Buildings/Contents Insurance - why is this classed as a "Loss or claim"?

Tricia811

In April this year during the strong winds/storms we had some damage to our roof. I contacted my insurance company who advised me to get quotes for the work. When the roofer investigated the damage it was not as bad as first seemed and came in at less than my insurance excess. I contacted the insurance company and told them I did not want to proceed with :mad:the claim - all fine at the time.

It is now my renewal date and the incident is listed on my policy and I have been told that I must declare it as a loss when filling in my details on Comparison sites/ getting quotes. This is having a big impact on the quotes and some companies won't quote as they want at least one claim free year. I just don't understand why this is being seen as a claim or loss as I did not pursue it with my insurance company and received no money.

If I take out a new policy with another company and do not declare this incident then apparently it is seen as having lied in the quote and the insurance will be void!

Please, please someone tell me why this is declarable! It is costing me about £70 - £100 on quotes.
Someone please enlighten me!

Shenanigan

When you get a quote, you're asking a company to evaluate you as a risk and charge you accordingly. A good way of assessing risk is to find out about your history which may indicate the chances of something happening again.

extreme examples:

If you have been a victim of theft, robbers are more likely to target you again.

If your house has been damaged by a flood due to heavy rain, it's likely it may flood again the next time there is bad weather.

If you did not make a claim, it should not affect your No Claims Discount, but it must be recorded as a loss. Not that you lost a particular item, but you suffered a financial loss. Statistically, you may be more likely to suffer the same loss again, which the new insurer will be liable to pay out for. Therefore, with that being a risk, they need to charge more to make the risk worth while.

Hope this explains it a bit.

InsideInsurance

Tricia811 wrote: »

In April this year during the strong winds/storms we had some damage to our roof. I contacted my insurance company who advised me to get quotes for the work. When the roofer investigated the damage it was not as bad as first seemed and came in at less than my insurance excess. I contacted the insurance company and told them I did not want to proceed with :mad:the claim - all fine at the time.

It is now my renewal date and the incident is listed on my policy and I have been told that I must declare it as a loss when filling in my details on Comparison sites/ getting quotes. This is having a big impact on the quotes and some companies won't quote as they want at least one claim free year. I just don't understand why this is being seen as a claim or loss as I did not pursue it with my insurance company and received no money.

If I take out a new policy with another company and do not declare this incident then apparently it is seen as having lied in the quote and the insurance will be void!

Please, please someone tell me why this is declarable! It is costing me about £70 - £100 on quotes.
Someone please enlighten me!

Because of the words in bold. They all show that you suffered a loss due to an insured peril. The fact you didn't claim for it is immaterial, as is the fact that the repair bills turned out to be very low.

Unsurprisingly lots of people have "losses" every year (wine stains on carpets, lost watch etc) but they don't report them and it "slips their mind" when filling in their quote form. Due to the fact you did declare it to your insurers it will most likely have found its way onto the CUE database and as such insurers will be able to tell if you "forget" to declare it going forward.

Officially, we all should declare all these things. In practice it may be best to always get a quote for anything that isnt an emergency before deciding to tell insurers.

Debt_Free_Chick

Tricia811 wrote: »

In April this year during the strong winds/storms we had some damage to our roof. I contacted my insurance company who advised me to get quotes for the work. When the roofer investigated the damage it was not as bad as first seemed and came in at less than my insurance excess.

So you did suffer a loss. I was just that the amount fell short of the excess. The absence of a claim paid by the insurer is irrelevant - it's the loss suffered that's the issue.

Tricia811

Many thanks for all your detailed and very informative replies. You certainly live and learn don't you. Lesson for the future for sure!!