Can I claim on insurance for long term damage done by autistic child?

jennieshrew

Hi all.

Can any experts tell me if I am likely to be able to claim on my accidental damage home insurance policy for ruined carpets and sofa. My son is autistic and has over time ruined the carpets and the sofa with all sorts of stains and by weeing (and worse.....) in all manner of places. The carpets and sofa certainly need replacing because of it.

My main query relates to the fact they would consider each incident of weeing and pooping etc as a seperate claim so each carpet in each room would probably have a seperate excess.

I guess also they would send in professional cleaners first? Would this damage my no claims bonus if they just cleaned them? We have washed the cushions on the sofa and used a carpet cleaner on the carpet but stains remain.

Is there any way of claiming for this damage?

huckster

Yes every accident would be separate, with a separate excess. They would have expected you to report each event, so they could decide what to do. Professional cleaning would have been the first option.

Suggest that you speak to the Insurers to see what you can do. Sometimes Insurers can be helpful as a 'one off', if you have this sort of situation. Thereafter, they would expect you to take precautions to prevent needing to claim. Insurers tend to get a bad name for being difficult with claims, but they can be understanding in situations such as your own.

stephenni1971

Is there any way of claiming for this damage?

Sorry but short answer, no.

hcb42

You will have to read your policy to see what is covered and what is excluded, but they will almost certainly send someone around, and yes will likely treat these as separate claims, as they are separate incidents, it will also impact your renewal, they may impose terms such as excluding accidental damage etc, or not renew if there have been a number of incidents of the same type.

Accidental damage often carries a much bigger excess than a normal claim, also if you have switched insurers, then older claims will have to be made with prev insurers.

dseventy

Hi

Do you claim DLA or other benefits for your child?

D70

jennieshrew

dseventy wrote: »

Hi

Do you claim DLA or other benefits for your child?

D70

Hello, no we dont yet claim DLA. This is all very new to us. We are thinking of claiming it but still feel a bit wierd about it. Have started to fill in the form which makes us realise how bad the situation is but not sure what we have decided yet.

I think DLA is designed to help compensate for damage the disabled child does to the house. Is that what you meant?

Thanks for all the advice. It seems like it is as I thought. Not impossible but fairly complicated. Worth a phone call.

Perhaps I can just claim for specific recent incidents?

dseventy

jennieshrew wrote: »

Hello, no we dont yet claim DLA. This is all very new to us. We are thinking of claiming it but still feel a bit wierd about it. Have started to fill in the form which makes us realise how bad the situation is but not sure what we have decided yet.

I think DLA is designed to help compensate for damage the disabled child does to the house. Is that what you meant?

Thanks for all the advice. It seems like it is as I thought. Not impossible but fairly complicated. Worth a phone call.

Perhaps I can just claim for specific recent incidents?

DLA is for care and mobility needs only (over and above a child of his age).

The reason I ask is that this money can is often used for the extra expenses of having a child with care/mobility needs and the problems it brings.

And yes, you have to claim per incident, not on a cumulative effect.

D70

Sally_A

I'd say "No" too. The reason being this is a build up of several "events" rather than being a single disaster.