Quick update - after 6 weeks of arguing and escalating, the claim was finally approved.

The final straw for them? I emailed the GM of the business unit with a 3 page document explaining why I believed the wheels should be covered.

It's true what everyone says, if you think you're right, just keep pushing.

[Smac01 12]

f**king good of them to offer $500 in all honesty.

A spare set of wheels are accessories.

Oh, and I disagree with this - there is a fundamental difference between a car part, and a car accessory.

It seems the insurance company agreed with me (or it got to the point it wasn't worth their time arguing any more).

Moral of the story - carefully check your policy wordings if you have car parts around the house!

[Rabbit 0]

Lucky lots of policy's exclude anything not on the car.

[Smac01 12]

Yeah, but when you have Contents and Vehicle insurance with the same provider, you expect they should fall under one or the other.

Especially when they are one of many items taken during a burglary.

[cliffdunedin 8]

Good stuff and fully agree ^^^

[Wom 0]

they should've also explained the exclusions the policy has when you took it out

they're supposed to go through the entire list and ask, "do you have anything in this category?" etc etc

Fair Go does work, I've seen first hand cases that should not have even been considered (not just speaking from an insurer's point of view) and when the threat of Fair Go comes up, the insurer settles outside of courts etc to save the bad publicity

but generally the client would've gone through the ombudsman first, and it's quite rare for it to get to the Fair Go stage

quite often when looking at cases like that, I'd think to myself before passing my recommendations onto management, is the cost of not paying the claim going to be worse than if we did pay the claim

[deeveus 81]

This is probably a good time for everyone to check their policies, update them with honesty and make sure everything is in place, because I can vouch for the fact that all insurance companies are looking for easy ways out at the moment. We do insurance claims at work and can honestly advise that things are taking twice>thrice>four times as long in some cases to reach a settlement and they are all now asking more and more questions.