MORETHAN...Vulnerable OAP Dad been refused insurance for the first time ever!

Lord_Gaga

Dad, bless him, has got himself into a bit of a mess.

His memory's not quite what it used to be - and rather than claim on one of the specific policies that he has, when there was a complete power failure in the house, he forgot he'd already got an additional power supply policy with another company and instead just claimed on his house insurance. Insurance company sent someone out to fix the problem (faulty power socket)
Claim 1.

The next day the very same electric problem happened. Insurance company sent out another engineer to fix the faulty power socket again. Dad also discovered that the entire contents of the fridge freezers in the outbuildings were ruined. Cost 150-00. Claim 2.

Unrelated: Stepmum's false teeth got broken and had to be replaced. Claim 3

There were a total of three claims in the last year (although I'm negotiating with the insurance company to link claim one and two as they relate to the same electricity failure problem within two days that wasn't repaired properly by the insurance company on the first visit)

In short, rather than make them money, Dad's cost the insurance company money - and now they're saying they won't be offering him a renewal this year.

He's pretty upset about this, as he's never been refused anything in his life, and is a good and honourable man. He only did what he thought best. Unfortunately he didn't realise that making the two smaller claims would put him in this position. He now realises that he should have used the other policy that he has in place for this sort of thing, and if he does manage to get insured again won't be making a claim for this kind of thing in the future. However, this doesn't change the fact that in a week's time their insurance runs out.

I'm liaising with the underwriters at the current company and there may be a chance that they could overturn their decision - I'm awaiting their reply, but I need to get prepared, just in case they don't. I'm doing my best to keep him with them because I understand that it will be difficult in future when he has to declare that he's been refused.

I don't mind admitting that some non-judgemental help/advice would be appreciated on this one.

Have you or anyone you know ever had insurance refused or declined? If so, what did you/they do? What company did you/they approach?

Will comparison websites be an option? Will they quote people who have been declined insurance? Do I use a brokers?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Lord Gaga.

silvercar

Is claims 1 a household insurance claim? Or is it an add on to your electricity policy cover claims?

When I claimed with my British Gas homecare electrics policy for a faulty switch, they sent an electrician to sort it. I wouldn't have thought I had to declare it to my house insurers.

TSx

Also, this doesn't count as a refusal, they've just declined to quote for renewal (assuming that the policy continued until renewal time) - therefore you don't need to declare you've had insurance cancelled. I would push hard to get #1 and 2 linked, if they were the same cause and the second time was down to the insurers contractor. Can't say how successful you'll be though.

That's how I understand it anyway, maybe someone can confirm.

2sides2everystory

Might be useful to name and shame the insurer. Is it actually a known insurer/underwriter you've talked to or is it actually a broker or agent ?

With the incidents you've mentioned the declined renewal or refusal whatever you want to call it is a complete nonsense and your Dad is right to be very annoyed.

Lord_Gaga

silvercar wrote: »

Is claims 1 a household insurance claim? Or is it an add on to your electricity policy cover claims?

When I claimed with my British Gas homecare electrics policy for a faulty switch, they sent an electrician to sort it. I wouldn't have thought I had to declare it to my house insurers.

Hi there Silver,

He could have claimed on a separate policy that is nothing to do with his Buildings and contents cover, but he forgot he had this. It's only when I took on the task of sorting all his paperwork that we discovered he had this cover. So the claim was through his House insurance.

Lord_Gaga

TSx wrote: »

Also, this doesn't count as a refusal, they've just declined to quote for renewal (assuming that the policy continued until renewal time) - therefore you don't need to declare you've had insurance cancelled. I would push hard to get #1 and 2 linked, if they were the same cause and the second time was down to the insurers contractor. Can't say how successful you'll be though.

That's how I understand it anyway, maybe someone can confirm.

There are mixed reviews online about whether it counts as a refusal or not - the majority appear to think it does.

I'm trying really hard to get 1 and 2 linked. Like I said I'm awaiting a response from them - although this is letter No/ 2 that I've sent to them (both recorded delivery) No response from the first one.

Lord_Gaga

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Might be useful to name and shame the insurer. Is it actually a known insurer/underwriter you've talked to or is it actually a broker or agent ?

With the incidents you've mentioned the declined renewal or refusal whatever you want to call it is a complete nonsense and your Dad is right to be very annoyed.

Am I allowed to name and shame the company here? I'm new around these parts and don't want to risk getting in trouble.

Yeah - the folks are really are quite put out by it. All the claims were 100% legitimate and above board. I see it as 2 claims - both of which were unfortunate - but as we know, cack happens. That's why we pay our premiums, surely...:(

2sides2everystory

Yes you most certainly are allowed to post the name of the organisations you are dealing with, although if it does involve a small local broker or agent, the effect might naturally be more pointed.

Are you dealing with a large company or small?

Martin Lewis started this website and ran it for some 8 years with a conspicuous "Consumer Revenge" tag attached which I think was in no small degree was part of what got the site noticed :money:

Thesedays Mr Lewis perhaps has to be a bit more circumspect since the site most certainly influences government thinking which is a very good thing, and I notice the CR tag seems to have been quietly dropped lately, but I am sure he won't mind you telling us a bit more detail so we know where the market pitfalls lie

Seriously, for senior citizens to be treated the way you describe is disgraceful. Household claims have always been relatively high frequency per year per policy but most claims if submitted are probably an average of 5x or 10x greater than the ones your father made. It is almost certainly the number 3 which triggered the impersonal treatment whereas the amounts involved probably never would have done.

silvercar

Lord_Gaga wrote: »

Hi there Silver,

He could have claimed on a separate policy that is nothing to do with his Buildings and contents cover, but he forgot he had this. It's only when I took on the task of sorting all his paperwork that we discovered he had this cover. So the claim was through his House insurance.

Interesting. I'm insured with directline through their "plus" policy that includes a lot of extras like travel insurance etc I claimed once for a wasp nest removal. They arranged for the nest to be removed and made a point of telling me that it didn't count as a claim on my house insurance as I wasn't claiming under the building or contents part of the insurance.

Lord_Gaga

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Yes you most certainly are allowed to post the name of the organisations you are dealing with.

Seriously, for senior citizens to be treated the way you describe is disgraceful.

Ok, no problem. It was Morethan...or Lessthan as I've recently renamed them.

And yes, I agree. This is made all the worse by the fact that they are pensioners - and above all, responsible and respectable people.

Lord_Gaga

silvercar wrote: »

Interesting. I'm insured with directline through their "plus" policy that includes a lot of extras like travel insurance etc I claimed once for a wasp nest removal. They arranged for the nest to be removed and made a point of telling me that it didn't count as a claim on my house insurance as I wasn't claiming under the building or contents part of the insurance.

Funny how different companies work, isn't it?

I understand that people will try it on and make fraudulent claims - but should the genuine guys get penalised?

Guys, all of you, it's my responsibility, assuming we haven't heard back from Lessthan, to arrange suitable Buildings and contents cover. Any ideas where to go? or who to approach? Does what happened count as a decline? I don't want to land them in any trouble by not mentioning it.

I've also been told that they're legally obliged to reply to your within five days. Does anyone know if this is true? They've already completely ignored one (recorded delivery) letter so far.