Insurance company cock up.

[swimmer55]

Less a AIBU and more asking for opinions on what should/ will happen now.
My MIL died recently, we know she had an insurance policy to pay for burial costs, when my husband called the insurance company he was told the policy was worth £6500., he arranged the funeral (its this Monday 19th) and it cost £6300, whent the payment came it was for £3500.00, when queried the company said the guy on the phone who said £6500 had made a mistake ( at least they did admit that, as this was all verbal and not in writing)
They offered £100 in compensation ! My husband has asked to take it further and they said they will get back to us within 10 days.
We really can't afford to be £2800 out of pocket for their mistake, and think they should pay the difference, anyone work in insurance who can give an idea what they will/ should do?

I would keep punching as far as it will go stressing that you never would have arranged the funeral for that amount had you not been told by the company. You are out of pocket because of their mistake.
I have no idea what they will do - well they will try their best to get out of it and keep it going in forever until you get fed up and drop it- but keep pushing at least.

I think you should put your situation in writing to them, if you haven't already, and ask them to access/provide access to the recorded telephone call where your DH was told the wrong amount.

It also depends on if what he was told was just advisory, if he was told to wait for a formal letter/copy of the policy, or if it was told as a fact and that he could go ahead and expect to be reimbursed.

Sorry for your loss.

Pushing not punching

I'm an insurance claims handler...Ask to raise it as a formal complaint. They have 8 weeks to respond. After that time period, or if you're unhappy with their final response, you can take it to the financial ombudsman. If you have incurred costs due to their misinformation, they should really be paying you the amount they stated originally.

Thank you, thats very helpful.

Generally, most insurance companies will uphold a complaint whereby the claims advisor has advised incorrectly but you'll have to follow up with the complaints process and potentially the Financial Ombudsman Service depending on how much of an arsehole they are OR who you spoke to.

Put it in writing and make it clear that their incorrect advice has financial disadvantaged you and that you cannot afford the shortfall. Ham it up as much as possible, there is a responsibility to deal with vulnerable customers in a way that may be outside procedure and that includes financial vulnerability.

Make sure you include interest on your claim or any hardship that the shortfall has caused you.

More pragmatically can any of the costs be reduced, if so I would do that

I am a Senior Manager in an insurance company. Firstly I would ask to see the policy and check the level of cover. I would want to be sure that they were correct in the amount they were paying given they have got it wrong once. If they are correct and the smaller amount is covered on the policy I would note the inconvenience and ask for more compensation. To be clear though they are not going to pay out the higher amount they have quoted if this was an error by one member of staff. Though more reasonably you might get £250 rather than £100 or at the outside £500. You also have recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), if you choose to do so. However the FOS take a long time to come back and you may wait a number of months for this and even then I think £500 is the max you might expect and they may side with the insurer.

I am sorry not to be able t provide better news.

I wouldn't let it go I'd be taking them to court.

Presumably their phone calls are recorded.

I had an insurance cock up once.

Had to rearrange something and i rang to check i was covered before making plans as it was more expensive than originally. They said yes. I booked. I went. Came to claim they said not covered. I got them to listen to the recording and told them i made my plans based on the information that they gave me. Turns out i wasn't actually covered but they paid out because they gave me wrong information and i acted on it.

Thanks for all of your replies, we certainly wouldn't have spent as much as we have, had we known the policy was only £3500, although what we have booked isn't lavish at £5300 so no idea what you'd get for £3500!
We are going to take it further and hopefully they will do the right thing.

This is accurate OP. I also have worked in the industry, you’ll be offered more compensation if you take it all the way to the ombudsman, probably £500 max, but you absolutely won’t get the full amount paid.

Thanks for all of your advice, the company in question is completely ignoring is now despite several phone calls to them..So stressful as the funeral was today and payment has to be settled tomorrow.
Communication has been really bad, obviously mistakes do happen and clearly a pretty serious one has been made in this case but the way we gave been dealt with has been awful.

Thanks OP. I understand this is a stressful time. Email a complaint into them now. This should be headed formal complaint to be dealt with under FOS rules.

State clearly when you were told of the higher amount and if possible who told you.

Be clear that as a result you have acted in a way you otherwise would have not (you have paid for a more expensive funeral), and then be clear what you want to happen:

You want them to consider the processes they operate which have resulted in your loss. You also want them to consider and increase the level of compensation you have been offered.