Day 103 - 25th January 2011

I review the current position.  I have heard nothing from nadine at Asprea since the 20^th January 2011 when I asked her to confirm how many square metres of tiling I have and whether or not the £651.36 + VAT  quoted by her as my contribution towards the uninsured tiling costs includes a proportion of the labour cost to remove and refit the fixtures and fittings.

I email Nadine and advise her that I don't appear to have received a reply in response to my request that she let me know from the scope how many square metres of tiling there are in the bathroom.  I tell her that if I should be dealing with this with my personal claims advisor, could she please provide me with an email address for her and I will contact her direct.  I do not want to start ringing up and running up my phone bill when I can email without incurring any costs. I also tell her that it has not been clarified yet whether the quote she provided of £651.36 (+ VAT) includes anything other than the purchase and labour cost of the tiles. I tell her I like to deal with things in black and white so that there is no room for confusion and misunderstanding. I want to be absolutely clear that I am not going to be charged for any of the work that involves the removal or refitting of the toilet, bath, sink and towel rail. Nadine does not reply.

I receive an email from Mark at Aviva.  He tells me that the reason he had not responded to my letter of the 13^th January 2011 was because he was still looking into it.  He tells me that he understands that I have been in contact with Nadine at Asprea who has informed me that he would be responding to my email.  He tells me that he believes that Nadine has informed me of the liability in so far as the tiling goes and he tells me he will look into the further issues I raise in connection to the service.  He tells me he will contact me once his investigation is complete and will be in touch shortly in this regard.  I’m not impressed.  It’s taken 12 days for him to get in touch to tell me that he will look at the issues I raised in my letter.  Nadine has told me nothing about the tiling.  Infact she stated very clearly that Mark would deal with it and that she was unable to comment further about it.

I reply to ask if he could specifically look at the fact that my policy documents say very clearly that I have Home and Garden cover.  The Home and Garden section of the policy document says:

"We will pay for the cost of any undamaged items of contents forming part of a pair, suite or other item of a uniform nature or design, when:

·      insured damage happens to a specific part or within a clearly identifiable area;

·      replacements cannot be matched and;

·      repair cannot be carried out satisfactorily".

I tell him that this reads as though I am covered for the tiling and I can’t understand why I am being told that I’m not.

Mark replies to say that he has already looked at this in his earlier review of the file and this doesn't have any bearing on the outcome of his or Asprea's decision. He says this is because the wording I refer to relates to contents only.  The damaged tiling is covered under my 'buildings' cover.   

He adds that the reason he maintained Asprea's position in so far as the contribution goes is because they had made the correct decision.   Everything is considered when reviewing the file, including the policy cover afforded at the time of the incident.  He says that he knows I mentioned in my recent email that I felt his review wasn't thorough enough but says he had already considered the cover I had and did notice the 'Home & Garden' cover.  As this didn't have an effect on the outcome of his review he couldn't reasonably overturn the decision made.   He tells me that he does understand my situation and knows that the insurance industry can be confusing to customers.  He says that in this instance it's clear there was some confusion over the tiling and what they were going to offer me so I could get things moving.  He says he is pleased Nadine has now fully informed me of the liability in this respect. (This isn’t true.  Mark says Nadine has dealt with it, Nadine says that Mark is dealing with it. I, in the meantime, am left sitting here struggling to understand how I am not covered.) He says that he can see I’ve put in a lot of time to note my concerns and whilst the outcome in respect of the tiling hasn't been what I’d wanted to hear he is prepared to offer me £100 as a gesture of goodwill to atone for any misunderstandings that have arisen over the time of my claim.  

I’m still confused. If the section regarding the exclusion of matching items that I found in my policy relates to contents only, where then is the section that provides the exclusion for buildings?  I’ve been through the policy booklet several times now and despite reading the exclusions section very, very carefully, I still can’t find it. I reply to Mark saying that when we spoke on the telephone just before Christmas he said that when he wrote to me with the outcome of his investigations he would be able to tell me where to look in my policy to find the wording that tells me that I am not covered for the undamaged tiling.  I tell him that I have checked the policy and can’t find any mention of matching items in the Buildings exclusions section.

He replies to tell me that the wording is on page 29 of my policy booklet under the Conditions section. 

I check page 29 of my policy.  It relates to Home Emergency Cover and has nothing to do with Buildings Cover at all.  I email him to tell him so.