Helpdesk: Contract clear on 24 hour claim window for phone insurance

Jane Bradley answers your questions

Q: When I got my iPhone a couple of years ago through the Carphone Warehouse, I also got it insured. I lost it at a music festival, reported it to the police, and then went to the Carphone Warehouse shop when I got back home. They refused to give me a new one because I didn’t report it to them on the day it was taken. That was in the contract but I hadn’t realised as I didn’t have the contract with me. Their argument was that someone else could have used the phone and made several hours of calls to Australia, or whatever, which was fair enough, but I said if that was the case I would pay for those calls.

As far as I could see they were using a loophole to renege on a contract I had signed in good faith. They refused to supply me with a new phone. I bought a second hand one on eBay, which broke, so I ended up having to revert to an old phone. My contract is up soon, so I will be able to get a new phone – I’m going to go to Vodafone this time though, I won’t deal with Carphone Warehouse again.

GR, Edinburgh

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A: A Carphone Warehouse spokesman said: “We ask customers to report the theft or loss of their mobile phone to their network provider within 24 hours and to obtain a crime reference number from the police within 48 hours. We do this to mitigate the risk of fraudulent activity on a customer’s account and because it is a regulatory requirement. We are flexible with these guidelines, but unfortunately a significant period of time elapsed before GR informed us of the loss of his handset.

“In our experience the vast majority of customers are eager to report the loss of their mobile phones as soon as they are able but we appreciate that some customers may not recognise the importance of doing so. For this reason, all our insurance customers, including GR, are given a booklet at the point of sale which clearly documents the process and timescales for making a claim. We are therefore confident that we adhered to our correct policies when declining his insurance claim.

“However, we do appreciate GR’s custom and on this occasion we would be happy to offer him £100 towards the cost of his next upgrade as a gesture of our goodwill.”

• If you have a consumer issue that you would like tackling, contact Jane Bradley on 0131 620 8432 or e-mail [email protected].