In hot WATER

WHERE DO YOU STAND WHEN YOUR ‘SILENT’ JUG IS TOO NOISY?

You recently bought a “silent” hot water jug. When you got it home, you found it was anything but silent. Obviously, you couldn’t try it out in the store. Can you take it back even though it has been used?

Yes. You’ve been sold a product that doesn’t measure up to its description. Take it back for a replacement or refund. Maybe, before you bought it, you should have asked to see a display model in action. But it’s unlikely they’d have had one. More likely, they’d have invited you to bring the product back straight away if it wasn’t what you were led to believe. I’ve never found a truly quiet hot water jug though. But I probably didn’t pay the significantly higher price that genuinely quiet jugs cost. You get what you pay for.

You want to insure your new home to “replacement value” in case of fire or accidental damage. What exactly is “replacement value” and are there any pitfalls?

With “replacement value”, the insurer undertakes to pay for the cost of repairs or rebuild your home even if it costs more than the sum you’ve insured it for. But you must make sure that you’ve provided the insurer with an accurate assessment of your home’s size. You are best to obtain this from a LIM report held by council. Calculating it yourself with a tape measure is not good enough. You must also provide an accurate valuation of the property.

It is best to use the online calculator provided by the insurer or get the valuation done professionally. CVs or market valuations are not good enough. “Replacement value” does not kick in for natural disasters such as earthquakes.