Home Insurance Discussion

VictorM_2

A flat roof is far more likely to leak than a tile roof so they probably don't want to accept the extra risk.

If you take out insurance and do not tell your new insurer that your address is over a certain percentage of flat roof then you could have your policy cancelled due to non-disclosure at a later date which will cause all sorts of problems for you.

I would shop around, you will find someone willing to accept the risk.

luv_my_brass

VictorM wrote: »

A flat roof is far more likely to leak than a tile roof so they probably don't want to accept the extra risk.

If you take out insurance and do not tell your new insurer that your address is over a certain percentage of flat roof then you could have your policy cancelled due to non-disclosure at a later date which will cause all sorts of problems for you.

I would shop around, you will find someone willing to accept the risk.

And on this subject, I too would like some advice. I have an extension which has a mainly sloping roof and recently re-roofed with polycarbonate. There is also a very small area of flat roof, about 5 feet square which is roofed in the usual flat roof materials. Do I have to declare this small amount? The question regarding flat roofs don't seem to cover such a small area, but how I can reply with 'no flat roof'?

VictorM_2

In my experience they only want to know if the property has more than 33% flat roof coverings - this is for the places I have worked at in the past only, it may not apply to your situation.

A_Kenney

When accepting a quotation from a Building Insurance Broker they supplied me with the premium and the monthly payments complete with a deposit and all their costs which I accepted and supplied them with my bank details. A few days later I received a letter from a company called Premium Credit Limited for me to enter into a £1500.00 credit agreement, to enable me to obtain the brokers Building Insurance. When contacting the brokers help desk I informed them I was not informed of the credit agreement when accepting their quote, and did not want to sign a £1500.00 credit agreement they replied,” We do not have the system within the company to accept direct debits” If you want to cancel the policy there would be a £51.00 pounds cancelation fee,” or “you don’t have to sign the agreement, but the company will take the monthly agreed amount by direct debit albeit they will keep reminding you to sign the agreement.
All this seems to me very unprofessional and you begin to query whether or not they would pay-out on a claim. As I was completely unaware of this credit agreement can they charge me for this?

A Kenney.

luv_my_brass

A_Kenney wrote: »

When accepting a quotation from a Building Insurance Broker they supplied me with the premium and the monthly payments complete with a deposit and all their costs which I accepted and supplied them with my bank details. A few days later I received a letter from a company called Premium Credit Limited for me to enter into a £1500.00 credit agreement, to enable me to obtain the brokers Building Insurance. When contacting the brokers help desk I informed them I was not informed of the credit agreement when accepting their quote, and did not want to sign a £1500.00 credit agreement they replied,” We do not have the system within the company to accept direct debits” If you want to cancel the policy there would be a £51.00 pounds cancelation fee,” or “you don’t have to sign the agreement, but the company will take the monthly agreed amount by direct debit albeit they will keep reminding you to sign the agreement.
All this seems to me very unprofessional and you begin to query whether or not they would pay-out on a claim. As I was completely unaware of this credit agreement can they charge me for this?

A Kenney.

Wow, that's an interesting query - talk about 'buyer beware'! I am looking for house & contents insurance at the moment so any 'hidden' qwirks like this is worth knowing about.

Cheeze83

pepperrabbit wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how long historic subsidence counts against you or has to be declared for a buildings insurance quote?
Our house was underpinned in c1988, has been fine since (obviously!). We've just had major building work completed and I've run our details just through GoCompare so far - and have ONE quote of £984.... (policy is up in about 3 weeks)
I thought our current insurers were taking the mickey with a quote of £870 (roughly £400+ on last year for 2 extra bedrooms) but now I'm thinking that sounds reasonable. Current insurance includes a £1500 excess for subsidence.
Do i actually need to phone around and try to explain? this whole area was underpinned around that period so the postcode should surely reflect the current risks if they all compare claim details - or do I credit the industry with too much info sharing?
Any help gratefully received.

