Fridge freezer cover

[fedup269]

Hi All we've had our fridge freezer for 14 years now, after the initial gurantee finished we took out cover with domestic and general. Fridge is still going strong but I've calculated that we have now paid over the value of the fridge over the years. Policy says if it stops working they will try repairing or pay the value of the fridge, so basically we are paying extra now. Is there anything I can do?

What do you mean?

You can keep the policy or cancel

It's the same as any insurance, if you don't use it

Cancel the cover if you don't need it

What sort of 'thing' are you thinking you might be able to do? Cancel the policy. The machine is unlikely to be fixable should anything happen and the value will be nothing.

In future don't pay for cover for an aged machine. Not sure what country you are in but some house contents cover will pay for cost of food lost if your freezer breaks.

My thoughts are if I cancel and say the fridge stops working we will have to pay out of our pocket to get a replacement? Seems like a waste spending all that money on cover and not benefitting from it?

What you describe is he premise of insurance. Your options at this point are to cancel the policy and absorb the cost of a repairs or replacement in full when the fridge eventually does die. You could electively replace with a newer appliance in the hope that this avoids the issues associated with a suprise break down. Or you continue to pay for insurance, safe in the knowledge you'll have a cash contribution toward ether next fridge when it is eventually required.

Thank you

These policies are seldom worthwhile. Fridges and freezers tend to last much longer than washing machines and don't often break down. So for future I would not bother. For now you either carry on or cut your losses - no-one knows how long your freezer will last but it could go on another 5 years.
I ended up with a D&G one on a washing machine and when it started playing up last year I attempted to call them out but couldn't get hold of them so I cancelled it. Washer still going and when it breaks I'll get a local man out to fix it or replace.

Thank you so much, it was our first house so first set of appliances and did what we thought was the right thing to do. Will take what you said on board

Our freezer was playing up (no insurance, usually not worth it) and it was just out of guarantee. I rang up the manufacturers, who put me through to their technical department who were very helpful talking me through what the problem was and eventually I managed to 'reboot it' yes a freezer but hey ho. In the discussion they also offered me 25% off a new one if I couldn't fix it.

Usually if the machine lasts a reasonable length of time you've practically paid for a new one if you saved the money you would have paid for insurance. These days they also have to make things more easily repairable, like being able to buy the washing machine control unit as an item and DIY fit it.

I agree, didn't have this advice when we first bought the goods, but something to remember and something to pass on to the kids, thank you

Check the wording on your policy. Do they guarantee a payout of the value of the fridge as it is now or a replacement fridge? I doubt it's a replacement otherwise no one would ever buy a new fridge. Just kill theirs when it got old and then rely on the insurance getting them a new one.
If it's paying the value as it is today, that will be zilch.

How much are you paying for cover? You could open an accessible savings account, cancel the cover and make those payments into that account. Although even good cash interest rates are generally less than inflation and less than interest on debt, inflation isn't generally that high on things like fridges and washing machines. Even if you have to pay a bit out of income or other savings when the fridge freezer does need to be replaced, it will help.

About £35 a year but will stop now and take on the suggestions on board. Thank you

Says in the event of a breakdown will try fixing otherwise will pay price of fridge freezer when it was bought, so we will have to fork out a few hundred on top anyway to replace with like for like!

The main trouble with these policies is when your item is broken it takes a few days before you can get an engineer out, then they assess it and order parts and return again to fit parts. My washer/dryer stopped working shortly after guarantee ran out and it took nearly 3 weeks and 3 visits for Domestic and general to sort it out.

That is true, I'm glad I asked because now I know for future what works best!

My D&G policies replace the item if it's beyond repair. They also give you credit into an account to the value of the policy each year which you can put towards new appliances. We bought a tall freezer for half the price it would've been elsewhere using this.

We also had a washing machine replaced when a second attempt to repair it failed.

I don't mind paying for the insurance personally. But as long as you're informed about what you're buying, there's no issue.

We insured our dishwasher with d&g. It gets used a lot. So far we've had 2 replacement machines, the latest an £800 Bosch model.

So the insurance definitely worth it.

For other appliances , not so much.

Mind you I've just insured my Siemens washing machine (now 8 years old ) for £160 for 3 years

We live in london and a simple call out is £120 so definitely worth that.