Wear & Tear

[greeneyedmonster]

We moved house last year and unfortunately some of our furniture was damaged. I'm currently having a tussle with a claims handling company and would appreciate some advice.
One item was a Panasonic Plasma screen TV. It was bought in 2009 for approx £850 and was in perfect working condition. The company have sourced a second hand one on ebay for £130 and have seriously offered this up as a replacement for our TV. To say I was stunned is an understatement! I would never buy a 2nd hand TV under any circumstances, least of all from ebay. I had rung John Lewis who, with technology being what it is, the equivalent TV today would cost approx £600.
The other item was a mirror. It had cost approx £260 and was in pristine, as new condition. I am being offered £144 for this. I cannot find the same mirror so I am considering a different one at £400+, and I realise that's my problem not theirs, but it seems unfair to be offered such a paltry sum for what was essentially an item which could have been taken off my wall and put back in the shop and nobody would have been any the wiser.
I don't have much experience in this area so could anyone advise me what a suitable settlement figure for these two items would be? It doesn't seem fair that we will be severely out of pocket if I accept their settlement figure.
Many thanks.

[soapnumpty]

I guess you are claiming from the removal company. What they pay you depends on whether their insurance policy provides 'new for old' cover, in which case you are entitled to the cost of a new equivalent, or whether it is on an indemnity basis, which only provides cover for the value of the item before it was damaged, so it's second hand value. You need to establish this with them.

[greeneyedmonster]

It's the latter unfortunately. I will just have to keep on at them till they crack!

[SirOracle]

You say that a new tv could be obtained for £600 (John Lewis),and your existing tv was 5 years old. If we assume that a tv has a "life" of say 10 years,then one half of its life has been used,and I would be looking at a figure of £300.

Your mirror is totally different regarding depreciation (very little if any ) and I would be looking at a figure of £260 for the mirror.

I hope this is of some assistance to you.

[greeneyedmonster]

Yes it is, thanks a lot. It's good to get a second opinion!

[SirOracle]

You are welcome.I hope you get a satisfactory conclusion.