The area should be reflected as a high risk post code area for subsidence in the general database for Insurers - all Insurers will do their own post code risk assessments, but generally they are all the same. Because your property was under-pinned, you will basically scare most insurers - next to flooding, subsidence is the biggest worry for Insurers, because the claims are for huge amounts. There are a few ways you can go - go to google and try a simple search for 'subsidence friendly' insurers and try them directly, or you can try some comparison websites - but because these make up 'general' Insurers, most wont want to touch it. But it also depends on when it was built - regardless of it having subsidence. Properties built AFTER 1982 are generally better considered, because new building regulations came in at this time, so even if you're in a subsidence area they'll accept you, but because your property was underpinned this wont matter. Another way you can go is either ask your Insurer to quote you excluding subsidence cover and not have cover for it - this should in theory reduce your overal cost by quite a lot - you should find it's a standard price because you're not covered, but be advised this could seriously backfire on you. Or - you could do the same, as your Insurer to quote you excluding subsidence and then find a company that will cover you for subsidence only. Again, do a google search for subsidence only insurers - there are a couple about from memory, and you'll get a separate insurance just for subsidence. Another route is finding who insured the property when it was underpinned, because if no-one else will cover you, they have to. If you haven't, I would also see if you can contact Zurich directly for a quote. From when I was Underwriting insurance products, I always found them to be the most reasonable when it came to subsidence - but that was a couple of years ago so they could have changed if they've been losing too much money of late.

Cheeze83

Red_Ant wrote: »

Having bought home insurance from Lloyds TSB because of their name / reputation, I was amazed that their Customer Care team told me today that they have no influence over the companies that actually provide the cover, and if I have an issue with a claim I cannot escalate to Lloyds, even though I bought the products from them.

Apparently had the products actually been fulfilled by Lloyds things would be different - but that was never mentioned when I took out the policies.

Having had Royal Sun Alliance turn down what I believe was a perfectly valid claim, having read and reread the conditions of the policy, I now have the hassle of going to the Ombudsman as my only way of escalating the issue as the Lloyds Customer Care team won't touch it - and wont even let me complain that this is their approach.

Needless to say I'm cancelling all the other services / products I have with Lloyds as a result of their lack of Customer Care.

I used to work at Lloyds and I do know what you mean, but unfortunately they have one product that they ask other insurers to quote on. So, whilst they wont handle the complaint they should have at least been able to hypothetically give you an answer on what they believe you could do. WHat I would suggest, if you feel the claim should have been valid from your understanding of the product you were sold, then you could possibly look at the product being mis-sold. I would get in touch with the FOS and FSA as they can open an investigation for you and get it looked at. Have yuou spoken to RSA about why they have declined your claim and why you feel it is valid? What was the claim out of curiosity? I have a diploma in insurance so if I can be of any help, I will give you advice. And before people ask - I don't currently work with any insurance company - I've left insurance for consumer credit and just feel like being helpful with insurance issues.

glitter123

pubsboy wrote: »

I have just renewed my buildings and contents insurance with Churchill. I was quoted £639 as a renewal but by buying on-line as a new customer I was able to reduce it to £292. When I rang Churchill to let them know that I did not want to renew on the terms they had quoted they asked for details of the alternative quote that I had received. Incredibly, they said that they were unable to match the lower quote even though they had given it! I know that companies rely on apathy and inertia to boost their profits but quoting more than double their on-line arm is pretty outrageous and only goes to show what can be saved if one is prepared to shop around.

Similar thing happened to me with LV - their renewal was £361, comparison site said £298. I rang them and they said the best they can offer is £338.

luv_my_brass

After searching for about 3 weeks now, I have finally gone with Kwikfit via comparethemarket.com . The quote was almost half of what the bigger companies were quoting. Plus I get £20 cashback and a meercat toy. :rotfl:

Oompa_Loompa_2

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on getting home insurance - at the moment the place is not covered as the monthly payment shot up and 2 claims were made in 3 years. Direct Line wouldn't offer a quote and Aviva said they require 5 years of no claims. New houses were being built nearby at the time of the 2 burglaries and nothing has happened since, nor is it likely to. (I know insurers are unlikely to view it this way). Any ideas?