Insurance companies are robbers

You may, or may not know, that a fews weeks ago, I dropped my beloved, dearest, loveliest iPhone down the toilet. Not on purpose, mind you (even though the new iPhone 4 had just been released); the bloody thing accidentally dropped out of the back pocket of my jeans whilst ..... how can I put this delicately?....... I was using the bathroom at a Health Spa in Oxford. Not that I am healthy or anything radical like that, I was just there watching Izzy having a swimming lesson.

"No problem," I thought to myself at the time, "if my dearest iPhone dies after this latest escapade, I can claim on my insurance." My mind filled with the images of the smiley happy people in the LSG Insurance Group TV advert. They all had lovely white teeth and perfect hair and looked really trustworthy.

So, after the 'toilet versus iPhone' episode at the Health Spa, I went home, and took advice from a couple of my geeky blog readers (Bren, Robert and Masher! ha ha! I called you geeks!) who told me what to do next; namely remove the back of the phone and leave it to dry out for a couple of days, before switching it on to see if it still worked. 

I did exactly that, but unfortunately, the soul of my iPhone had gone to a big fluffy cloud in the sky, which in turn necessitated an insurance claim.

The method of the claim was this: Firstly I rang the LSG Insurance Group to tell them what happened; then a smiley happy employee posted a paper 'claim form' to me; I had to fill it out with BLACK INK otherwise my insurance claim would be void; and finally, I had to post the form back to them. It was like something out of 'Ice Age - the Movie'. At least the claim form was paper and not papyrus.

Then today, I got a letter in the post. It was from LSG regarding my claim, and here it is.................

Pic.No.1. The response from LSG regarding my insurance claim

The bloody gits! They had refused my insurance claim because I had not submitted an insurance claim within 48 hours of the iPhone falling down the toilet.

I was mad. Madder than a toddler who's just eaten secret onion wrapped in processed ham (not that I have done that of course). And then had their dummy dipped in low-fat salad dressing. 

I was mad for these reasons:

1.  Because of the drying out time, I didn't know for at least 48 hours after the 'incident', whether my phone was actually dead or not, and therefore the subject of an insurance claim.

2. And anyway, it took LSG more than 48 hours to post me the claim form, so it would have been physically impossible for me to send it back within the deadline.

3. But finally, why does an insurance claim beccome invalid after 48 hours? What on earth is the rationale behind that? What on earth could I do after the 48 hours to 'fiddle' the system? I have got a dead phone. I could quite easily send it to them for examination.

I have been told that I can appeal, and I will. The bloody gits. I will keep you updated and if you have any advice in the meantime, it would be gratefully received.

P.S. If you look at the bottom of the letter, you will notice that if you decide to ring LSG, you will be charged premium rates.

P.P.S. On a totally unrelated note, I have just seen a mouse run into my house and under the contemporary oak six drawer sideboard in my kitchen. Yep, that is the exact same hidey hole where I found a rat a couple of weeks ago.