Dear LPG,

Having found myself in the same predicament as NS, I read her recent post on the subject of ‘White goods’ insurance with interest (►►►).

Not so long ago, I had a crisis in the kitchen.  My cooker went wrong, but I thought I had no need to worry about it because I have been paying insurance for years so that if it, or any other of my kitchen appliances goes wrong, it would be either fixed or replaced straight away with the assurance that I would not be out of pocket and time, and particularly dinner would not be interrupted.   As I said, the unthinkable happened recently. My oven stopped working, but I thought myself lucky because roast dinners are not my preference.   I phoned the insurance people who, after some consideration decided that my existing model was past saving and that I would need a replacement. 

A couple of days passed before I was contacted and given a choice of four possible replacements to choose from.  After due consideration, measuring, decisions about which colour would most suit my kitchen and looking on the internet, I was ready to make a choice.

I phoned the insurance company back and gave them my decision at which point I was told that they would be able to get the new cooker ordered within a couple of working days.  In all the time I have had the insurance I have never had to make a claim before and, up until that point I was very impressed with the service and felt that all the money I had spent over the years was worth it. 

But then came the shocker!

All I would need to pay was a £40.00 delivery charge, £72 for installation, and £18 if I wanted them to take the old cooker away.  This was followed by the advisor’s advice that they could get the ball rolling as soon as I was able to make that payment.

I was lucky.  I could afford to part with £130 at a moment’s notice and my cooking habits would not have missed the oven for a week or two, but I have to say that, in spite of having insurance I needed to find one third of the cost of the new cooker before even seeing the result of all my years of financial safeguarding. 

I have to wonder if such insurance really leaves anyone feeling altogether insured…

DS, Kent