Count on Churchill can you help

Lancstrav

My boiler pressure kept on dropping we looked on the internet and it said that I may be covered on the insurance. Churchills "Your home insurance policy booklet" where it explains what you are covered for and what you are not covered for. Page 7 section 1 point 11 states "Water or oil escaping from any fixed water or heating installation, including underground drains and pipes, or from any domestic appliance.

When we spoke to Churchills they said yes you are covered we will put you through to a claims advisor. But we were cut off. When we rang back they said they will contact us as they were busy. they never returned the call.

Today my wife got through and they said you are not covered and you are only covered to any damaged caused by water leaking. When my wife questioned thats not what it says in the booklet she was told that it does not mean what you think it does and that it means water damage to the property caused by the leak. She then went into the usual customer service speak.

When I came home from work I rang them and the customer service rep stated that we were not covered for plumbing. I said I dont want to claim for plumbing I want to claim for what it says in the booklet what I am intitled to which is "Water or oil escaping from any fixed water or heating installation" I pointed him to the relevant section and he gave a different reason saying what that meant was we were only covered for any water bills we would incur due to the leak if we were on a water meter. When I pointed out thats not what its says in the section his response was well thats what it means. When I said that is misleading his response was we can not put every detail into the booklet as it would be to big. He then went into there's nothing we can do customer service speak.

Feel totally ripped off and not a satisfied customer, can anyone advise me the best way to tae churchills on over this

cheers

forgotmyname

Have you had the boiler serviced?

I would have expected teh answer you got, They will pay out for any damage caused by the boiler leaking but not
the boiler that has broken down or needs servicing.

Mate had his garage broken into and they refused to payout because the bottom few inches were rotten. Not in a good state
of repair they said. Even though they had virtually destroyed the door to get the lock off.

keith1950

Page 7 section 1 point 11 states "Water or oil escaping from any fixed water or heating installation, including underground drains and pipes, or from any domestic appliance.

So is there water escaping ??

This sounds like a fault/maintainance problem on your heating for which you would not normally be covered unless you have some sort of home emergency cover.

Feel totally ripped off and not a satisfied customer

Without more information it sounds more like you are trying to rip off Churchill.

bouncydog1

Insurers will only pay for any damage caused by the water or oil that has escaped. They will not pay for the unit itself to be repaired.

E.G. if the plumbed-in washing machine door leaks and floods the kitchen whilst you are out and the floor is damaged, they will pay for the floor to be repaired less any policy excess. They will not pay for the washing machine fault to be fixed.

Pressure dropping in your boiler might be covered under a separate boiler insurance policy depending on what the cause of the pressure drop is. It will not be covered under your household policy.

kingstreet

I agree with the others. You need boiler or heating cover to deal with your malfunctioning boiler.

If damage is caused by the boiler, the damage may be claimed on your home insurance.

thenudeone

Agree with others. Repairing a faulty boiler (or any other appliance) is never part of any standard home insurance cover and the policy does not say that it is covered.

If water leaks from a boiler or faulty appliance and causes damage to your home, that damage is covered, but not the repair of the appliance.

Thee are plenty of boiler maintenance / insurance plans about giving the sort of cover you need (but they won't cover an existing fault).

ROY47

to put it blunt ............ your stuffed

sounds very much like the boiler has an internal fault or you have a leak? spelling ? somewhere on your system

if that's the case your home insurance won't cover you

my boiler kept losing pressure , I found the problem in the end ,it was a radiator leaking water ever so slowly from a faulty valve on the end of the rad

you need seperate boiler / heating etc. cover apart from normal home insurance

adamc260

Lancstrav wrote: »

When I pointed out thats not what its says in the section his response was well thats what it means.s

"Oil and metered water (CONTENTS)
We will pay for the loss of oil from the domestic heating
installation and loss of metered water following accidental
damage to the home.
The most we will pay for a claim is £1,000."

"Water or oil escaping from any fixed water or heating
installation, including underground drains and pipes, or from
any domestic appliance.(BUILDINGS/CONTENTS)"

2 seperate sections of the policy. Not sure how they could confuse the two? One is a standard peril and the other is an 'additional cover'

loracan1

I had to make a claim for 'escape of water' when my elderly dishwasher started leaking and ruined the floor. I wondered why she felt the need to emphasise the dishwasher itself wasn't covered - it hadn't crossed my mind for a second that it meant that.

VictorM_2

Right at the start of the buildings section it will say something like "You are covered for Buildings damage due to the following perils:" and it will list all the perils and then you will get to "Water or oil escaping from any fixed water or heating installation.

So it is saying you are covered for damage to your buildings due to the water, it does not say anywhere they will cover you for maintaining your boiler.