CUSTOMER SERVICE? - Prudential Insurance

When arthritis-sufferer Edith Storer fell and had to be rescued by police and paramedics she did not expect to be left with an £880 bill. But because the 56-year-old's front door had to be broken down by the police, her insurance company has said the damage was not accidental and they will not pay out for a replacement. Mrs Storer, of Littleover, fell over in her kitchen, banging her head and breaking her arm.

She managed to reach the phone and dial 999, but was unable to get up to open the door for paramedics, so police had to break down her double-glazed front door. The door was made secure, but needs replacing at a cost of £880. She now has to use the back door. Mrs Storer contacted her insurance company, Prudential, to claim for a replacement door after returning from Derbyshire Royal Infirmary with her arm in a sling, a black eye and covered in bruises.

But Prudential said her home and contents insurance policy does not cover damage done by the emergency services but offered an ex-gratia payment of £260 to Mrs Storer after being contacted by the Evening Telegraph. A Prudential spokesman confirmed the insurance does not cover damage done by the emergency services. He added, "Usually we would look at claims on a case by case basis, but unfortunately we failed to take the full circumstances into account in this case. We do look upon these things sympathetically and we are sorry that hasn't happened."

Some credit should go to insurance company Prudential for recognising that it was wrong when it dismissed Edith Storer's claim for damage to her home. The last thing on Mrs Storer's mind, as she lay injured on her kitchen floor and desperate for help, would have been the damage that police would do to her front door in order to allow paramedics into the building to treat her.

Doubtless, she would have been confident in the knowledge that having paid her insurance premium any damage done by the burly policemen who effected entry would be put right without question by the men from the Pru. For Prudential's advertising warns people to prepare themselves for the unexpected. And what happened next was totally unexpected for Mrs Storer.

Having fallen, banged her head and broken her arm, she managed to dial 999 but could not let in the paramedics. Enter the Derby constabulary via the double-glazed front door. Mrs Storer, having been treated in hospital, submitted her insurance claim. The cost of the repairs came to £880 but Prudential swiftly retorted, "Your insurance doesn't cover damage done by the emergency services as it is not accidental."

If you follow that logic through to its conclusion then an awful lot of damage done at the scene of car accidents as vehicles are recovered, must also not be covered by insurance. Prudential has admitted that it did not take the full circumstances into account in Mrs Storer's case and has agreed to make an ex-gratia payment of £260 to her.

But that still leaves her holding a bill for more than £600 for damage for which she believed she was full covered. Presumably, if there's a break-in while Mrs Storer is trying to finance repairs Prudential won't pay for that either on the grounds that the premises were insecure. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)