Insuring your Programmer and Paddle
 

I just thought I would share this with you about insuring your remote and paddle lead.

I rang my House Insurance people and explained to them that I have a medical implant which uses a remote control to activate it. The guy was ever so confused:D and had to go off and speak to a supervisor.

On his return he said NO cant do that you will have to have that insured on your HEALTH INSURANCE (btw its the SAME company:confused:). Again I tried to explain that what Im actually insuring is NOT inside me but outside me. I gave a description and eventually had to go and get my literature about the system and read it all out to him. Again he had to go off and check with his supervisor. Finally he came back and said that he would have to send it off to their Underwriters and they will decide if they can insure it for me or not:eek:
He said he would call me by close of business today. I will update you if and when he calls:rolleyes:

Im just writing this to let you know that you MAY come up against some resistance.......then again you might not as its a lot more common in the States than in Ireland:)

I talked to my ins. gal today, here in Ohio, and she said there's several ways she's thinking I could insure the remotes and the charger (my rep. suggested both be insured, and for me that means 2 remotes and 2 chargers). She said it might be able to go under my usual house insurance under "contents" or that I may be able to do it as one does expensive jewelery ( a rider), or I may be able to take out a totally separate policy on them. She's going to get back to me once she looks into it more.

By the way, she said they get a lot of claims of people's cellphones going in the "loo". Is there a theme here??:D:D

Seems to be:D Im wondering WHY you would need it in the loo:confused:

I think your 'rider' is similiar to our 'all risks' . Yes Im sure under contents would be sufficient anyway. We have a TV worth more than the remote:eek: and thats on my home insurance! Anyway just called them back now but no answer as of yet:confused:

Cell LOOoooo
 

Lost my earbud for the cell phone that way in an airport once. No I was not talking on the phone. Yes, it just went kerplunk. Trashed. Yuk.
Mark56:)

Yet ANOTHER ingenious thread!
 

This insurance issue is VERY VERY intriguing!
I can't wait till i get to visit with my Rep this week.....I never would have thought to bring this up if it werent' for you my WONDERFUL peeps!! (HUGE 'thumbs up').....

I can certainly see why this would have the homeowner agents scrambling for answers......I too am having a hard time seeing a connection in how our house is responsible for our units. ?

The LOO! Beleive it or not, I can EASILY see how this happens!
Especially during recovery time after surgery......
The most convenient way for me to carry my 'necessities' (controller, cell phone - so as not to have to go 'running' to try and answer phone while in recovery of surgery)...... was to wear those 'fat pants' I talked about earlier....pockets......yep. And alot of folks do carry their cells and stuff in their pockets ,...or strapped to their waistband/belt....
Pulling ones' pants down to do our potty duties.......things fall out of pockets........:o......yep......
Seems absolutely absurd, but I've heard of it happening quite a lot.......

Back to the insurance issue......
absolutely incredible ....... this topic takes the cake......
........well...maybe the 'suppository discusson' comes in to a close 2nd.....:p

You know the saying '2 heads are better than 1'......
Boy is THAT an understatement!!
LOOK what we are coming up with as we ALL put OUR heads together!!
I honestly think we have catipulted ourselves straight into GENIOUS mode~!!
:Good-Post::Clever::Clever::Clever::Clever:

Finally!
 

Today I finally got a response from my home insurers.

The guy told me that YES they were 'willing' to insure my remote for my stim. He told me that I need 'proof of ownership' in the event that if I claim for the remote I have to prove that it belongs to me. I told him that I got this implant through the hospital and of course it was mine:D as the system is IN ME!!!!!!
Anyway I told him that in the event of me having to claim from the insurers for the said item, I would then get a letter from the hospital affirming that I AM the owner of said item...Geezzzzz I doubt I would have to do it for my tv remote, but there you go!
The pleasure of having it now insured has cost me an administrative charge of €25 ($32 approx)

Must rememeber NOT to bring it to the loo with me though;)

Still looking into insurance coverage cost. For now, looks like my homeowner's insurance agent is suggesting a separate policy, like for expensive jewelry (never have to worry about THAT!), but hasn't come back with a price yet.

Talked to Boston Scientific and got some prices from them.
The remote and charger unit both have a one year warranty for malfunction problems only...
not for accident, such as dropping in the loo :D

Prices I was given:
To replace a remote: $1285
To replace the charger: $3390
For me double that, since I have two implants :eek:

Boston Scientific did say that after the one year warranty, they offer an extended "malfunction only" warranty on an annual basis. It's around $200 per year for their extended warranty. Again, for me we're looking at $400 per year.

Will have to talk to my homeowners ins. gal to see if this new policy we're considering will cover "warranty" issues or if I'll actully have to go throw it in the loo or run over it with my car to get it covered :confused:

Will keep you posted. And I thought the cost of getting these babies was expensive :thud:

Here's the final answer....
 

My insurance gal just called me again. The remotes and chargers WILL fall under my homeowner's ins. policy's "personal property" section and my deductible will apply. They cannot put the remotes/chargers on a rider, or under a separate policy, as in insuring one's expensive jewelry. So looks like no added cost there, which is good.

What's funny is that she said she was told that if my dog chews them, it's not covered but if the neighbor's dog chews them it IS covered. She said that if it's an accidental fall then it is covered, but if I get mad and throw it and damage it, it is NOT covered. So, I just had to ask her....what if I get mad and throw it at the neighbor's dog?? :confused: She laughed and said it would not be covered.

They will cover if it damaged (and if it falls in the loo...yeah :D ) but not if it's a malfunction problem. That, they say, is to be covered by Bost. Scientific. So I will have to seriously consider buying Bost. Scientific's extended warranty after the first year's free warranty runs out.

Hope this helps.

Hmmmmm very interesting that the neighbours dog chewing it would be covered but not your own , weird that! It does add the question, why would the dog next door be using your remote:D

Yes it should be on your home insurance, same as any other piece of equipment that it in your house under contents. like for instance the REMOTE FOR TV, or the REMOTE FOR THE DVD player......I think its the fact that once we say its a 'medical' remote etc it kinda sents them off running in the opposite direction!
Glad that its not too expensive for you Fiona, thats the last thing you need now.
BTW did you have to contribute to either of your systems? do I recall you saying you did?
I spoke with a lady in the hospital last week and she was told she would have to give €10k (approx $12.5k) towards her system:eek: a shortfall on her insurance policy, thankfully I didnt have to pay any! phew!!!!

My insurance policy says that I only have to pay a maximum of $2,350 per year out of pocket, so that's the highest amount I'll have to pay. The ins. company and hospital and doctor are still haggling over the price that they'll agree on, so don't know for sure yet just how much of that $2,350 I'll owe...probably all of it, as the twins were expensive.