Bit of a semi PSA as I know they are regarded as one of the friendlier insurers for those of us with a bike obsession.
I had the misfortune to have my arkose pinched from Bristol centre - lock was cut. Fair enough, to be honest it was going to happen at some point living in this city.
Insured with Royal + Sun Alliance via sainsburys, so put claim in, initially all is well, stand by for a voucher from wheelies, and from then on it's just gone off the rails. Whilst they've paid out for the bike after a delay due to me wanting a cash settlement rather than a wheelies voucher, they've quoted 3 different excess figures, none of which matches my policy documents and told me that the value of accessories is included with the bike and therefore they are included in the 1k cap.
I've challenged this asking them to quote me the policy wording that relates to this because I can't see it. The accessories bit particularly makes no sense, unless you have a pump, saddlebag / tools for each bike you'd end up effectively insuring those multiple times by including them in the value of each bike they might be attached to!
I'm not sure whether this is incompetence or deliberate trying to delay / obfuscate the issue to limit the settlement, so I'm wondering if anyone has had any experiences positive or negative that might clarify if this is bad luck or a wider issue with RSA?
If it's the same wording I just looked at, it's not exactly clear whether accessories are included in the limit or not. So on that basis, it's worth a moan and then to the ombudsman. Contra Proferentum is the phrase du jour.
This is what you say.
'phrasing of the policy is ambiguous and since it's clear that we don't agree we need a third opinion so I will write to the ombudsman for a determination'
The ombudsman will kick them for not being clear with their policy wording anyway, and you might find that to avoid it they might give you what you want anyway.
Each referral to the ombudsman will cost more that the difference in your claim too so no way they’ll not roll over on that.
Are you actually out of pocket, if so, how much?
Are these accessories that were easily detachable from the bike? Surely if they are detachable then they are not part of the bike and therefore possibly not insured. Maybe covered under unspecified all risks element elsewhere in the policy.
Fair enough the bike was locked up but not sure how secure you can make accessories.
