Can't claim - No Proof of purchase!!

[Louise5754]

Hi advice please. We have been paying £30 s month for just over 3 years to insure our washing machine and fridge freezer. Yes I know you can pick these up cheap but we never have the spare money and if we did put the £30 aside we would spend it.

Anyway the washer has been broken 2 weeks now, the insurers have said;

You have indicated that you are unable to provide proof of purchase documents in support of your claim. As a result of this we are unable to proceed with your claim and we kindly refer you to our terms and conditions which outline our claims process part of which is supplying any requested supporting documentation.

We bought the washer when we bought our house so I know the month and year.

The insurers told me to call Argos. They don't Hold records from 8 years ago. I have the manual which has a number and date on it so I've emailed this to the manufacturer (Hot Point) and I'm waiting on a reply.

My DH told me to check with the bank but surely they will only say how much I paid Argos and when not what I actually bought.

I've checked am my emails but there is nothing after 2012.

I'm gutted I don't have a washing machine plus all that money we have wasted.

Surely they would have asked to see proof of purchase before they let us start paying or do they just assume you have it?

Do people have receipts from 8 years ago? I did save them for a while but eventually the ink fades and they are just white strips of paper.

Not sure there is anything I can do but just wanted advice.

DH said I set the insurance up but I'm sure it was him.

Thanks.

You've been ripped off. Insurers will do anything not to pay out which is why these policies are a waste of time. I'd still try with the bank though.

Do you have bank statements which show this going out of your account? If you have online banking you can print off your statements and use this as proof. We had to do this when our dds tablet stopped working. We had just moved house and couldn't find the receipt for it, so I did a quick google and found that you can use bank statements as proof of purchase (info on the.gov website). Good luck op.

Hi. We bought loads of items from Argos when we moved. It won't have the items on it only the amount spent surely?

Thanks.

Eight years ago? Hasn't your washing machine reached the end of its natural life anyway? There can't be many washing machines older than that, surely? And no, we never pay insurance on anything g except house and cars. We think it's a total rip off!

You spend nearly £3k on insurance. You would be much better putting the £30 a month away and being disciplined enough not to touch it.

I can't help with the legal sorry but we have washing machine insurance like that and our machine was covered brilliantly. Lots of repairs over the years and when it finally gave up the ghost they gave us a new one and charging £6.50 a month to cover that. It's the only white goods I'll do that for.

On a practical note, we never got asked for proof of purchase. They accepted our details and covered us from day1. We're with Aviva.

£30 a month?!?? Wow. Currys was £5 a month and they were fantastic at repairing it. Now we have a cheaper machine we don’t bother with it.

Too late for all that now. Just needed advice on the current situation.

Ask for proof of what they insured? Was it part of the transaction when you purchased?

How can they take your money for a product that they now won't cover?
I'd be asking them to refund all my premiums !

We bought the goods from Argos and they are insured with a company called Row. I know it's stupid insuring these but as I've said we are crap with money and so would never put the £30 aside.

I'm looking for work. Husband is in the military and had to pay 2 trains fare to get home.

You’ve spent over a £1000 on insurance you’d think they honour it if they were half decent? Can you find the original document with the T and Ca to check it’s not changed over the years?

How did you pay? Have you got credit card or bank logs of the pyt to Argos?

I would write to them an indicate that you have provided the date of purchase and if you can provide bank/credit details then include those. If they are refusing to pay out then I would be going down the route of what exactly were they insuring then given that at no point were you told you had to log purchase with them and the insurance was taken out at point of purchase etc.

Fight your corner their first instinct is to deny with these lower end insurance co. They have been ripping you off - check out online if there is anything about them - you may find others have had the same issue and prevailed int he long run - look at how they did it

I hope the £30 covers more than wm. Surely you only added it to the policy when you bought it - did you register the warranty with manufacturer. These policies are a scam as you pay many times over replacement value, try asking on moneysavingexpert or "offer" to report to bbc Watchdog (they did a piece last year on it).

Take pictures of your receipts and save them in a cloud storage account or email them to yourself and save them in a separate folder within your email account.

It includes washer / fridge and vacuum although that's now broken but wouldn't bother trying to claim for that.

Is it worth contacting the bank then?

I feel embarrassed now as it never occurred to me that it would need replacing after 8 years 🙈

Surely they should have asked for proof of purchase before they agreed to insure you? What does your original contract with them state? If they didn't that's their mistake isn't it? I'd go back to them and ask to speak to a manager. That's totally unacceptable.

Are there any stickers on the wm, ideally with dates etc. The serial number can be checked by manufacturer or you may be able to do so online to identify when it was made. However why would you have been paying all this time for an appliance you didn't have Trading standards may be able to advise you on wording an email and there is also an insurance ombudsman.

Do you know exactly why the proof of purchase is needed? It cannot be for a warranty purposes because you are claiming on an insurance policy. If it's for something like the insurance policy only covers washing machines that are less than 10 years old there might be other ways of proving the age which should be acceptable for this purpose.

Ours didn't have the item we purchased on it, just an amount. The amount was actually different as we bought some other things at the same time. As you know when you moved in so when you also bought your items, you can still use that information. Can you remember what else you bought and how much those things were, or was it a lot of things?
We also bought a tv in Waitrose using our ds discount, but also bought some food items, but they were fine about that. As long as it shows the date item purchased. I'm trying to find the link for you, when I do I shall pop it up.

Hi we bought a sofa dining table and chairs lamps so probably a couple of £1,000 I'd say. I can only no back to 2011 on online banking. I'll have to call the bank. I'm gutted!!

Sorry you’ve been duped into paying for insurance.
Not sure how much your machine cost new. If you can’t get it repaired try Facebook/Gumtree as people often sell nearly new ones cheaply; especially if they buy a new house.

I know we should have put the £30 away for 4 months to cover the cost of a new one but we are hopeless with money.

Do I cancel this insurance now? They've had all that money from us for nothing if we do that 😞

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-to-do-if-your-extended-warranty-provider-refuses-your-claim