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.

Definitely cancel the insurance! You have paid that money for something they won’t do. They should probably be replacing it at 8 years old rather than fix it anyway. A fridge and a washing machine can be bought for £200 or less, after a year or so of insurance you are paying more than that simply to get an old model fixed. It may sound a bit crap and ‘everything is disposable’ but honestly unless you’ve got loads of money it’s a waste of time paying about 6 times as much as the cost of a new one just to fix an old one. Did you order the Argos items online and can you access emails from that far back? Please cancel it, it sounds worthless.

Don't cancel the ins yet. If you get the statement from the bank with the
date you purchased the washer (even though it's lumped in with other
purchases, I'd ph Argos with this info and ask them to confirm what you bought on that day/time.
I had to do this once when I lost the Argos receipt for a refund. Worth a punt if they keep truncation info for that long.

*transaction - bloody autocorrect.

Definitely cancel the insurance!

Don't. Absolutely do not cancel this insurance whilst this situation is ongoing. Get it sorted first, then cancel the insurance.

I have emailed to ask how I cancel the insurance so I'm not sure if it's too late. I'll message Natwest again.

Email From my bank

Inhave tried to order the statement for the required period, however, it's not letting me order for this period as we can only order the last 7 years transaction history list.

Though, I can try ordering a particular statement for this period by post which is chargeable ; £3 per statement. and it will be delivered within 10 working days.

If that's fine, please confirm your first line of address and postcode.

I had a similar thing and ultimately had all my insurance premiums repaid as they aren’t allowed to take money for something they won’t pay out on.

You really need to woman up, an adult shouldn't be saying they are hopeless with money, although you seem to have proved your point by wasting so much money on insurance.

Taking out the insurance offered at the time of buying is for most things a terrible decision, washing machines are on the whole reliable, usually have at least a year's guarantee by which time you'd have saved £360 which is enough to buy a new one.

Rather than spending your time looking back through old records ask the insurers why they need proof of purchase - is it because they think you might be trying to claim for a different machine to the one you originaly declared?

Slightly off topic but a washing machine lastig 8 years owes you nothing at all but have you asked a local repair person how much it would be to fix.

You keep saying you're useless with money. Do something about it so you don't waste thousands again.

The insurer needs proof of purchase to confirm you bought it new, and you haven't picked it up off freecycle in the hope of scamming a new one.

I'm dyslexic and I'm having Asperger assessment I really do struggle with money.

Call the bank, get historic statements, find the transaction on your statements, send it to them with other transactions redacted (if you care about that). It doesn't matter that it doesn't show the item itself - once they can identify the amount and transaction date they could check with Argos if they needed to. It's proof that you paid the money when you said you did and you've been paying to insure it ever since - together it will add up. Don't worry. Your bank statements will do. No one would expect you to keep it for 8 years. And you could ring the FOS and ask their helpline for advice if you like - as it's an insurance product they can talk you through it.

I would approach insurance company as they are not covering the item they are taking money for an item they are not insuring so want prmiiums refunding.

You could go to citizens advice for help.

Just for info we haven't insured it for 8 years just the past 2 (could be nearly 3 I need to check)

I would be demanding my premiums back or a new wahing machine or repair at least. Tell them you will be going to trading standards about this. Always speak to the manager on the phone, email is better though as you have a record of whats been said.

Hi. My husband has spoken to them and apparently they will let us claim if we forward them a utility bill. I've done this by email.
Seems strange. I'll see if they respond. It's been nearly 3 weeks now.

Now they say I need to pay £85 before I can claim.

If I had that I'd put it towards a new washer.

Could cry

Why would you insure a washing machine that’s 6 years old? Don’t appliances generally need replacing after 5-10years, so insuring doesn’t make sense .

My husband organised it and pays. He's the only one that works so it was all in his hands

It was £16 not £30 that was for something else I made a mistake

They have said that in order to set up the account my husband must have ticked the T and C box to say there would be an £85 excess. Can't pay that so wasted 2 years of instalments 😞

They need to show you the agreement your husband signed. To say 'he must have' isn't good enough.