Lost Mobile Phone, Now Insurance Won't Pay Out Due To 3's Inco

[Anees]

Hi guys,

I lost my phone on Monday, but luckily I had taken insurance out with TalkCover (Supercover Insurance) so I followed their claims procedure which is:

Report the theft or loss of the mobile phone to your Network Service Provider within 12 hours of discovery to blacklist your handset.

Report the theft or loss of the mobile phone to the police within 24 hours of your discovery of it's theft or loss.

Notify us as soon as possible on but in any event, within 48 hours of your discovery of it's theft or loss.

So I rang the Network (3/Three) to tell them what had happened and to have everything restricted. Rang the police and got a loss reference number and then emailed the insurance company.

I have got a letter from them today saying that they cannot authorise my claim because:

The claims procedure 1, point 2 requires you to "Report the theft/loss of the mobile phone within 12 hours of discovery to your Service Provider and blacklist your handset."

I THOUGHT I DID THAT!! I rang the insurance company today to query this and they are saying that when they rang Three, Three confirmed that the phoneline was restricted at 7.15PM, but when the guy from the insurance asked if the handset was was blacklisted; it was not!! Now that is a shock to me! I thought that by reporting my phone as lost and asking for a restriction they would do that automatically, since I asked for "everything to be restricted" like other networks do! I mean what is the point of having your phone lost/stolen and not having the handset blacklisted??????

So I rang Three back too. According to the Indian Call centre, Three policy is to not automatically block handsets therefore it was not done. Also the call dropped (as is bloody typical with the Three Indian Call centre :tsktsk: ) so I rang back later to double check that my services had been restricted and they had. Obviously their is a c*ck up, but what can I do?? My handset was a Nokia N95 8GB and would cost loads to buy SIM FREE and to be honest I am very angry with the fact that the Indian call centre (although very polite) can not answer questions not on a script or where they have to think about the answer and the phone line quality is terrible!!

:tsktsk: :tsktsk:

I have tried to ring the insurance company back to explain what has happened, but the person dealing with my claim was not available and they are now not open until Tuesday.

Anybody have any advice? Worse thing is that I am stuck on a 18 month contract with Three so can't even cancel the service. I have been with Three since 2004 and the service has been fine until his point but I am trying to see if their is a clause or something that allows me to terminate my contract!

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Anees

[redz_UK]

firstly sorry to hear this.. i would be lost if i lost my phone!!

now lets see if i can help..

Any body that sells insurance is regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). The ethos of the FSA is Treating Customers Fairly and in my opinon you havent been treated fairly.

You did report the handset lost to your network and through an error at the network end it was not blacklisted. I asume it has now been blacklisted. You would not be aware that its 3's policy not to blacklist and i would say that they should ask you if you want this done.

I think on appeal if they are an insurance company of any sorts then this 'should' be overturned. I would try to see if anybody else can deal with this but think as its a Bank Holiday Weekend then it may be Tuesday before you get any further.

If that doesnt get you any joy then you can make a formal compliant to the insurance company which should be dealt with in 7 days (normally although some companies differ).

If that doesnt work bring any joy then i would advise complaining to the FSA who surprsingly are very helpfull!!

3 should be able to provide a new sim card although you may not get this until tues/wed due to the post but they shoud be able to forward your calls to another number (at a cost of course)

unfortunatley the contract you sign up to is for the service and not for the phone so there are no grounds for your contract to be terminated.. sorry..

In case you are wondering, i work for Carphone Warehouse and i train people to sell insurance so i fairly well versed in this aspect!!

fell free to conatct me if you need any further help..

[sparkystav]

Gutted for you mate,

Hope you get it sorted.

Stav

[dave1]

Is your phone not covered on your house contents insurance? Worth checking.

[Anees]

Thanks for all the advice :)

I have a new sim card, so going to write an email of appeal to the insurance company and then ring them on Tuesday afternoon too. Hopefully that does the trick and they see sense!

PS Will check the house contents insurance - good idea ;)

[Anees]

GOOD NEWS.......

