Home insurance - a gentle warning.

Meadowman

I have just had my fingers burned making a claim on my home insurance policy. Was told I am not covered for accidental damage to contents when I thought I was. So convinced was I that I asked for the recording of the selling process when I changed providers. I got it, and blow me they are technically correct but the selling was carried out in a way that was not clear to me. If I'd known at the end of the call that I was not covered for accidental contents damage I would've corrected it. I was asked if I wanted "standard accidental damage cover" - believing this to mean - well - accidental damage cover! Apparently not. There's second tier of accidental cover which costs more, and which I could hear myself turning down!

So do be careful if you want to insure your contents against things like scorching, foot through ceiling, etc. It isnt covered in "Standard Accidental Cover" . the lesson for me is, in future, to be very specific in asking what exactly is covered. I am going to switch to another insurer at renewal time because I have a sneaking suspicion I was maneuvered into not having sufficient cover. Beware. Check your policy's wording and make sure you are as covered as you think you are.

bingbong1978

what did you need to claim for, most policies incorporate accidental damage cover for certain items even although you only have standard cover

Meadowman

It was a scorched kitchen worktop - apparently neither covered by buildings or standard accidental cover.

dunstonh

I am going to switch to another insurer at renewal time because I have a sneaking suspicion I was maneuvered into not having sufficient cover.

There is possibly some truth in that.

When telephone/direct insurance retailing came out, most people up to that point used brokers or banks. Normally this meant expensive policies but the included the works. The direct companies would leave things off when quoting to make themselves much cheaper. Yet the consumer wasnt knowledgeable enough to realise that they were paying less and getting less coverage. This increased further with the internet which is totally focused on price and even more things get lopped off so they can appear top of the list.

Direct Line was notorious for reducing cover to cut their price.

bingbong1978

Meadowman wrote: »

It was a scorched kitchen worktop - apparently neither covered by buildings or standard accidental cover.

You would need AD to buildings to cover this.

TSx

Who was the insurer? Some make this quite clear in their policies, some make it very difficult to understand (I'm looking at you, Saga)...

magpiecottage

The point DunstonH makes is a good one.

You seem to have grounds to complain that you were not given sufficient information to make an informed decision and that FSA Principle 7 has been breached.

You need to complain to the insurer first but if you do not get a satisfactory answer you can go on to ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to address it.

However, if you have already been told you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service immediately and should do so as there is a time limit.

nearlyrich

I must admit you really have to check everything over and over and really ensure that you are happy with the cover, it's easy to save a few quid on a premium and that includes car insurance too but if the policy doesn't pay out when you need it to it can be very stressful.

theJudge

To help you decide on which insurer to choose, the following provides some info. Unfortunately, it could be more useful in that insurance complaints are most likely heavily skewed by PPI complaints at the moment, whereas you're only interested in home insurance.:-

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Other_publications/commentary/firm_spec/table.shtml
http://www.ombudsman-complaints-data.org.uk/

As you say, make sure you read the policy very carefully as well.

vusys1

Meadowman wrote: »

It was a scorched kitchen worktop - apparently neither covered by buildings or standard accidental cover.

how was it scorched? might be covered under fire?

Meadowman

It was scorched by a very hot pan! Men in the kitchen, eh?