Left cold... by cover on fridge

B.R.B. writes: I insured a large fridge freezer with Domestic & General. It broke down last January and I immediately called the insurer as the cover was due to expire in February.

No action was taken despite further letters and complaints until I received a letter in June. It said they had tried to contact me. But if I am not at home, calls go to my answering machine. I was then offered new cover, with the work to be carried out in July, but I rejected this in view of the costs involved.

Now the punch line: today a fitter appeared at my door to carry out the repairs. I had to explain that the broken fridge freezer had since been scrapped and I have a new one. DOMESTIC & General paints a slightly different picture. The company told me that when you reported the fault, it authorised a repair over the phone and gave you contact details for a repair agent. The insurer says you then had difficulty in contacting the agent and asked Domestic & General to do it, but it responded that you should do so.

The company now says: ‘Although we believe we acted promptly and correctly when Mr B made his initial claim, we regret that since then there appears to have been confusion, with Mr B apparently assuming that D&G would book the repair on his behalf, even though we had informed him that he needed to book the repair visit directly.’

It added that these events were unusual, but the company accepts that it fell below its usual standards and you did not get the repair service to which you were entitled. A cheque for £100 is on its way to you.