Buildings insurance not cover ceiling falling down?!!!

cogito

It's not covered. End of.

Dangermac

loup67 wrote: »

Hi,
Last week had a disaster,half of ceiling fell down in our front room which is also where my husband works,luckily there was no-one in there at the time,thank God!
Anyway,called our buildings insurance and was asked if the ceiling was lathe and plaster(which it is as the house is 100 years old)and was then promptly told that they don't cover L & P ceilings as they have a tendency to fall down when they're old!
I couldn't believe that they wouldn't cover it,does anyone know if that is a standard disaster that is not covered?Everyone I have told can't believe it either.Do I need to go to the Ombudsman with this?
Obviously we had to get it repaired immediately and are now redecorating because of the mess but I would be very grateful if anyone can shed any light on where we stand.
Thanks

Lathe & plaster is unlikely be specifically excluded. As an earlier poster confirmed, Household Insurance provides cover for specified events (fire, flood, storm, theft etc). As this ceiling seems to have fallen down of it's own volition, it looks to be a maintenance/wear & tear-type issue.

Maintenance/wear & tear is not an insured event as it is inevitable. This would explain the comments provided to you by the insurer.

Sorry I could not give you more positive news.

Dangermac

geri1965_2

There was a similar case highlighted in our local paper recently. The guy's ceiling fell down, he tried to argue that it was accidental damage caused by his daughter's rocking horse in the room above!

Astaroth

Even if there was a rocking horse then its likely to argue that it was a gradual process rather than a one off event which likewise is excluded from most policies.

There are "all risk" policies for home insurance (more often contents than building) but these are rare, typically aimed at high net worth individuals and cost an absolute arm and a leg in comparison to standard home insurance

Insco

Quentin wrote: »

No.

Accidental cover is for just that - accidents. It doesn't cover you against wear/tear/rot/aging/gradual deterioration etc.

Sorry Quentin you are wrong

If the policyholder has cover for accidental damage it will respond to the damage caused by the collapse of the ceiling.

The FOS Technical Advice Desk can proivide you with more information.

Insco

cogito wrote: »

It's not covered. End of.

The ceiling itself may not be covered ( if it has not been damaged by an insured peril such as an escape of water) but if the buildings policy covers accidental damage the damage to wallpaper, paintwoks, flooring for example is covered. Fact.

Insco

dacouch wrote: »

The good old days! sounds like you worked for GA or CU. I can't see that happening now days

Perhaps you should have a chat with the Financial Ombudsman Service and their technical advice desk.

Flamecloud, Oscar and Insco have given the OP the correct advice.

Astaroth

Insco wrote: »

Perhaps you should have a chat with the Financial Ombudsman Service and their technical advice desk.

Flamecloud, Oscar and Insco have given the OP the correct advice.

Probably should read what was said before criticising - they said they couldnt see a manager making someone call a customer back to say they were covered after giving miss advice that they weren't. I would agree that it would be fairly rare!

Treacle1983

I can confirm under a/d the collapse of the ceiling itself would not be covered - but the resultant damage would be.

Oscar_The_Grouch

dacouch wrote: »

The good old days! sounds like you worked for GA or CU. I can't see that happening now days

CU back in the 80's when storm damage to fences used to be covered!! The good old days when we wouldn't make a drama out of a crisis and we would call customers back if we made a mistake!

It used to be all about service and doing what was right. Now it's more about minimising costs and regulation.

Shame...