How much did they load your insurance premium, for the pump?

[Season]

Hi all - my first post, I'm not an active forum person generally, but bear with me please as I need your experience. Never done a poll before! but it's a nice easy way of getting an overview (if all of you answer it).

I've been on my pump almost 3 years and obediently had it added to the home insurance, but I didn't deal with that as my health was poor. Now I'm single (helps a lot with the health!) and finally in charge of my own finances, so I'm shopping around. I was very happy with a buildings & contents quote until they added the pump and added £46/year.

If I'd simply gone one level up from the very lowest "personal possession" amount, it would only add £13. But the single-item limit is £2,000 and the pump wouldn't be covered *at all* (I wouldn't just get the first £2K of it, if I did have to claim).

Is £46 about average? (It is a lot less than the pump-only insurer recommended by Diabetes UK...) Seems a lot to me. I expected less than £20 onto the premium. For a hearing aid or even a pair of glasses, where you have the choice whether to buy a posh one(!), fair enough, but this isn't a luxury, we have no choice. The very nice man on the phone went and argued with his superior on my behalf but they wouldn't change it.

Also I phoned Animas and the actual value (mine is a 2020) is £2,600 without VAT. Oddly, on the old insurance it's covered for £3,293 - but as I say I wasn't involved in that conversation so I have no clue why such a funny amount!

I'm going to phone back and see if telling them it's <£3K instead of >£3K will make enough difference. And I'm going to shop around some more. Too much time spent on this already!

 

[cally]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Hi .
I really don't understand why I would need to think about insuring my pump! It doesn't belong to me and I figure I'm not likely to lose it or get it stolen as its attached to me all the time.
I have dropped it a few times but the tubing is not long enough for it to hit the ground. So no damage done.

The doctors or diabetes nurses have never suggested to me that I need to insure it, so I haven't done so.

 

[mrman]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Cally, certainly my pump, not sure about the other models is the persons property, when you sign the paperwork I think after the initial 6 months trial, then becomes your responsibility.should it get lost/stolen accidentally broken neither the nhs or pump manufacturer are required to replace it. Out may mean you end up back on mdi.
I phoned my house insurers and added it is a mobile machine so covered in/out the house I think up to £3,500 as an added special item. They did say it would be an extra £25 for the remainder of my current policy (about 6 months left at the time), said I would cancel and shop around, and added at no extra cost. Happy to say now renewed this month, lower premiums and special mobile device still insured.

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[Season]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

£25 a month, that's crazy! I thought £46/year was bad.

Cally, I was told by my pump clinic to add it to my contents insurance and Diabetes UK's page about pump insurance says that's usual - I think (read it only this morning!). My understanding is that it's not actually my property but as Brett says, it's my responsibility. Maybe worth checking wtih your team?

I have now spoken to a different insurer who may be able to get their underwriters to increase the normal limit for a single item. I'll hear tomorrow. That will mean no loading at all, if they do it. Otherwise I'll have to go back to the extra £46 as in all other ways they're the best, and I got about 30 :yawn: online quotes for the home insurance. I'm including accidental damage, as I think me dropping it on the tiles in the Ladies' (while changing it, say) is more likely than someone stealing it from my body. Though apparently that's been known.

Some have a limit per item of £2500, so I'm only asking to up it by £100, and some have £2000; maybe some have £3000 but I don't know. I feel myself a bit insuranced-out so no more shopping around, it'll be one of these two.

 

[mrman]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

****, meant 25 in total, sorry

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[cally]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

I would be interested to hear if anyone has actually needed to claim on their insurance?
I will ask next time I go to a clinic appointment but still don't think I will be rushing to insure mine anytime soon. The risk must be tiny and I have never been a person who feels the need to insure against every possible risk!!



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[Engineer88]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Im going to get the specialist pump insurance. I think for £84 a year i would be happy (ive claimed on my contents unsurance in the last year so would avoid that) plus home insurance will know f**k all about insulin pumps - it took months for a flooding claim to be sorted, i couldnt be without a pump that long. I saw a plea on facebook the other day a young kid lost part of their pump (remote control) while they were shopping with grandparents because the bag it was in was stolen. I can understand how that would happen - what would happen if a theaf fiddled with it while within range of the pump?! scary thought...

 

[pumppimp]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Hi mine wasn't loaded at all, it's insured under my home and contents for £3,500 I did quotes online and there was no difference, as I had to also insure bikes and kayaks dive gear etc. £300 for a full year house and contents with Aviva. I've never had to claim on my insurance, but when I was at uni i opened the fridge to get my insulin out to fill up my pump with my pump in my hand and dropped it on the floor. I managed to claim it luckily on my parents house insurance, the pump people did send another one out straight way so I wasn't left without it, I think it took a couple of weeks for the payment to be arranged. My parents paid the excess!

