Home insurance - am I covered?

susanmc

Does anyone know if this would be covered in my home insurance. My friends 2 year old son has scribbled on my living room wallpaper with felt tip pen. To be honest it's not too bad - big scribble but you can only see it from one seat but nevertheless it is there.

My friend knows about it and feels bad however as she's a single parent and struggling on a low income I don't feel I can ask her to pay to have it redecorated.

This happened 2 weeks ago and I was just planning on living with it until I can afford to redecorate but someone suggested this might be covered in my home insurance. Does anyone know? I have building and contents insurance - both with accidental cover. I haven't claimed for anything in at least 5 years but I do know I have £100 excess.

I can't believe it because I've got a 5 year old daughter and never had a bit of bother with her writing on things and breaking things.

gyzmo

It will depend on your policy wording.

Although a child, the damage done is not "accidental" - it was a deliberate act (last I heard anyway). Some policies do cover acts of little angels that we have, but others do not and prefer to class children in the same class of vermin......

However, if covered, you will need to consider the cost of making a claim against paying for the damage yourself. In the meantime, hide the crayons!

johnofhertford

That's an interesting one. I just checked my own policy, and I think it would be covered, so probably under yours too.

I think it would come under Buildings, not contents (because it's fixtures and fittings) but I dare say there may be some debate about that. In my policy the closest thing would be "vandalism", seems a but harsh for a two-year old I know, but it should cover it I would think (damage caused by family members excluded). I hope the insurance company wouldn't try and recoup the money from the two-year old though!

Astaroth

The other consideration is that whilst your insurance may cover it they may also consider that there was an act of negligence on behalf of their parents and therefore look to recover the cost of the claim from them. It is unlikely but if you claimed you couldnt stop your insurers from doing this if they wanted to as you would have subjegated your rights to them.

susanmc

Astaroth wrote:

The other consideration is that whilst your insurance may cover it they may also consider that there was an act of negligence on behalf of their parents and therefore look to recover the cost of the claim from them. It is unlikely but if you claimed you couldnt stop your insurers from doing this if they wanted to as you would have subjegated your rights to them.

Does anyone think this is likely? I wouldn't go ahead with a claim if I thought this would happen.

Astaroth

You can ask them.... it depends on the insurer as some insurers are very good at getting moneyback when it could be owed to them where as others at times you think couldnt care less. You would however need to ask one of the actual "claim handlers" (different insurers have different names for them) rather than just the people that answer the claim reporting telephone number as they typically have only basic training and arent a great deal more than data entry clerks.

Pursuing minors/ parents of minors is a pain and not often worth the effort but it is a possibility of what might happen so just thought you should be aware

susanmc

Thanks. Will definately consider that before making a claim. There's no point in me claiming my insurance if my friend is going to be chased for the money - I'd be as well doing that myself and keeping my no claims. As I said before she is a single parent and doesn't have any extra money. To be honest anyone who's ever had kids would know you can't watch them every single minute of they day so I'd be surprised - not to mention disgusted if the insurer did go down that route. I'm insured by Natwest if anyones had any previous experience of them. At the end of the day the boy was in my care at the time so they should effectively pursue me to reclaim.

Astaroth

If they did recover their money then it wouldnt affect your "no claims" as it is the equiv of a non-fault accident in motor.

As I say, the chances of them doing it are slim, and chances of it being successful are even slimmer but thought you should be aware there was the possibility

lisyloo

Does your friend have house insurance?

House insurance usually covers people for negligence to 3rd parties.
So when we are talking about recovering money from your friend it should come off her house insurance (if she has it).

paulh2004

I work for a major Insurance company as a manager in our Household claims department and can say that if you do have buildings cover with Accidental Damage cover you will be able to claim for this. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that your Insurance company will attempt to recover the money from your friend because A as you say you cant look after a child 24/7 so the parents cannot be held responsible and B you cannot hold a 2 year old responsible for their actions because they dont know any better.

1 thing I will say though is that an insurer is only liable to replace the damaged items. In this case they may say that they will only replace the wallpaper that is actually damaged. This would be a tough line for them to take and is unlikely but its worth bearing in mind. This clause is normally used when say a couch is damamged and someone wants the whole 3 piece suite replaced.

If this is the case they will tell you anyway. If they do let me know and I will advise you what to do. Although this will be in the policy book as a 'matching sets and suites' clause the Financial Ombudsman doesnt really agree with it so there are ways round it.

Good Luck, im sure you wont have any problems

susanmc

Thanks everyone. I will give them a phone tomorrow and let you know how I get on. No harm in asking I suppose.