My husband, now in his seventies, was a British Railways engineer and amassed a vast collection of tools, which he kept in our garage and garden tool stores.
We are moving house so our son sorted and labelled the best tools into boxes and locked them in the garage in preparation. But when we came home from church on a Sunday morning, we found the garage had been broken into and all the expensive power tools stolen.
The police said there was little chance of recovering the items. We submitted a claim of £3,295 to our home insurer Admiral but it said it wouldn’t pay without receipts.
We have none. Please help.
B.A., Chesterfield.
Sally Hamilton replies: What a shock to come home from the serenity of a church service to the devastation of finding a lifetime’s collection of much-loved tools stolen by thieves. This violation made you feel quite vulnerable. And instead of providing the peace of mind it was meant to, your insurer added to your woes by declining your claim.
You believed in 50 years of married life you had made just one or two insurance claims so were horrified to have this one rejected on the basis you couldn’t prove ownership with receipts. You also think your claim vastly underestimated the true loss as you could not recall all the items taken.
When I made a claim for possessions damaged by an escape of water in my home last year, my insurer accepted estimates I made by researching similar products online. I accept it was probably easier in my case, as the items were still in my possession and could be shown to the insurer if necessary.
‘Having receipts certainly should make a claim settlement process easier. But insurers are also likely to accept other evidence, such as photos and videos,’ says Sally
However, I felt Admiral’s decision harsh, and asked it to look at your claim again, hammering home my concern that the lack of receipts surely should not invalidate your claim.
After drilling down into the details, Admiral came back with some better news. A senior member of the claims team reviewed your case and agreed to meet your claim, without further evidence.
A spokesman says: ‘We recognise that some of the tools were many years old, so the customer was unable to provide a receipt for them, which we completely understand.’
However, I’m afraid the claim could not be met in full because your policy has a claim limit of £1,500 for items stolen from garages and outbuildings.
The spokesman adds: ‘This is the maximum payment allowed under the terms and conditions, and therefore we will be issuing payment for this amount.’
The insurer agreed that it isn’t always possible to provide proof of ownership and claims handlers are trained to identify this issue. Admiral says feedback will be given to the original handler of your case to prevent similar situations arising in future.
You were very happy to have at least some of your claim met and wanted to send out a message to others about keeping receipts or other records of possessions to avoid disappointment.
Having receipts certainly should make a claim settlement process easier. But insurers are also likely to accept other evidence, such as photos and videos, instruction booklets, or bank or credit card statements confirming purchases. I would also add that while £1,500 of cover for outbuildings contents is not atypical, for extra premiums many insurers will offer higher levels of cover up to perhaps £2,500 or £5,000.
My sofa order has become an absolute nightmare
I ordered a £2,759 sofa in October last year from DFS. It arrived with a wonky leg. It was replaced with another in March that was also faulty, and a third one, delivered in mid-May, had the same defect.
Turns out they had brought back the same faulty sofa from March, in error.
I would just ask for a refund so I can buy one from elsewhere but I’m having another heart operation soon and don’t want to be without a sofa during my recovery. Please help.
L.C., Manchester.
Sally Hamilton replies: Your sofa saga had been dragging on for more than six months before you asked for my help. You sent me pictures, which clearly showed the various issues, including poorly finished upholstery. It was clearly not a sofa fit for purpose.
After the latest failed delivery, you were worried for your health. You have both an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and a pacemaker and they were being put to the test with the strain of dealing with DFS. Although DFS was responding positively to your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to a replacement item, its service had fallen drastically short.
I asked DFS to spring into action and resolve your complaint, asap. I’m pleased to say it came back swiftly to you to offer a refund (which would only be paid after the problem sofa was returned) or a replacement.
You accepted a replacement for the problem sofa, which I am delighted to say was issued the next day and you tell me appears to be in good shape.
DFS is sending you £200 plus a luxury hamper as an apology for your poor experience.
No one will help me access my shares
Many years ago, I worked for consultancy Accenture and was a member of its employee share save scheme.
I had a small number of shares and could do with the money as I was widowed last September, and every penny counts. I haven’t been able to get a response from Morgan Stanley, which operates the scheme.
J.R., Staffordshire.
Sally Hamilton replies: I’m so sorry to hear about the death of your husband. That is hard enough to deal with without having to struggle to contact a company to release money that is rightfully yours. I contacted Morgan Stanley, and after a couple of prods from me, finally sent you a cheque for $489 (£368) for your shares. You were delighted.
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
