Maybe subsidence

Sueinbirmingham

An elderly person I am trying to help needs to renew her home and contents insurance. Her brokers sent her a quote but the policy didn't cover keysafes, only five lever mortises, so I phoned and they said they'd sort it and get back to me, but they didn't.

I went online and found an insurer who's ok with keysafes via Age UK. I asked her if there'd been any subsidence, specifically asking her about a patch of non-matching tarmac, and she said no, just drains. I went ahead and paid for the insurance.

I told the broker she'd gone elsewhere and now they've written to her to say there's been subsidence and she has to tell her new insurers.

I've been through all the paperwork I can find. The paperwork from when she moved in shows no subsidence. The only work I can find is damaged drains at the front of the house.

I'm planning to call the brokers and ask them why they think she's got subsidence, but I can't see why they'd feel obliged to tell me since they couldn't be bothered to either find suitable insurance or say they can't, just to send the final letter referring to subsidence.

Would any insurer be likely to insure if you say that you have no knowledge of any subsidence but that the previous insurers say there was so you'd like to insure on the basis that there was subsidence?

I don't know how to deal with this and I'm panicking because she needs new insurance before the weekend. I can't just leave her to get on it because all this is over her head since her husband died.

rs65

Not quite sure what you are saying about keysafes and mortice locks. One is the type of lock and the other is where you keep the key.

I can only assume that there has been a subsidence claim that neither you nor her are aware of. Unfortunately any insurers would expect her to know about something that significant.

It seems you arranging the insurance has put her in a difficult position - she may not be insured for subsidence, or worse, the new insurer might discover the claim and void the policy for non-disclosure.

The broker sounds like the best option to arrange cover having knowledge of her history. Will she sign a letter authorising the broker to talk to you? See if they can arrange suitable cover and definitely ask for details of any claims history.

Sueinbirmingham

The bit about the keysafe is this.

The insurance they offered had a long clause in it about every door to outside being protected by a five lever mortise and claims on contents only being valid if the property had been broken into by force (that's not quite the right wording but as near as I can remember).

I wanted clarification from the insurers that they were prepared to accept a British Standard six-digit keysafe as equivalent to a 5 lever mortise and that they would cover the contents if the code was cracked rather than the keysafe or door being smashed in/levered open.

If you cracked the keysafe just by going through the numbers, it would take a long time, but you could do it a bit a day/night. (I have cracked a four button door code by going 0001, 0002, 0003...It took a long time but I got there in the end.)

The broker was quite happy talking to me but never got back to me (or her) over the locks. There's no point in taking out contents insurance that doesn't cover you and if the brokers haven't bothered to come back with another quote in three weeks, I'm not going to hold my breath about them getting another one before the weekend.

inoutnotsure

Your details are a bit confusing. What do you mean by

'I went online and found an insurer who's ok with keysafes via Age UK. I asked her if there'd been any subsidence, specifically asking her about a patch of non-matching tarmac, and she said no, just drains. I went ahead and paid for the insurance. I told the broker she'd gone elsewhere and now they've written to her to say there's been subsidence and she has to tell her new insurers.'

I assume you mean the elderly person said no and not the insurers?

Anyway, how would the broker know if there has been any subsidence unless:

1) The broker has dealt with a subsidence claim in the past
2) The broker sent someone to survey the property
3) The elderly person is not revealing all the facts

If these cracks do actually relate to a historic subsidence claim, you would get a guarantee from the insurance company. Insurers will still insure but with a higher premium.

huckster

It is an elderly person we are talking about. Perhaps a claim was registered as possible subsidence and in the end it was just a repair to some drainage. The broker should be asked to look at the subsidence claim and to provide details.

Perhaps it was not a subsidence claim and the claims record needs to be changed to reflect what the claim was for.

That needs to be looked at first urgently, before the new Insurance is cancelled. It should not take more than a few hours for the broker to make some enquiries.

Sueinbirmingham

The elderly person said no, there was no subsidence, but she doesn't remember the drains either, just that the tarmac was repaired. Her memory is failing with age.

There is nowhere that subsidence work could have been done except the front drive. The only evidence I can find of any work done on it is for drains.

However, that doesn't prove that there wasn't any work done for subsidence, perhaps after the drains were fixed?

I'll keep my fingers crossed that the broker will be helpful. Since I posted before, I've also found a phone number for the insurance company, which I hadn't thought of before.

She's been with the same broker and the same insurance company for many years. I've read all the paperwork for insurance going back decades and can't find any mention in the policies or covering letters of subsidence.

I must admit I'm a bit panic-stricken and she's worse, although I've reassured her I'll do my best to sort it fast.

I'm grateful to those who've responded for giving me some thoughts.