Home Insurance, Contents Cover
Home Insurance, Contents Cover
Author
Discussion

kentmotorcompany

Original Poster:

2,471 posts

233 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
A friend of mine, has had his garage broken into.
He is a builder, and keeps all his power tools in his garage, which were stolen.

He has quite a high level of cover, and I have looked at his policy document which clearly states all business equipment is covered.

Anyway he is worried about saying he is a builder in case they tell him he not covered for professional tools.
Someone from the company charged with suppling new equipment called today, and in a round about way advised him to say that they were home DIY tools, as he is not covered for work tools.

Anyone in the industry know for sure??

eightseventhree

2,261 posts

227 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
may i be the first to say . . . insurance fraud ?

nono

Edited by eightseventhree on Monday 17th August 16:30

BoRED S2upid

20,981 posts

263 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
If the policy clearly states all business equipment then thats fine, how are they going to be able to turn around and say hes not covered for business tools?. More of a chance them turning round and calling him a lying git for claiming £20k's worth of DIY tools!.

ascayman

13,243 posts

239 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
for your 'friends' sake id get this thread deleted if i were you.

kentmotorcompany

Original Poster:

2,471 posts

233 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Claim is genuine. He is not that kind of guy.
Like I said he is a builder, and therefore did own all the tools he has claimed for.

Just want to know if its some kind of comman clause with household contents insurance to not cover professional equipment?

Most power tools are a few hundred pounds each and therefore do not need to be declared seperatly like jewelery etc.


ascayman

13,243 posts

239 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
he's not genuine, if he were genuine he wouldnt be claiming business tools off of a home contents policy on which he's already been told he doesnt have cover.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

268 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Did he own the tools personally or are they owned by his company? Has he got receipts in his own name?

I've always taken "business equipment" to mean things like a laptop etc. I could be totally wrong but I'm doubtful his claim would be willingly met. The insurance company may at least moan about the gear being stored in an out-building.

kentmotorcompany

Original Poster:

2,471 posts

233 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
You lot are so cynical.

Like I said, Policy document states all business equipment is covered, I told him sounds fine, and should be covered.

He was worried that his claim will be rejected on the grounds of some clause he does not know about.

The guy on the phone who told him he is not covered, does not work for the insurance company, but the company who has been asked to supply new tools.

This has got him worried again, I think the guy on the phone is wrong based on the policy document I read.

If anyone in the insurance industry knows for sure, let me know.

ascayman

13,243 posts

239 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
i see, either wasnt clear or i mis-readlaugh

kentmotorcompany

Original Poster:

2,471 posts

233 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Deva Link said:
Did he own the tools personally or are they owned by his company? Has he got receipts in his own name?

I've always taken "business equipment" to mean things like a laptop etc. I could be totally wrong but I'm doubtful his claim would be willingly met. The insurance company may at least moan about the gear being stored in an out-building.
Exactly. What does the insurance industry define as business equipment?

He does have receipts, all sent to the insurance company, not sure if company name was on them.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

268 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Well if they've got his trade name on then he can't claim they're for DIY.

I think the claim will turn on what it says in the policy. Does it define "business equipment"? Does it exclude "tools of your trade"? Many self-employed people would have tools of their trade at home. Does he have premises?

I've made a couple of contents claims that I thought might be iffy and always found insurance companies err on the side of paying out. If they didn't pay out then people wouldn't bother with insurance.


silver.fox.2008

820 posts

213 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
kentmotorcompany said:
You lot are so cynical.

Like I said, Policy document states all business equipment is covered, I told him sounds fine, and should be covered.

He was worried that his claim will be rejected on the grounds of some clause he does not know about.

The guy on the phone who told him he is not covered, does not work for the insurance company, but the company who has been asked to supply new tools.

This has got him worried again, I think the guy on the phone is wrong based on the policy document I read.

If anyone in the insurance industry knows for sure, let me know.
Maybe have a read of the term 'business equipment' in the definition section at the beginning of the policy as this will normally refer to computer equipment and in most policies excludes business tools such as what he has had stolen.

Also the guy that is supplying the items will more than likely refer back to the insurers and inform them that the items stolen are more professional tools as opposed to DIY.


Fatrat

682 posts

214 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
If it is a standard household policy then it will cover items used for domestic used only. The only exception would normally be computers/faxes/printers. Any goods used in connection with a trade or profession (builder, carpenter, etc) would need to be insured elsewhere. In addition, some policies may have a limit for items kept in the gagage.

Any reasonable insurer will allow a small amount of DIY gear but in the present climate this will smell like a kipper!