Home insurance will only pay for the damaged "part " of worksurface --arrrgh.Can they do this ?

[fakeblonde]

After doing it for years dh put a hot pan/dish down and for some reason this time it burnt badly the worksurface in the kitchen.
I rand the insurace and they said"yes sure go ahead and get 2 quotes".
We got 1 quote and struggled for 2 months to get another.
Both were pretty similar tbh-a quote to replace like for like worksurface.
We have a weeny kitchen and didnt expect to have laminate replaced with granite fgs-jus replacing. The original work surface cant be found anymore so it would need 3 lengths not 1 and obviuosly because its differrent the whole lot needs replacig. I cant believe it-thay have said we will only replace the damaged bit ! FGS they expect me to have a completely differrent piece of worksurface to the rest of the kitchen-which btw is only about 8 foot by 6 anyway ! I can see this going all the way to the ombudsmun ect and im really cross because i just wanted it replacing before Christmas.
Is there anything i can do to make them see sense?

This happened to me - we had an insurance claim which involved digging up part of a tiled floor and I was confidently told by the call centre employee that the insurance would only pay to replace the tiles in this area. When I protested that I had no idea where these tiles came from as they were put in by a previous owner he said that "I would have to shop around for the best match"

To cut a long tale short I refused to accept this and got put through to an assortment of supervisors. In the end by force of will and over several days I got them to agree to pay to re-tile the whole floor.

Your insurance company will try to tell you that you are not entitled to any replacement other than the small section that is damaged. Do not give up! Keep polite but firm and if an employee ever tells you that they can't authorise what you're asking for ask to be transferred to someone higher up who can.

Good luck

Most policies will have a clause re matching undamged items and it looks like this is what they are applying. Its because its classed as "betterment" - ie instead of just the damaged item being repaired/replaced you end up with a whole new set of items. Applies to kitchen units, sofas/chairs etc.

However, you may ask your insurers for a contribution towards the rest of the worktop and see if they agree - max would be 50%. If you get nowhere, providing you have exhautsed the internal complaints procedure you may ask the FOS to look into it but again its not guaranteed and will be capped at the max of 50%.

You need to weigh up the options, as the extra two pieces of worktop may not be that expensive and the 50% (if it does get granted)contribution may not amount to that much.

Theres a FOS statement called 'Treating the customer fairly', and under that it says that although you are only entitled to replacement of damaged goods, if that leaves you in a worse situation than before, then it is fair that the insurer contribute to the cost of matching - up to 50% is the norm.

So, don't get stroppy with them (because the claims staff you will speak to can't authorise this anyway), and ask that under 'Treating the customer fairly" you understand that it is considered good practice to make a contribution to your cost of matching the rest of the worktop.