Canada to Patagonia at a Worrying Age

Please don`t feel the need to read this. I`m simply trying to trace the events with the insurance company in one document as I keep losing emails. Please refer to comment stream on the post below for suggestions of what to do to the sodding company. Fez has set the right tone, I feel. Thanks for sympathy all others.

From: Sarah Ball [mailto:sarahball@burnett.co.uk]
Sent: 25 January 2006 13:16
To:
Subject: Claim Form CA 06/000059

Claim Form Enclosed

Best Regards

Sarah Ball
Claims Administrator
Hi John,

Sarah is out of the office today so I am picking up her emails.

Please see the attached claim form and letter. If you could complete this
as fully as possible and sign that is the first step. You can either email
this back to me or fax on 02380 435 354 and I will start looking at your
claim but if you could also send a hard copy in the post that would be most
appreciated. We will also need to see a copy of the crime report and
original invoice for your laptop.

The process for this type of claim is to review your claim form along with
the crime report. If this all looks okay we will ask you to provide a quote
for a replacement machine at the closest spec to your original machine. We
will check this and authorise you to go ahead and purchase the replacement,
forwarding us the invoice and receipt. We will then be able to reimburse
you for the costs.

In regard to what is covered we will need you to provide values for the
added software etc and should your insurance value cover this we will be
able to reimburse for all.

Your reimbursement will be for full and final settlement and therefore your
policy will then be void, you will then need to take out a new policy to
cover your new machine.

I hope this answers your queries but do not hesitate to contact me should
you require anything further.

I look forward to receiving your claim form and aforementioned documents.

Best Regards

Hannah Lester
Administrator

Dear Mr Parry

Further to your recent contact with my colleague Hannah Lester regarding
your claim for your laptop, Hannah has asked me to contact you with regards
to
providing you with a quotation for your replacement notebook.

In order for me to provide you with a quotation, we will require you to
provide
us with the value of your new machine.

If you then, confirm that you would like to proceed with the quotation, we
will
require you to provide the make, model and serial number.

Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Burnett & Associates are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services
Authority.
The cover is provided by AXA (50%) & AM Trust (50%).

The above quotation is for Accidental Damage, Loss or Theft to the Computer
equipment up to the sum insured and has an Excess applied. In the case of
Portable equipment cover extends to anywhere in the World.
There are policy conditions, a specimen can be provided if required, however
full terms will be sent to you on inception of the Insurance.

The main exclusions are that Theft must be due to an actual break-in by
forcible means & portable equipment must be kept with you in transit.

The premium quoted is for 12 months cover & includes Insurance Premium Tax
at 5%.

You have the right to withdraw from this insurance contract within 14 days
from the inception of this policy, however, there will be a £5.00
Administration fee levied & we will require the Certificate if Insurance to
be returned to us immediately.

If you have any complaints, these will be dealt with by our Complaints
Manager at Burnetts, if this is not resolved to your satisfaction you may
also confer with the Insurance Ombudsman

Best Regards
Michelle

Michelle Veal
Sales Administrator
For and on behalf of Burnett & Associates PLC
Direct Line: 023 8042 5801
Email: michelleveal@burnett.co.uk

Dear Mr Parry

Thank you for your email.

I have passed the police report and claim form to Hannah Lester in our claims
department, for our claims department to continue dealing with your claim.

I have pleasure in providing you with a quotation for Laptop Insurance for your
replacement JVC Mininote Laptop at an annual premium of £100.00, which Includes
Insurance Premium Tax @ 5%.

This is based on a Nil Excess and based on the value of your Laptop at £1650.00,
which is portable equipment. The same conditions apply as per your current policy with Burnetts.

If you would like to proceed with cover we will require you to confirm the serial number, any change
to the approx. value provided and when you would like the cover to proceed. I understand from your email that you are still waiting
for this confirmation, so when you have this information, please forward this to me and
I can confirm cover.

Once I have confirmed cover payment can be made by Credit Card or Switch by calling with payment details on 02380 442227.
Payment MUST be received within 2 days of inception date to allow cover to remain in force.

Please find attached a copy of Our Terms of Business, Policy Summary and Our Guide to Laptop Security
for your reading.

Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dear Mr Parry

In order for me to process your claim further I need a few more details from
you. How long were you in the cafe befor you noticed that your laptop had
been stolen? Did you see the person/s take your laptop? & what did the
waitres witness?.

