Contents insurance - help

sarahgail

dacouch wrote: »

Sarah how did you buy your policy with Sheila's Wheels, did you buy it over the phone, using a comparison site or directly from their website ?

Also how long have you been with them ?

I either bought it via a comparison website or online, it was not over the phone. We have been with them for about a year and a half.

The reason they said we were under insured is the loss adjustor came to the house and said that our cover was well below average for the size of house - however surely they could tell that when it asks during the quote process how many rooms you have etc?

It did turn out that we were under-insured, however as you said, I would have expected them to reduce our pay out by that percentage then raise our premiums.

I will give them a call tonight to challenge the decision to void the policy.

Thanks

roddydogs

What was the amount you quoted?...........with Churchill, for example its a standard £50,000, you wont save much by quoting a lower amount.

dacouch

Sarah could you answer the following (They may help us with the advice we give you)

Have Elephant asked you to complete some type of form since the claim happened, where you work out the full cost of your entire contents. The forms typically ask for you to work out the total contents for each room and / or give a heading for each type of contents eg furniture, clothing etc. Or did they not ask you and rely on the loss adjuster just telling you that you did not have enough cover.

What was the sum insured you were Insured for and what was the amount Elephant are saying you should have had.

On the policy you had previously to Elephant, what sum insured you had on that, could you also tell us what the premium for your last Insurer was an what Elephant charged you.

I assume Elephant have given you a letter declining your claim and or cancelling your policy, does it give a specific reason for this in addition to the under insurance eg does it mention that "Intentionally" and / or "Deliberately" non disclosed or miss led them.

huckster

Dacouch "Have Elephant asked"

Has Sheila turned into an Elephant ?

On the subject matter, the Lloyds Insurance group companies do appear to like cancelling policies and declining claims. They will argue that the sums Insured their internet site generate are notional. There will be t&c's that put the onus on the customer entering a sum insured that is adequate.

The OP should make a complaint and follow up with the FOS, but I can't see this getting anywhere. Sheila is a bit of a pig.

SandC

I've just tried it and it brings up a default amount of £17,400 for me whereas I'm currently insured at £50k and last year's was £75k - both these were the standard amounts at quote. The thing is, the amount insured for is in a box which is part of the checkable part of your quote and if you click on the ? it does clearly state you must make sure this figure is high enough to cover you, the onus is on you.

I do agree that it is a shifty practice though and would hardly cover the average household whatever your personal circumstances are. I think they'd say the same to me living on my own in a 2 bedroomed house.

I do think it's worth pursuing a part payment and adjustment of premiums, to make the policy void is in my eyes very harsh indeed. If there is any way of proving the loss adjuster said the cause was the size of the house then you must surely have comeback because that assumes that they quote an average cover for homes of a certain size.

Good luck with it, keep us informed.

sarahgail

dacouch wrote: »

Sarah could you answer the following (They may help us with the advice we give you)

Have Elephant asked you to complete some type of form since the claim happened, where you work out the full cost of your entire contents. The forms typically ask for you to work out the total contents for each room and / or give a heading for each type of contents eg furniture, clothing etc. Or did they not ask you and rely on the loss adjuster just telling you that you did not have enough cover.

What was the sum insured you were Insured for and what was the amount Elephant are saying you should have had.

On the policy you had previously to Elephant, what sum insured you had on that, could you also tell us what the premium for your last Insurer was an what Elephant charged you.

I assume Elephant have given you a letter declining your claim and or cancelling your policy, does it give a specific reason for this in addition to the under insurance eg does it mention that "Intentionally" and / or "Deliberately" non disclosed or miss led them.

Hi,
Sheilas Wheels, via the loss adjustor, did get us to fill in a form detailing the value of high value and 'normal' goods in each room of our house.

The sum insured was £15k, the form concluded we should be covered for about £29/30k - although we probably did estimate everything on the side of caution.

I think our premium with SW was in the region of £300, I cannot remember how much we paid our insurer before them.

