PLEASE HELP!! house fire! no insurance!!

geri1965_2

It's a condition of your mortgage to have buildings insurance - up to the individual if they have contents insurance or not, as the mortgage company have no insurable interest in your personal property.

Having said that I do know people who have told the mortgage company they have insurance, then cancelled it to save having to pay the premium.

lleck

how does the mortgage company know if you have building insurance - we change our provider every year and after 23 years we have had a few.

Astaroth

You are normally requried to inform your mortgage company each time you switch provider and frequently they charge you an admin fee to check the new policy is suitable. That said, many insurers will refund up to £25 for the fee

emmell

watson1312 wrote: »

thanks in advance for taking the time to read this! My cousin who was recently widowed had a house fire last night. Luckily no-one was hurt although one of her cats died of smoke inhalation It looks like the fire was electrical and was started by the extracter fan above the hob....the house was not completely ablaze but everything is ruined due to the smoke damage. My cousin has 3 children who stayed with their grandparents last night. We have just discovered this morning that my cousin was not insured!!!! So we are all very worried about what she is going to do to and what help she might be entitled to? Any advice would be very much appreciated. many thanks once again.

Contact your local paper on their behalf, this happened to someone I know and local businesses and charities were very helpful especially with the kids stuff and bedding etc. She may not like the idea but it's for the kids sake. If she gets any help she can always thank everybody in the paper later.
ML.

jennihen

Hi Watson!
How are things going for your cousin and her children? Was any of the advice any good? An update would be appreciated! What part of the country are you in?

jonesMUFCforever

A few things worried me about OP's post - widowed with mortgage was there no life cover in place? Now a house fire with no insurance cover!

I know this will sound harsh but some people never learn.

Just waiting for the brickbats from people saying how useless my comments are .........but if it makes one uninsured person to think about it and take action it will be worthwhile.

jennihen

No one shot you down in flames jonesMUFC!!
You're absolutely right though - a great many people think its an extra burden especially when living on a tight budget but not having it is a great deal more expensive in the long run! Even if you think that you've got no possessions of high value, its worth taking an inventory of all your less valuable items and work out how long it would take to replace all your clothes or electrical items.
I can't beleive how much my kid's stuff comes to . . . . .

zzzLazyDaisy

geri1965 wrote: »

It's a condition of your mortgage to have buildings insurance - up to the individual if they have contents insurance or not, as the mortgage company have no insurable interest in your personal property..

Yes but buildings insurance covers permanent fixtures (such as kitchen units) and decorating, so at least she would get help to clean the place up and redecorate, and check the wiring is okay.

geri1965_2

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Yes but buildings insurance covers permanent fixtures (such as kitchen units) and decorating, so at least she would get help to clean the place up and redecorate, and check the wiring is okay.

Yes, figners crossed she didn't let it lapse.

watson1312

I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to respond to this thread, these forums really do help out and it's nice to know that there are some very genuine, caring and helpful people out there. Sorry it has taken me a while to update, just been so busy lately.
All is well with my cousin and her children, it turns out that the damage was not as bad as we initially thought and we did all rally round to get her house liveable again. Second hand furniture shops came in very handy too. All the family had a whipround for my cousin and she is now all settled in again. She now has Full insurance on her home too! I think as it was mentioned earlier, it is a HUGE risk people take not having insurance.....but some people simply cannot afford and see insurance as something they will" get round to one day".......
lesson learnt.
Thankyou again to ALL OF YOU for your concern, help and advice.