I acted based on the advice that redz_UK provided my claim has now been authorised! :D

I rang today to pay the excess and hopefully I should get my phone by Friday! :)

Many thanks for all the help, I do really appreciate it.....

[sparkystav]

Glad you got it sorted fella.

[WylieCoyote]

For gods sake will companies please get rid of these ridiculous Indian call centres and let us talk to people in the UK who don't just read from a screen and can actually use their initiative. They say they're cheaper - funny, I haven't noticed any reduction in my service charges since they went out of the UK. In fact they've gone up.

Glad your problem is sorted.

[maneesh]

For gods sake will companies please get rid of these ridiculous Indian call centres and let us talk to people in the UK who don't just read from a screen and can actually use their initiative. They say they're cheaper - funny, I haven't noticed any reduction in my service charges since they went out of the UK. In fact they've gone up.

Glad your problem is sorted.

They are cheaper, but it's not being passed down to the customer. It just allows them to lower their cost base and generate higher profits in a more competitive environment. Call centres in the UK are not necessarily any different from the ones in India or America. It's mostly dependent on the quality of staff recruited as well as the quality of inhouse training given to those staff.

Glad that the Lexus community helped you Anees.

[WylieCoyote]

The last one I spoke to in India from Orange was trained by the book 'Customer service for Dummies'. I think they failed the remedial class too!

[Anees]

New phone arrived today. I had forgotton how thick the N95 8GB was.............. Now thinking maybe I should sell it? But because I am Three not alot of options..

[redz_UK]

glad it all got sorted...

firm but polite complaints rule the day!!

[Anees]

glad it all got sorted...

firm but polite complaints rule the day!!

Yeah, thanks again :D Great advice ;)

[Anees]

You won't believe this!! :o

My new phone has stopped worked and started saying "Sim card registration failed". Rang 3 up and they have said that my phone has been blocked because the IMEI number of my new handset is a known blocked one!!! Huh??

I explained that I got the phone direct from Supercover insurance and it came in a sealed box! Obviously I am flabbergasted by this. I now have to send Three a proof of purchase. I have the Invoice the insurance company sent me when I paid my excess so will fax them that tomorrow.

Honestly............its just a saga this, just when I thought everything was sorted.

[DJ Wozza]

..... I got the phone direct from Supercover insurance

Nuff said matey. I'd never have their insurance again even if they gave it to me for free.

I'm moderating myself and not allowing me to say words that describe my contempt for

the company in question.

Good luck mate, you should be able to get this sorted with a bit of luck.

[redz_UK]

You won't believe this!! :o

My new phone has stopped worked and started saying "Sim card registration failed". Rang 3 up and they have said that my phone has been blocked because the IMEI number of my new handset is a known blocked one!!! Huh??

I explained that I got the phone direct from Supercover insurance and it came in a sealed box! Obviously I am flabbergasted by this. I now have to send Three a proof of purchase. I have the Invoice the insurance company sent me when I paid my excess so will fax them that tomorrow.

Honestly............its just a saga this, just when I thought everything was sorted.

is it a three baged handset?

they have a habit of blocking anyhandset which isnt 'one of theres' to stop people uisng there own handsets on the network. or it could be that the ins company have recovered a previously stlon/lost handset.

inconvenience 2 say the least but it should get sorted.

[Anees]

Thanks for the replies :)

YES 3 Branded Handset in a sealed box. Phone seemed as new when I got it. :o

Once I get this sorted I am cancelling my insurance with Supercover - the reviews of their service online do seem mixed.

Back to my trusty 6 year old LG again................

[redz_UK]

Thanks for the replies :)

YES 3 Branded Handset in a sealed box. Phone seemed as new when I got it. :o

Once I get this sorted I am cancelling my insurance with Supercover - the reviews of their service online do seem mixed.

Back to my trusty 6 year old LG again................

Was possibly a referbed unit then, but they should have advised you. If it was new then there is no way it could have been blacklisted previously..

check there t's and c's to see if it says a new unit.. if it does then take it further and ask for your money back or report it to the FSA,, they are FSA regulated so that should get a result.