 

[iHs]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

I was told to insure my pump so added it as a named item on my home contents insurance. Engineer is correct though in saying that insurance companies know f... all lol about insulin pumps so wont really understand what they are. I have just insured my mine for accidental damage like shutting it in the car door (which hasn't happened as the pump is always in my bra) or it drowning in the toilet as these are things that can and do happen and the pump company is not obliged to replace it under those circumstances. There have been stories about people who have allowed their dogs to carry the pump in their mouth and the teeth marks can be clearly seen so the pump company wont replace a pump if that is the case even though the casing is damaged (best to put the pump in a rubber skin to protect it). As for the handset being stolen whilst on holiday, that well known pump company sometimes just issues a replacement if you ask nicely so no need to make a claim on insurance as at the end of the day, it can work out cheaper to just to buy a replacement handset rather than end up paying a higher premium because of the claim.

 

[Season]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

I suppose you theoretically could shut your bra in the car door, iHs... :shock: (No offence! I tried and can't get comfy that way, so respect to you.)

Anyway, ahem.

My Very Nice Little Man phoned back this morning and not only have they not loaded at all, in other words their £2500 limit is upped to £2600 for me, he also gave me about £15 lower than yesterday's quote :mrgreen: so I told him he can come and do all my finances for me. (Brett, I would have settled for £25/year so it was lucky I was offered a much worse deal to start with.) If in a couple of years I get a replacement that's worth more than £3K, maybe they'll let it through on the same basis if I stay with the same people.

Three days of faffing around and I've cut my yearly home insurance to % of what it was. Just wanted to boast about that... Hey everyone, do your shopping around!

I feel that Animas would rescue me very promptly, and if the insurers did try to say I should have waited till they'd taken a few days deciding how to go about it, then I'd win that argument. "Given me by the NHS" stopped them asking for proof of purchase. It is pleasant to deal with human beings instead of tickbox robots.

Thanx everyone

 

[Engineer88]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Got my pump yesterday and I've gone with the insurance 4 pumps insurance this time. No excess and 6.99 a month sounds good to me.

 

[LaughingHyena]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

I was advised to insure mine against accidental damage as the pump company don't cover that. Included with the instruction pack was a letter with the value and details, in case it was needed by the insurer but I wasn't asked for that.

I paid £8 for the first 3 weeks, which was all that was left to run on the policy, after that we switched companies. I think it's £26 per year now. Most of that is the accidental damage, which we didn't have before, but which covers our other stuff too.

 

[spideog]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Have had it listed as a named item on a previous insurance, but they didn't load the policy at all. Can't remember who that insurer was now though.
Currently have the contents insurance through M&S and after speaking with them a couple of times about it, just to be sure that they knew what I was on about, they didn't load the policy or even need it named.

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[Dougal]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Have a look at the INPUT website.

This is an extract "However, you should ask your CCG for a certificate of value AND ownership. If they are not willing to provide this, then they should not expect you to insure their equipment, and it would be very difficult to make a claim on the insurance. If they are willing to provide this, good! They will never be able to threaten to remove it from you as they will have stated that it belongs to you! Once you have that, you should be able to get it covered on your household insurance. In practice, most CCGs will hesitate to provide such a letter and the issue is then redundant."


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[Season]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

Hi again - I hadn't heard of INPUT and I don't know what CCG stands for, but I agree, if they make it impossible to insure, they can't expect us to do so. However does that necessarily bind them to replacing it if there's a problem...? The bigger however, though, is that I had no such requirement from all the insurers I shopped around with. Does it really matter who owns it, if you're insuring it as an item within the house?

For example my eldest has recently moved out, but surely the insurance still covers one of his electric guitars if he had to leave it in his room here if it didn't fit in the new place?

The insurer I went with in the end (Swinton) mentioned proof I owned the pump, but when I said "I don't think I own it, the NHS gave it to me," they were fine with that.

 

[Morganator]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

While I don't have a pump my son does have equipment provided by the NHS, each item is worth around £3,000 and my insurance (Bank of Scotland) were happy to itemise them on my household policy without increasing the premium.

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[Season]

Re: How much did they load your insurance premium, for the p

I don't think it's so much that some insurers think they'll get away with what they can get away with, so much as some not having a clue how to deal with it. I don't know if it's worth muttering about why it's hardly something we have any choice about, but when each person I phoned put me on hold to talk about this with their underwriter (which of course they have to), I'm sure that is a conversation between human beings, not just tick-boxes. And it's very reasonable to ask to pay no extra for something we have no choice about.

(Rather chuffed again as I was shopping around today, for different insurance, and came across Quoteline who *might* price match and get me another 20% off the deal I was so chuffed with last month! )