Making a household contents insurance claim

Hi all

Recent problems are that we lost electricity in the flat but this exploded various electrical items in my flat including my very expensive pride and joy DVD and surround sound system and also my sky box which were turned on at the time.

Called the Hausverwaltung and they sent an electrician who found out that the cables in the cellar had burnt through, mainly the Earth cable which also led to the Earth and Neutral being live (wires touching, I'm not sure). This exploded a few items cos I had "too much" electricity in my flat. Also meant that anything metal (cooker, sink, ceiling fans) were actually live, and Lebens Gefaehrlich, lucky that I wasn't earthed myself.

So I have Hausrat insurance, which I want to claim for the loss of the expensive electrical items. The Hausverwaltung said I should first try and claim with my insurance and if that doesn't work try and claim of the buildings insurance.

Any advice or experience or should I simply call up the insurance company and explain all?

I took photos of the various thing that were live in the flat and also in the fuse box. Also took photos of the burnt wires in the cellar and have kept them as evidence.

I requested a report from the electrician, but he said he will send it to the Hausverwaltung.

Anything else?

As the cause for your damage seems to be in the responsibility of your landlord I should claim on his insurance first. Contact your Hausratversicherung anyway and ask them for advice on the best procedure. If, however, the damage is due to your having too many eletrical appliances running even your Hausratsversicherung may not cover.

what constitutes too many appliances running? I have the norm, TV, stereo, PC, toaster, coffee machine etc.

Is that stipulation in the insurance just to prevent people running copious amounts of electrical items such as servers at home?

epiphone: I concur with sarabyrd that since the damage to your electrical equipment was directly caused by malfunctioning main electrics in the house that the houseowner/landlord would be first liable for your damages. However you can and should inform your content insurance because they will provide you too with information how and if your landlord is liable and what to do about it. If your own insurance covers all your electrical equipment damaged in the case the landlord would not be liable is anybody's guess because that will depend on the small-print for the coverage in your insurance contract and some caps and limits set therin. You might want to have the small print explained to you by your insurance agent/broker in order to know the position you're in

Since I am a big movie fan myself you have all my sympathy!!!

Cheerio