Home insurance claim - Changed policy and won't pay

moosely

I need some advice for a friend of mine who has unfortunately been burgled just before Christmas. Before the incident, he was insured with More than and with cover on contents such as jewellery. They changed the policy to insure some more valuable items that they acquired, but they never knew they had to get a burglar alarm fitted until they tried to make a claim of which was refused because they never had one.

The point about fitting a burglar alarm wasn't pointed out when they changed the policy over the phone. They didn't receive any specific letters for it either. Although since receiving the new policy document they found it is written in small on the back.

So the situation is that the insurance company is not paying out on anything on the basis that the alarm was fitted. My friend is saying this wasn't pointed out to him when he changed the policy as he would have certainly got it done if they said. Apparently, they were told over the phone about the alarm when he made the change so are waiting for the tape recording to see if they are right. Where does he stand and any advice on what to do?

dacouch

Avis them to write to More Than and advise them you wish to make a "Subject Access Request" under the data protection act. More Than are entitled to make a charge of up to £10, in return they will need to send you copies of your file along with copies of call recordings or call transcripts.

Simples

moosely

I think they are getting the copy of the tape at the moment and are waiting for it to come in. The thing is, the point about fitting the alarm was in their new policy document. It wasn't highlighted to them that this was a requirement, and thought nothing had changed. I'm not sure if this if they have any ground to dispute this?

dacouch

When you say new policy, have you renewed the policy recently or did thy send one out in th post after you adjusted the policy and if so when was the claim

moosely

I think they received a new one after they changed it to add new items in the contents to be insured. I will check with them.

moosely

Ok, when my friend changed the policy, he received a new policy summary which reflects the new items added and a policy document. On the document it states in small writing that an alarm had to be fitted. No where else was this highlighted to them.

dacouch

Now we have some more information we can give you a better overview.

An Insurance policy is in effect a contract, to amend the cover they are providing you with by requiring an alarm it is obviously best practice to make this known to you. In addition you cannot get an alarm fitted overnight as it would require getting one or more alarm companies out to perform a survey and then provide quotes. You then generally have a wait before they can fit the alarm. Most Insurers would give you 4 to 6 weeks (and possibly reasonable extensions if there were delays) to have the alarm fitted along with getting any monitoring arranged (If applicable).

The person you spoke to would normally be aware of the alarm requirement as a warning would come up on their screen. In addition it would be expected to draw your attention to the alarm requirement in the letter accompanying the revised policy.

I would suggest you wait for the result of More Than listenin to the tapes as they may admit the mistake from this. If this fails I would put in a Subject Access Report under the D.P.A so you have a copy of the call and then put in an official complaint. If you do not have a satisfactory response from he complaint you can then go to the Ombudsman. The ombudsman is very symphathetic to the customer. If the Halifax have not drawn your attention there is a good chance he will rule in your favour.

Anihilator

moosely wrote: »

Ok, when my friend changed the policy, he received a new policy summary which reflects the new items added and a policy document. On the document it states in small writing that an alarm had to be fitted. No where else was this highlighted to them.

Except in the terms and conditions.

How long are we walking between policy change and burglary?

moosely

Thanks for the advice Dacouch, i will let my friend know of this advice. Hopefully, the recording will help prove his case.

Anihilator: I'll have to get them to check if it's in the terms and conditions. This key point wasn't in their original policy. It could be on their amended one. I will find out.

As for the period of the change and the burglary, i believe it was just under a 3 month period. But during this, period he had no letter to reinforce the fact an alarm was required to be fitted.

dacouch

Did the letter that accompanied the revised policy mention the alarm requirement?

moosely

dacouch wrote: »

Did the letter that accompanied the revised policy mention the alarm requirement?

Nope, the letter merely mentioned that their insurance was amended and updated with the new items added.

From what I understand, the only places where this is mentioned is in the new policy document (not the letter), which was in small print on the back. The other place where it was claimed to be highlighted was during the phone call of when the amendment took place.

Given that it was printed on the new policy document, my friend only checked to make sure the items he added were covered. He never read through the whole document again as he thought the terms were the same as before.

It seems to me, that More Than are a little unfair if this alarm requirement was needed but never emphasised this point in anyway.