Home Insurance - Wrong Address, Refund due?

hcb42

You would have been covered. Don't worry about it, it is past now.

Evilm

Were you insured as "plot 366 XXX" or 366 XXX? If you were insured as Plot 366 its likely that you would have been covered.

Its also likely that it would have been notified as an 'honest mistake' IF you have been with the same insurer all that time. If not then it should have been picked up when searching for new quotes etc.

I would not ask for your money back as this is not your insurers fault if you haven't updated the details. Every year they will have sent a renewal out with "tell us if anything has changed" on it somewhere which makes it your responsibility to make sure everything is correct.

If anything be grateful that your current mortgage holder doesn't know about this as technically you might be in trouble if your insurer did class you as not covered. I know I'm technically in breach of my mortgage conditions if I don't have valid Home Insurance.

(ALSO: Are the details correct now? Make sure they are since you now KNOW about this problem so you can't claim ignorance!)

Brodiebobs

i agree with evilm, if you had to make a claim and explained the situation, perhaps if they asked showing proof the plot number converted to the house number they would have covered you. How come in the 5 years they were sending you renewal documents you didnt see the 'wrong' address? at the end of the day some responsibility would have passed back to yourself.

lisyloo

Surely the only people who can answer that question are your past insurers? Can't you call them and ask what would happen in your situation

What do you think they will say?

A) "yes we would have covered you"
"here have 5 years premiums back".

I think they will say A and the onus is on the OP to prove otherwise which is next to impossible unless he has a similar case up his sleeve which he has so far ommitted to mention.

Tygermoth

As the op has irritated me - and stated he can type what he likes... I can remove what i like too.

Deleted the post which I took the time and effort to try and help.

dunstonh

I think you've misunderstood. It's not a question of me getting free home insurance for 5 years. Its a question of me paying for it for 5 years and not being covered i.e. in that time if I made a claim...would they have wriggled out of it on a technicality like this? In my view its very likely that any insurance would, that's what they do. So that being said the real question is - why should I pay for 5 years without being covered?

The bottom line is that if you were covered (and you probably were as this sort of thing happens frequently and the insurers have the house details even if they have the incorrect postal address) then you have no right to expect a refund as you have been covered during that period.

Only if they didnt cover you would you have a right to a refund.

Banks are not authorised to discuss the products and services of other providers other than in a generic nature. This means what you were told by your new bank was a breach of regulations. You actually have more to complain about with the new bank than the insurance.

This isn't going quite how I'd anticipated. I was asking for help and explaining my predicament. I'm not here to say I was covered or was not - basically that is the question that I seek an answer to. This business with the competitor - she has nothing to gain. The bank is the Northern Bank. I switched from Santander. The insurance is with Zurich - not either of these banks. It was mentioned as a "Do you know you haven't technically been covered for home insurance for the last 5 years?" "No, how come?"..."It's the wrong address".

Do you mean you were hoping we would all tell you that you would get your money back?

The fact is that it matters if you were covered or not. If you were, no refund as it was doing what it was meant to. if you were not, then you should get a refund.

shelly

lisyloo wrote: »

What do you think they will say?

A) "yes we would have covered you"
"here have 5 years premiums back".

I think they will say A and the onus is on the OP to prove otherwise which is next to impossible unless he has a similar case up his sleeve which he has so far ommitted to mention.

I agree with you and think they will say the OP was covered. By my post I meant that by going to the insurers the OP will have a definate answer as they seem to not want to believe the advice that other posters have given, quite possibly because it's not what they wanted to hear.

lisyloo

Thanks Shelley.
That's what I said in post #10.
I think he should complain to get "closure" despite the advice he's had and the apparent total lack of evidence, except another persons comment which carry no weight and are unauthorised.

I've had a case in the past with an endowment where I didn't think I would win, but it kept bugging me.
I was literally wracked with guilt and felt it incumbent on me to do my best for my partner.
So I made a complaint expecting to lose but at least I'd acheive closure and could live with it knowing I'd done my best.
As it happened we won and got £1500 compensation although I have a feeling that was more to do with the cost of arguing the complaint.

So I would say complain and get closure rather than live with it.

But also I do think the OP has to take on board what others are saying. There is no point coming to the board if your mind is shut and you don't want to listen to advice that doesn't suit you.
You can get some duff advice from rogue posters but not usually when everyone is saying the same thing and in this case with reasoned arguments.
1) The correct home was identified and it's a standard situation for houses to initially be identified by plot.
2) The advice given counts for nothing as the person was not authorised to give it.

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

And you've had two opinions that you were indeed covered.
The plot number identifies the house and if an insurer tried to claim otherwise then there is a FREE and independent ombudsman who would force them to play fair.
Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

I would agree with this, the plot number uniquely identified your house.
Have you had correspondence for the previous years, that arrived at your house?

If you have doubts still, the ombusman can offer advice over the phone, as to whether or not you have a justifialble complaint before you decide what to do.

jonesMUFCforever

I'm pretty sure what OP wants to hear is that the insurance cover will gladly refund 5 years cover - if they can provide proof that they had alternative cover in place.
That's the only problem though isn't it?