Allianz

14 months ago, I had a bad water leak, which ruined by fully equipped bedroom and ensuite in France. Lucky for me, it was in my next door house which I used for my visiting friends and relatives, and it was disused at the time. It was insured with Allianz France regrettably, and it took them a full 2 months to inspect the damage, of which the ceiling came down, the walls ruined, black mould set in, and all my expensive contents, broken, and ruined. The female agent, who didn't actually talk to you, but in a argumentative tone, seemed to agree with most of the claim, but thought I should have dragged the sodden bed mattress outside to dry. What was the point, it was soaked with dirty water, and it would take 10 days for it to dry (we never get more than 3 days without rain), and then all it would be fit for is to burn, it can't be cleaned. When my brokers contacted me, they said I would get nothing for my contents, because I didn't take enough action to save them, and they only agreed to a small proportion of the builder's costs. I asked them to explain to me what, and how I could save my furniture. I then got an email agreeing to pay half my contents of my then 3,000 contents claim, at 1030 euros, and was paying that amount into my account. Where did they learn to count? I seemed to hit a brick wall, my brokers did nothing, and I couldn't contact Allianz. I then got lucky, and contacted Allianz UK, after being shunted around a few times, I came across Roy Exton, head of Allianz international claims, and a really nice man. He got Allianz to send another agent around, and not only did he agree to everything, but spotted building work I hadn't claimed for. Allianz agreed to pay for the full building work, and give me 2000 euros for my contents. The content bill actually by then rose to 4,600 with other items I hadn't initially spotted. Again, they were not paying the vast majority of the replacement costs, using the same excuse. I asked the to tell me what I could have saved, but they didn't bother to reply. It's a bull$#*! excuse to avoid paying the full costs, and I reminded them it took their original agent 2 months to turn up, they're useless. This had dragged on for 14 months and counting. So whilst you think you are insured with Allianz, you're only partly. I have seen many other instances of Allianz's use of fake excuses to not pay out, they're a micky mouse company, avoid them, use a reputable insurance company.