A London broker has accused CGU of using an unfair wording in its household policy.
RP Hodson has warned fellow practitioners to check the wordings for ‘value' clauses, after a woman received just 65% of the value of her stolen jewellery following a vicious robbery in her home.
Account executive Terry Rechnitz claims the payout is 20% too low because CGU used a pawnbroker's evaluation of the jewellery.
In a letter to Insurance Times (see letters pages 6 and 7), he writes: “I suggest anyone who uses the CGU as a personal lines insurer should check the wording of all household policies and ensure there is no ‘value' clause in the policy.”
But Peter Graham director of technical claims responded: “In this particular case, the policyholder chose a cash settlement and we therefore dealt with the claim in line with the policy wording which applies to such settlements. All of CGU's household policies contain the ‘value' clause.”