I don't think the letter said intentionally or deliberately but I would need to check it later, it just quoted sections of the terms and conditions/policy.

Thanks

sarahgail

huckster wrote: »

Dacouch "Have Elephant asked"

Has Sheila turned into an Elephant ?

On the subject matter, the Lloyds Insurance group companies do appear to like cancelling policies and declining claims. They will argue that the sums Insured their internet site generate are notional. There will be t&c's that put the onus on the customer entering a sum insured that is adequate.

The OP should make a complaint and follow up with the FOS, but I can't see this getting anywhere. Sheila is a bit of a pig.

I can't believe they can get away with this - surely it is classed as mis-selling? If the loss adjustor commented almost straight away that we were probably under-insured due to the size of the house and the insurance quote stated the size of the house - should sheilas wheels not have challenged it at the time? Surely they must know that our cover looked too low? If they have 'averages' for house sizes - how can they just accept insurance for lower levels of cover? Surely it is in their best interest to make sure it's in place properly - it means more money for them each month afterall!!!

dacouch

sarahgail wrote: »

Hi,
Sheilas Wheels, via the loss adjustor, did get us to fill in a form detailing the value of high value and 'normal' goods in each room of our house.

The sum insured was £15k, the form concluded we should be covered for about £29/30k - although we probably did estimate everything on the side of caution.

I think our premium with SW was in the region of £300, I cannot remember how much we paid our insurer before them.

I don't think the letter said intentionally or deliberately but I would need to check it later, it just quoted sections of the terms and conditions/policy.

Thanks

It may help if you did know the sum insured on your previous policy, as it may give gravity (Assuming it was a suitable sum insured) to the issue that you did not intentionally under insure.

Here is a link from the Ombudsman on non disclosure, which is what I'm guessing they are using to decline your claim and policy.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/46/46_non_disclosure_insurance.htm

It makes a big difference with the Ombudsman if you deliberatly miss led the Insurer. This is the reason for some of my questions.

It would be interesting to see how much difference the premium would be for you insuring the correct sum insured over the amount you actually insured for. Perhaps running a quote through for both sums insured without entering the claim to find this out.

Your path of action should be writing a letter headed "Official Complaint" and sending it by recorded delivery. They then have to investigate the matter and report back to you. If you are not happy with their answer you can then go to the Ombudsman which will cost Sheilas wheels £500 but is free to you.

huckster

sarahgail wrote: »

I can't believe they can get away with this - surely it is classed as mis-selling? If the loss adjustor commented almost straight away that we were probably under-insured due to the size of the house and the insurance quote stated the size of the house - should sheilas wheels not have challenged it at the time? Surely they must know that our cover looked too low? If they have 'averages' for house sizes - how can they just accept insurance for lower levels of cover? Surely it is in their best interest to make sure it's in place properly - it means more money for them each month afterall!!!

The onus is always on the policyholder to ensure that they have adequate cover.

I have been through complaints on many occasions where underinsurance has been a problem. But the claims were always settled on a reduced basis, with the policy maintained, subject to the sum insured being increased to the correct value.

Your complaint to SW needs to be about the low sums insured that their internet site produces and the way that they have handled the claim/cancellation of the policy. Be aware that SW are notoriously pig headed and will just state their position as it is now. The FOS could take a very long time to look at your complaint. In some cases the FOS is taking over 2 years.

This is the reality of the situation, but of course you should fight your corner.

sarahgail

So should I just take out a new policy now? then complain to SW? Then complain to the FOS when I get nowhere? and perhaps contact watchdog?

I was advised today by the loss adjustor that filling in a form with the values of everything in each room of your house is standard procedure with ALL claims through Sheilas Wheels and E-sure and that a very high percentage of people are not adequately covered - it just seems so wrong!

It's just so heartbreaking - you work hard to earn an honest living and pay your insurance etc - then someone steals from your house and you are basically screwed! :-(

Thanks for all the advice