Advise Needed for Home Insurance - Not sure what to do ?

stephenliverpool1

I have just received a home insurance renewal quote from Sheilas Wheels. It is over £60 more expensive than last year.

Went on a few comparison websites and found several quotes that were a lot cheaper; including one from Sheilas Wheels. For info, the Sheilas Wheels quote was over £80 cheaper than their renewal quote.

Phoned up Sheilas Wheels this morning to query the renewal quote against the comparison website quote.

I was advised that the renewal quote includes a cost for a supposed claim that I made last year with regards a crack in my wall, which I was worried may be subsidence. They sent a structural engineer around, who inspected my property and produced a report. It wasn't subsidence and I got it fixed by a local builder at my own expense. Sheilas Wheels didn't pay me any money for the builder's work. The builder actually proved to me that the structural engineer's report was factually incorrect with regards the root cause of the crack.

I advised the Sheilas Wheels agent that I don't undertsand how they could be charging extra for my renewal quote, when they didn't pay me any money for the cracked wall. I also queried why the renewal quote was still showing me having a 6 year no claims discount.

It seems to me that Sheila Wheels are charging me extra to recover their internal costs for the structural engineer.

The agent also advised me that I needed to report the above as a loss if I moved my home insurance to another company; otherwise my policy would be made invalid and worthless.

Can someone please advise me what to do as I don't want to invalidate my insurance policy. Should I report this as a loss/claim and, if so, how much should I say the loss/claim was worth ?

Please help as I don't know what to do or how I stand.

TSx

stephenliverpool1 wrote: »

I have just received a home insurance renewal quote from Sheilas Wheels. It is over £60 more expensive than last year.

Went on a few comparison websites and found several quotes that were a lot cheaper; including one from Sheilas Wheels. For info, the Sheilas Wheels quote was over £80 cheaper than their renewal quote.

Phoned up Sheilas Wheels this morning to query the renewal quote against the comparison website quote.

I was advised that the renewal quote includes a cost for a supposed claim that I made last year with regards a crack in my wall, which I was worried may be subsidence. They sent a structural engineer around, who inspected my property and produced a report. It wasn't subsidence and I got it fixed by a local builder at my own expense. Sheilas Wheels didn't pay me any money for the builder's work. The builder actually proved to me that the structural engineer's report was factually incorrect with regards the root cause of the crack.

I advised the Sheilas Wheels agent that I don't undertsand how they could be charging extra for my renewal quote, when they didn't pay me any money for the cracked wall. I also queried why the renewal quote was still showing me having a 6 year no claims discount.

It seems to me that Sheila Wheels are charging me extra to recover their internal costs for the structural engineer.

The agent also advised me that I needed to report the above as a loss if I moved my home insurance to another company; otherwise my policy would be made invalid and worthless.

Can someone please advise me what to do as I don't want to invalidate my insurance policy. Should I report this as a loss/claim and, if so, how much should I say the loss/claim was worth ?

Please help as I don't know what to do or how I stand.

Yes, you do need to report it as a loss - the only way to find out how much to declare is to ask Sheila's Wheels how much they paid out. Expect it to be in the region of £100-£500 depending how in depth the subsidence investigation was.

There is a bigger issue here though, you need to check what Sheila's Wheels have recorded the claim as. If it wasn't subsidence, they hopefully will have recorded it as something like accidental damage (and then said it's not covered) - otherwise you may have to declare a subsidence claim (or at least start doing all your quotations by phone so you can explain the situation)

stephenliverpool1

TSx wrote: »

Yes, you do need to report it as a loss - the only way to find out how much to declare is to ask Sheila's Wheels how much they paid out. Expect it to be in the region of £100-£500 depending how in depth the subsidence investigation was.

There is a bigger issue here though, you need to check what Sheila's Wheels have recorded the claim as. If it wasn't subsidence, they hopefully will have recorded it as something like accidental damage (and then said it's not covered) - otherwise you may have to declare a subsidence claim (or at least start doing all your quotations by phone so you can explain the situation)

Not quite as black and white as you imply.

Via email, I have requested the Sheilas Wheels CEO to confim what info, if any, his company has entered for me on the central CUE database. I have used the DPA to request this info.

I have also phoned a few insurance cos today. Two (Barclays & swiftcover) of them have advised that I do not need to register my OP as a claim/loss as the insurance company didn't pay out anything to me. The other 3 advised that I do not need to register it is a claim/loss. However, all of them advised that they use the CUE database as their source of information; so I will await to see the response from the CEO before I decide wot to do next.

Clear as mud at the moment !;):mad:

ACG

If they have had to pay money out im pretty sure it conts as a claim.

stephenliverpool1

ACG wrote: »

If they have had to pay money out im pretty sure it conts as a claim.

It's a mystery (at the moment) ! Where's Toyah when you need her ?;):)

I don't think that Sheila Wheels even have a definite answer. The rep advised me today that my renewal premium increased due to my supposed cracked wall claim, which contradicted Sheilas Wheels renewal quote that still shows me eligible for a 6-year no claims discount that was deducted accordingly.

Perhaps tomorrow it will become grey and maybe even white with luck.;):)

I will ensure that I am covered by putting everything in writing.