I telephoned Domestic & General Insurance today with regards to my policies for the white goods in my home.
Not getting anywhere with the jobsworth I was speaking to, I asked to speak to a Supervisor. I was told that no one could answer my questions and that I should write in. I asked for a telephone number or a department that could help me. Same answer.
I told him that I thought he was being obstructive and it was pathetic that a company as large as DomGen forced customers to write instead of speaking to them on the phone.
I was told that I was being rude and offensive.
I just hungup......
If I could find a different company to insure my goods I would leave them like a shot.
#1 - Accidental damage is available on your house insurance policy, a very good idea for laptops re liquid & drop damage both in the house and elsewhere (but not in a car under most household policies). This is true for spectacles, false teeth, mobile phones etc. Check the small print, because policies vary quite considerably.
#2 - =A3100 for 5yr policy on a =A3300 TV is quite a lot. Buy a 2yr policy if at the =A325-30 level just to cover the 23 month failure when paying out =A3300 again would sting.
#3 - Nothing else requires D&G cover. For a washing machine or dryer you buy carefully re free 3yr warranty on John Lewis specials or free
5yr warranty when on offer (AEG, Siemens etc).
#4 - Put the money you would have spent on D&G cover into a separate account, by direct debit. For example =A338/month to cover several items soon adds up even over 1yr. I would buy a fund such as BNY Mellon Global Higher Income which is a 20 global stock fund with dividends over 4% and solid growth history, companies such as Roche. That way when you do need the money it a) has had a chance to actually grow and b) the 5%+ dividends help considerably since the bulk of returns going forward may well be dividends unless you time a crash.
Customer Service staff can be extremely arrogant egotistical people, from financial services to clothing to electrical. Best solution is keep the costly human out of the loop where you do not need them, but choose carefully so you do not buy junk but also buy wisely. To that end free warranty or very cheap warranty (=A335 for 5yr) is worth having.
The joke used to be IT Seller companies failed once they recruited the same customer service people as the last bunch; was a good predictor through 1990s when they moved in and the customers moved out :-)
Note, Self Insurance only works when you DO actually save the money :-) How many people really do quietly put =A3100-200/yr aside for "Ooops" so when a bill of =A3400 appears it suddenly becomes =A3100 or =A30= ? D&G Insurance preys on people's fears and management want to be pig arrogant isolated so isolate them some more - *financially*.
I think financial products like this are little more than a game. If you compare what you get when you pay the premiums versus what you get when you put the same amount of money into a savings account, the latter works out far far better over time. If you can afford to replace one white good, the odds of needing them insured are very low. If you cant afford to, you cant afford insurance. That leaves the insurance as useful as a paper teapot.
Which is what prompted my posts about legal warranty after a repair (I never did follow up on a legal ng).
Last year when our hob went, we paid £159 to DomGen to (a) get it fixed (b) free repairs for any issue with it for a year. When they wanted us to renew after a year, we cancelled. Their renewal premium was about £80. So, in effect they were charging £80 for a repair with no warranty, and then £80/year for repair insurance thereafter.
This time we paid £120 to get the cooker fixed (as had been suggested by various bods here, it was the element). We get 3 months warranty.
I can't decide if this is a racket or not. Of course I could presumably buy the part and attempt it myself, but I imagine that's when I discover that all parts cost at least £100.
and of course if you can get the parts in the first place. Presumably not all manufacturers have an agent only policy and the agents are not allowed to sell them on
We purchased a washing machine 6 years ago now and during the first year, it had had 2 new half drums, a new motor, 3 display panels and a cpu panel. Not wishing to purchase another machine because at the time we coulod not afford it, we just got the insurrance
I suspect they want it in writing for legal reasons. It saves unfortunate disputes over the phone when untrained wallies at the company agree to stuff that is not in the small print!
Makes no sense for any maker to sell such a badly designed or made machine, given all those repairs would have cost them.
I had an el cheapo Indesit until it rusted to the point of being unsightly. Only needed a couple of repairs in 10 years or so - once when the mains filter (on the electrical mains) blew up, and a new drive belt and door seal. Although the heater had long since packed up but I didn't replace it as it was hot and cold fill.
But I don't have kids so the machine wasn't used every day.
Did the w/machine manufacturer use its own service staff?
Some manufacturers outsource repairs. Service staff deliberately initiate future repair callouts to boost revenue from the manufacturer, this caught out IBM in the USA with machines claiming "water damage" to screw the customer or "new mainboard" to screw IBM, together with mint machine outer case returned with "angle grinder marks".
Some manufacturers have lemons. That used to be common in the 1980s, almost as though designed to create an army of Homeserve men in brown overalls. Since so many machines use common parts this problem has reduced - but statistically a machine will come out where everything will fail :-) I recall it was one Servis model in the 1980s which my parents had was either "perfect or a lemon".
The warranty my parents had was =A38/month or =A3300 over 3yrs. I went and bought a Bosch which was heavily dented on the front from another machine on a sack cart being set down against it. It was =A3487 after =A3220-260 discount and despite horrendous use still works.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.