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Please be aware that in the event of an insurance claim, you are entitled to use your jeweller of choice. Do not allow your insurance company to force you to go to a jeweller who you would not normally choose to use and do not let them force you to use vouchers. The letter below has been sent to a number of newspapers and insurance companies.
Increasing I note that my clients are being forced by Insurance companies to use a particular firm in the event of jewellery claims, even to the extent of that firm telephoning and intimidating clients into dealing with them. Taking business away from 'local' jewellers is unethical and dishonest and is very damaging to the jeweller's business - the relationship between a client and their jeweller is, in many cases, a very personal one, and so the client is not receiving real indemnity and is being charged a premium that is, in fact, more than the stated % because it is the intention of the insurer to pay less than the insured sum in the event of a claim. My view of this is that insurers are therefore stating false premiums for insurance cover that they have no intention of honouring. Many insurance companies have similar links with multiple and independent jewellers who give them a large 'discount' in exchange for the business. My observations have demonstrated that many of those jewellers involved now inflate insurance quotes in order to cover the so-called discount. At the end of the day, local jewellers lose out, clients receive poor value for their insurance claims and insurers pay just as much out as they would have if they had not got involved in this client-manipulation. The Financial Services Ombudsman has stated that if an insurance company does not give a client freedom of choice (to choose his or her supplier), that they are not providing the client with true indemnity. |