Aibu to claim on insurance for this?

[HeyHeyMckenzie]

At the weekend I spilt a glass of red wine on the beigey coloured carpet in my living room. I've tried to get the stain out ( mopped it up immediately, washed area with w/up liquid solution/ vanish carpet cleaner/ vax'd the area) and I thought I might have been lucky but now the area is dry, I can still see the mark quite visibly.

I am just about to have the room redecorated, we moved in a year ago, it was a rental property before that and all the rooms need re-doing.

I wasn't planning on n doing the downstairs flooring for another couple of years as have lots to do in rest of house first and there was nothing really wrong with the living room, the carpet was in fair condition if a little old and flat in places/ the odd mark here and there.

If an insurance assessor comes round, they'll take one look at the rest of the knackered bloody house and the obvious fact that I'm about to redecorate (paint testers all over walls/some wall lights removed with wires hanging etc) and think I'm just trying it on and want a nice new carpet because I'm decorating the rest of the room.

But I'm not! I like the carpet, I'd want the same again, I just wasn't planning on replacing it just yet. And I dont want to live with a great big stain right in the doorway of my otherwise (stb) lovely living room for the next two years.

Should I claim?

Re the insurance claim- do whatever you want but I’ve always tackled red wine spills with white wine or salt, very successfully I might add. Just in case it happens again like.....

I would say that is what you pay your insurance for.

However, like Mari50 said - you tackled it wrong.
Anything spilled on a carpet should be soaked up first - use kitchen roll to lift it out of the carpet, not a cloth which tends to rub it in.
Then white wine does work (it you are willing to sacrifice 2 lots of wine), but salt is also great at lifting things from carpets.

You need dr Beckmans, it will get the stain out!!

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/289448120?sccmp=ppccGHS+-+Grocery+-+NewewPX+%7C+Shopping+GSC+%7C+All+ProductssNew:+Non-Food:+Home+%26+Entertainment:+HouseholdldPRODUCTTGROUP289448120*&gclsrc=aw.ds&dsrl=1116019&dssrl=1116322&dsrl=1116019&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvIenxfHQ4gIVxbDtCh0F3QW1EAQYASABEgLN7vDD_BwE

Your premiums will go up,won't they?

White wine or salt works.

It has genuinely never occurred to me that people insure their carpets against spillages. Are you sure that is covered? It's not an act of God or a fire or something, just normal wear and tear. Tbh, I would expect the insurance company to laugh you out of the room.

Redecorate everywhere
Claim when it all looks new and fab

I’ve never claimed on my insurance, these companies must be racking it in

Accidental damage. No insurance company will laugh, that's what it's for

bridgetreilly comes under house contents insurance.

I would never make a claim unless it was something serious. There are consequences for making claims.

bridgetreilly

Why do you think an insurance company would laugh at a claim for accidental damage, when a customer has been paying them for that cover ?

I second Dr Beckmann's. I tripped and spilt a glass of red wine over a fabric covered bed and the carpet and you'd never know now.

Yeah I'd claim. Will they really send an assessor round for that?

They’ll probably try stain removal first. If they do agree to pay out, you’ll only get the value of the current carpet, which won’t be much. Not replacement cost.

Why not phone them for advice- they may have a contact who can clean it- so win win if it cleans small claim, premium increase if any may be lower

There is no way they will send an assessor round for a spilled glass of wine

They sent an assessor round to my sister when she claimed WhatifIhadnt

Thanks for all the stain removal tips, will try Dr Beckmans. I did soak it up with kitchen roll, but had no white wine and only a teeny but of salt! Wish my drinking tastes were more varied now

Someone suggested I redecorate everywhere before claiming. This is the first room I am tackling in the house, and every single other room needs doing- downstairs it's only the kitchen/diner bit thats not goimg to be done for another cpuple.of years yet.

Will have a go with the Dr to see how that goes.

It seems a very small thing to claim for which you'll need to admit to at each renewal. It will push your premiums up, is it worth it?
What happens if another accident happens next month?
Personally, I like to keep my premiums to a minimum and 'save' my insurance for bigger claims.

I have paid home insurance for almost 20 years and never had any reason to claim. I do however get slightly baffled at people who don't claim when they should (because that's what insurance is for) because the premiums can go up. That's a reasonable thing to happen, same with car insurance, so many people don't want to use it when they need it, because premiums.

OP I would claim for your carpet and don't give it a second thought, there may never be a 'big' thing, and even if there is, the rise in premiums will be less than your claim.

I wouldn't replace a carpet before painting a room anyway.. professional clean might get it out. You will have a chunky excess to pay?

I've claimed my insurance about 3 times in 10 years. It really doesn't go up that much. Certainly not enough to pay for a carpet.

At one point all these claims were within 5 years. It was maybe £60 more expensive at that point. Smashed window (stone from lawnmower) roof repair (storm damage) and funnily enough a carpet as spilled candle wax. I thought they might try n do something to lift it out but said it was too damaged by the time they sent someone out.

I get that you might think they will think ur at it but they can't prove that and just tell the truth. The only thing I can think of though is that they might just sent someone out to professionally clean it. Not really worth paying the excess and having a claim on file for that. Maybe contact someone that cleans carpets to come and look at it to see if they could remove the stain.

By the time you’ve paid the excess and yes, your premiums will go up, plus you have to declare claims for years when getting new quotes, I’d be very cautious.

I just wouldn't have thought that me spilling something was accidental damage. And google suggests that most home contents policies don't, in fact, cover this sort of damage. But if you pay the premium for one that does, sure, claim for it.

bridgetreilly Of course spilling something that causes as stain that won't come out it is accidental damage. You accidentally spill something that causes damage. It couldn't be simpler really.
All kinds of things are covered by this e.g kids knocking telly over, window being smashed accidentally, even dropping your laptop on the floor and smashing it.. It generally only costs a few extra pounds a year. I think accidental damage cover increased our premium by around £13.00 a year compared to the standard. It is well worth having when it covers the replacement or repair that could cost hundreds of pounds.

I got red wine out with bicarbonate of soda.

I agree, your excess and increased premiums probably make it worth not claiming.

Or ‘not worth claiming’ probably makes more sense.