I would be greatful if you could reply ASAP

Best Regards

Stuart James
For and on behalf of Burnett & Associates Plc
Claims Administrator
Direct Dial: 023 8042 5820
Fax: 02380 435354
E-Mail: stuartjames@burnett.co.uk
Web: www.burnett.co.uk

Hi Stuart,

I believe you are the fifth person from your office I`ve corresponded with now.
My auto address book is getting very full.

I`d say it was about 5 minutes from the guy whom I think stole my bag leaving
the cafe and me realising I no longer had it. He was long gone by that stage.
I`d been in the cafe about half an hour in total.

The waitress would have witnessed me arriving, me taking my travel guide out of
the bag and my reaction when I realised the bag was missing. She then got a
security guard for me and he helped me through the first phase of the police
report. The police took no statements other than mine and, even though I
volunteered a description, they did not seem too interested in taking such
details.

Hope this is enough. Hard copies are in the post.

Dear Mr. Parry

With regard to your claim, I write in reply to your email dated 30/01.

Firstly I apologise for you having to deal with many different people but
our aim is get all claims looked at as quickly as possible. Therefore the
details are picked up by the first available claims handler.

Having reviewed your claim, it is with regret, that I must advise you, that
the Underwriters are declining your claim on this occasion.

Under Exclusions, section 8b of the policy, it states that Theft is not
covered unless it is taken with actual or threatened force.

I can advise you that you policy will continue to run for the remainder of
the term and should you replace your equipment please advise us so that we
can change this on your schedule.

I am sorry that we are unable to help you with this claim, but if you have
any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours Sincerely

Justine Bailey
Claims Supervisor
For and on behalf of Burnett & Associates plc
Direct Dial: 02380 425808
Fax: 02380 435354
Email: justinebailey@burnett.co.uk

Sent: 01 February 2006 01:09
To: justinebailey@burnett.co.uk
Cc: Dermot.Murphy@trafford.gov.uk
Subject:

Dear Ms Bailey,

I understand the need for little jokes in the office from time-to-time in what must be a rather difficult and taxing job. However, after much this much correspondence with so many people at your organisation (and no hint of a refusal to accept liabilty), now is not the time for one.

I took out this insurance in good faith, over the internet, on the understanding that you were a professional and responsive company that understood the needs of people travelling with notebook computers. I have just travelled half the length of Chile to be where I said I would be to make preparations to receive the replacement which I cannot afford to pay for twice. That is why I took out insurance.

If there had been any indication that you were trying to evade your reponsibilities I would have travelled to Argentina by now. There are, of course, plenty of arguments to be had about attacking strangers (who may or may not be carrying weapons) in foreign countries (especially in South America) simply because they make you feel uncomfortable. I do not expect to have to have such a discussion with a firm that specialises ´Worldwide´ insurance.

So, joke over. Please make the necessary arrangements to have a replacement shipped as soon as possible. I expect confirmation of this by return email. I will check at 11am GMT.

Yours, not in jest,

John Parry

Dear Mr Parry

I have been passed your email of 1st February, which unfortunately means you
have another contact. We do take all our client’s complaints seriously hence
your file has been referred to me.

We insure many thousands of laptops, using reputable insurers and a standard
insurance industry policy cover. Having done this for many years, we believe
we offer a professional service.

You will appreciate any insurance policy is subject to terms and conditions
and a carte blanch cover would be prohibitively expensive and therefore
conditions are imposed to try and minimise losses by making the insured
responsible for taking reasonable care of the insured equipment. You will
appreciate a laptop computer is an expensive item and very attractive to a
thief.

We have corresponded with you to try and ascertain the full details of the
circumstances of the loss and will naturally try to obtain sufficient
information in order that an informed judgement may be made regarding the
claim as this has to be referred to the insurer if we feel the claim is not
covered under the terms of the policy.

I therefore apologise if it seems your claim seems to have gone back &
forth, but we wished to make sure we had sufficient detail as quickly as
possible in order to make our decision.

Unfortunately having referred your claim to Insurers they have advised that
under the terms of the policy this loss is not covered, as already advised
as there was no actual force or threat of force.

