Prestigeunderwriting Avis 

Arrived home to find water dripping from ceiling, assumed after a few days of storms that I’d be covered under the home emergency cover and it would be sorted quickly and before the ceiling collapsed; how more wrong could I have been!

It took 2 hours to finally speak to someone, not what you need in an emergency, but then I was told that storm damage to a roof was not covered; however, the agent could not tell me where this was stated in my policy.

Decided to pursue the matter through buildings insurance only to be told it was up to me to find someone to check the roof, identify the problem, and then Prestige might consider if I was covered - unbelievable, begs the question why bother paying for insurance that you think will be there to help when needed.

Needless to say policy cancelled. Stay clear of Prestige and Sainsbury who provided useless cover underwritten by Prestige - certain irony as you do not get a prestige service.

Contacted Prestige to claim for a partially collapsed ceiling due to a leaking water pipe. I was told it'd take 24 hours for them to verify my policy details, but the cost of a plumber and repairs to the pipe would not be covered! Also, there is apparently a £500 industry standard excess on all water damage. I got a plumber and had the repair to the pipe done at my own expense.

They called back the next day and said the damage to the ceiling was covered and they'd email with a note of what details they wanted. The email never arrived so I called them the following day and they resent it. It arrived immediately. Forwarded them a detailed description of the damage and photos within 10 minutes. Didn't hear anything else. Contacted them again and pointed out that if the rest of the ceiling came down it'd cost them a lot more. They phoned back a couple of hours later and approved the claim verbally and said payment would be made the following day. It wasn't. After 4 days I contacted them to be told they'd pass it to 'Accounts' who would have 24 hours to investigate. I politely exploded at this point and told them that they had 2 hours to sort it out as the builder was waiting. Miraculously the payment appeared in our account 10 minutes after that.

We can't recommend them, the combination of a ridiculous excess and having to push to get anything done just added to the stress of the damage. We'll be making a point of avoiding them in future.

Update 23/08/19: many weeks later, Prestige have phoned to discuss this. Firstly, they're sending us £25 as way of an apology for sending a letter about the complaint to the wrong address. As far as the actual complaint itself goes, no apology beyond "I'm sorry you feel that way". The lady I spoke to did nothing other than say that they had met their SLA and done everything within the timescales they set themselves. If that is the case, then buyer beware! They failed miserably to provide an efficient service and did, in fact, made a stressful and expensive problem worse. They don't accept this, seeming to think it's absolutely fine to tell you to wait 24 hours before beginning to deal with your claim, even when dealing with it quickly could save them money by preventing further damage. Rating dropped from 2 stars to 1 as they think this is fine!

Don't touch this company with a bargepole
I had reason to put in a claim as the guttering on our extension leaked on a Sat night Sunday morning contacted them on Sun morning and an electrition came out and disconnected the electricity to the extension and said he would be back to reconnect once the repair to the guttering was done
Wow the roofer arrived on Monday night at 9.15pm and did a temp job until an expert in the type of roofing that was insta\lled could be contacted and viewed
Contacted Prestige to be told that they would not cover the repair to the guttering they would cover the repair to the plaster in the extention but that there was an excess of £600 on that although on exanine my policy there was no mention of an excess of £600 on any of the policy
As they refused to repair the guttering and we would not entertain an excess of £600 for a job costng £200 we asked when we could expect the electrition to return to reconnect the electricity we were informed that it would incure a charge of £114.00
So this co come out and disconnect your electricity but will charge you to reconnect
Prestige should be ashamed to take pensioners to the cleaners in this fashion
Lorcan Whyte

Good experience.

Am in the process of a claim and the lass I spoke to this morning 19th Dec 2017 was amazing. Cheery and provided a service above and beyond what I would expect. I strongly recommend them.