Home / buildings insurance on wrong property!

catt_2

Last year I went with a different insurer that showed up cheaper on a comparison website.

Now they have sent me a renewal (still competitvely priced) but I've noticed they have the correspondence address as the insured property which is the wrong property (its my work address). Last year I only got an email and saw nothing wrong.

The property is mortgaged and so insurance is compulsory and I asked them to change the records to show it continuously insured. Failing that I want a refund.

They say the premiums will be different (higher) and are giving me temporary cover while they investigate who is at fault. They said they have all telephone calls recorded. There was no apology from them. For my part, I have a note of who I spoke to a year ago and I would have made it clear that one was the property address and the other the correspondence address.

Its not my fault...I wouldn't deliberately insure the wrong address, a property I don't own, who would?

Any advice on how best to deal with this? Should I mention the ombudsman? I'm minded to take my business elsewhere as this does not instill confidence...

Quentin

You can take your business anywhere you like - maybe now is the time to get some quotes if the premium they have quoted is based on the wrong info.

Clearly someone made a mistake, but they will have as good an argument as you - "Why would they deliberately insure you at the wrong address when the correct one should have been dearer?".

Might be a good idea to quietly drop the matter (if you can) and move elsewhere, as you could end up with them demanding more premium for the current year.

dogbot

Edited,

I agree with Quentin in part, but, what did they provide for you in the origional email to check? If the details were shown correct at that time surely this might show their fault.

dacouch

I assume if you used a comparison site the company you went with were on of the cheapest on the address you declared to the comparison site which is why you went with them. If you had put the more expensive address in they would not have come up near the top...

I agree with Quentin, its probably worth changing companies and hope they don't ask for the back dated difference in premium.

P.S If they do you have a much better chance of getting them to drop or reduce it if when you deal with them you are polite as they are far more likely to help you

catt_2

Thanks for the advice.

The insurer has investigated by checking the application I filled in on Confused.com and listening to the recorded phone calls. I gave the correct address and they insured the wrong property. They conceed they failed to meet FSA regulations, so they would be obliged by the FSA to meet any claim and I will get a letter stating this (which should satisfy my mortgage lender).

Meanwhile, I have insured elsewhere and at lower cost.

dacouch

thats a good result