You advised the laptop was on your knee and as such we feel you should have
noticed it’s removal and taken immediate action (albeit we would not expect
any of our insured to place themselves in danger) but at least swift action
could be taken appropriate to the circumstances rather than a lengthy delay
allowing no recourse against the thief.

I regret to advise therefore that your insurers are maintaining that this
claim does not fall to be covered under the terms of your policy.

Should you wish to pursue the matter the complaints procedure is fully
detailed on your policy documentation.

Again , I apologise for being unable to assist with your claim on this
occasion

Best Regards

Garry Moore
For & on behalf of Burnett & Associates plc
Managing Director
Tel: 02380 442227
Fax: 02380 442210
Email: garrymoore@burnett.co.uk
Web: www.burnett.co.uk

Dear Garry Moore,

As you can imagine, I`ve been very disappointed by the reponses so far.
I can`t see any real use in delving into the complaints procedure at
this point, but if it helps to label this as a formal complaint, please
do so.

The points I make are these.

1) I could not possess the capacity to assess every person who seems
suspicious and acts in the way you describe while on a long tour of
South America. Have you any idea how many `suspicious` looking people
one sees on a journey such as this?

2) Whether I had realised 5 seconds or five minutes later, my reaction
would have been exactly the same. I would have stayed put and called
the police. I would not have tried to apprehend him or given the
impression that I was going to do so. The thief could easily have been
carrying a weapon. The question all my friends and family ask first is
“Are you all right?”. This is because they want to know if I have been
injured in any way. As far as I, and any right-thinking person, should
be concerned, one does not resist attack (and it was an attack) in any
way whatsoever. The simple fact that a thief feels confident enough to
steal a bag from directly off a 6ft 2in man implies a recourse to
potentially lethal violence.

3) The description of the thief was given to both the security guard
and the police within minutes of the event taking place. (“Five
minutes” is in any event a very simple shorthand for `soon after`.
There was no “lengthy delay” to which you refer.) The chances of
apprehending him were then, and remain now, slim. I did check some
second-hand PC shops (it will probably be the only Mininote in Chile),
but to no avail.

4) I am not suggesting carte blanch cover. I absolutely took
reasonable care to protect my belongings. The computer was on my
person in a bag with other items. In your note you seem to suggest
that I was parading the notebook down the street with a sign inviting
rogues to come look. The man who stole the PC did not know there was a
notebook inside. I can only imagine his wide-eyed look when he found
it.

So, I concealed the items, kept them on my person, reacted exactly the
same way any sane person would have when attacked (with no delay) and
reported all matters faithfully to the police and to you. I did all
this on the assumption that I was fully covered for such an event.
Having discussed the matter with a trading standards officer, it is my
belief that the Ombudsman will share my opinion that the insurers
should resolve this matter and replace the machine. Obviously such a
route would take so long that I would be back in England before it was
sorted out.

Therefore, only you, at this stage, are able to resolve this matter. I
am requesting that you do so urgently.

There is a chance that I can get a refurbished or reduced spec model
for less that the current liability. Will the insurers at least accept
this a compromise for now? The best price I can come up with is
£735.99 plus postage within UK, which is less than half that which I
believe to be the true liability. If the insurers can agree to this I
will arrange all the relevant upgrades and postage (about £340 so far)
myself and will conclude the matter.

Awaiting your response.

Yours sincerely,

John Parry

Sent: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 07:58:00 -0000
Subject: RE: Insurance Claim 24/01/2006 our reference CA06/000059

Dear Mr Parry

Your advices have been passed to Underwriters & I will reply as soon as I
hear from them.

Best Regards

Garry Moore
For & on behalf of Burnett & Associates plc
Managing Director
Tel: 02380 442227
Fax: 02380 442210
Email: garrymoore@burnett.co.uk

Thank you for that.

Any idea how long they will take to reply? Also, just who are my insurers/underwriters? With any luck I won`t need to know, but I might as well have their name in case of a negative reponse.

Mr Parry

Should only be a couple of days, so early next week.

Insurers are AXA & Amtrust (50% each) I’ll send a copy of the policy with the details if/when required

Best Regards

Garry Moore
For & on behalf of Burnett & Associates plc
Managing Director
Tel: 02380 442227

http://www.coined.com.ar/web-argentina/Register-Study-Abroad-Argentina/1-arg-special-offers-argentina.html

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.