Are MoreThan being fair?

hushpuppy

In July 2011 we took out contents insurance with MoreThan as at that time we were renting. In January 2012 we bought our house and when I contacted them they explained that I would need to take out Building Insurance as well, which I did.

However as there was a months overlap between us moving out/in I was asked to let them know when we had fully moved in so all correspondence would then be sent to our new address.

I must clarify that I honestly thought that when I took out the building insurance I had started a new 12 month policy due to expire in January 2013.


On fully moving in to our new house in late January 2012 there was a letter waiting for us dated the 17/12/11 with our new buildings/contents paperwork.

In March 2012 we came home to a terrible escape of water which resulted in nearly £11K of damage to the house and MoreThan were terrific. From the point I called then, to the emergency plumber and insurance assessor coming out they knew my new address. Furthermore in June when I asked when I could expect payment, they said that they had sent it out but to my old address, so they then changed it and re-issued to my new address.

In December 2012 I got a cold call from another insurer asking to quote me for home insurance, which reminded me to start checking the comparison sites etc. However when I checked my current insurance paperwork I noticed that it had expired in July.

I contacted MoreThan and asked if I was insured with them to be told that as I had not paid the renewal of £290 in July the policy had been cancelled due to 'non payment'. I clarified which address the renewal had been sent to and they confirmed that the only address they had on their system was my old one, hence why I had not received it.

Having checked the comparison sites and brokers, because I had had a claim in excess of £10K I couldn't get insured by many of the mainstream companies for anything under £500 and MoreThan refused to insure me via their website.

I phoned them up and explained the above and asked if they would re-insure me, as I thought given all the above they knew my correct address and it seemed unfair that they were willing to re-insure me but now were not.

I was subsequently told that my case had been reviewed by a Technical manager who concluded that in my call to them on the 17/12/11 I had confirmed that I would contact them to confirm when we had fully moved in so they could update the correspondence address but I had not.

I have now spent the best part of three weeks trying to get someone at MoreThan to adopt a bit of common sense as there reason for not accepting any fault on their part is that 'Correspondence and Claims are handled by different computers/software.' In other words they don't talk to one another!

My point is how on earth was I supposed to know that, I honestly thought that I had told them of my change of address.

I escalated it as far as I could and they have now offered to re-insure me but only on the basis of the original renewal quote of £290 and backdating it to July 2012 so that it is in effect continuous/continued insurance.

I understand that mathematically it makes sense (even if I am paying £290 for 6 months insurance) I simply want some advice as to if I have been dealt with fairly and honestly.

dacouch

If they have agreed to offer the cover from your original renewal and at the same cost, I would think that is the best outcome.

If you had a claim in the meantime you would have expected them to pay out and the chances are they would have done after you had complained.

Most Insurers would combine building and contents onto your existing policy if you rang and asked for buildings cover.

What are you wanting from Morethan ?

Are you wanting them to honour the original renewal price but start it from now?

rs65

dacouch wrote: »

If they have agreed to offer the cover from your original renewal and at the same cost, I would think that is the best outcome.

If you had a claim in the meantime you would have expected them to pay out and the chances are they would have done after you had complained.

I would agree, sounds like a good outcome.

hushpuppy

dacouch wrote: »

What are you wanting from Morethan ?

Are you wanting them to honour the original renewal price but start it from now?

I suppose in a way yes, but I'm not naive enough to think that premiums haven't risen.

But they said that they would not quote me as a new client now because the £11K claim was above their ceiling.

I was simply hoping that given the issues over the address that they would have quoted me starting from now, but without the adverse terms that seemed to have been imposed because the renewal was sent out to the wrong address as their computers 'don't talk to one another.'

dacouch

hushpuppy wrote: »

No not at all.

They said that they would not quote me as a new client now because the £11K claim was above their ceiling.

I was simply hoping that given the issues over the address that they would have quoted me starting from now, but without the adverse terms that seemed to have been imposed because the renewal was sent out to the wrong address as their computers 'don't talk to one another.'

The way the senior staff will have looked at it would be, we offered renewal for £x and on x terms in July, there's been a mix up so the best way to resolve it is to offer the same premium and terms.

If you want them to provide it from now, they will look at you as a totally new customer and charge you whatever they would charge a new customer with your claim. You mention they would not offer cover as a new customer so the way they resolve this is as above offer continuous cover from your renewal.

If you had a claim between July and now would you expect More Than to have paid the claim ? I'll answer it as you almost certainly would. If a claim had happened you would make an official complaint and going from the information you provided and More Than agreeing to offer cover from July they would almost certainly have offered cover. To do this they would have redrawn up the renewal from July at the same premium and same terms as the original renewal which is what they have done for you.

Offering cover from July means you pay a premium as you would have done anyway and More Than agree to pay claims from July which is fair to you and fair to More Than.

If you subsequently discover something that you want to claim for that happened between July and them restarting the cover you will be able to claim for it.

You can put in an Official Complaint to More Than and they might offer you some sort of compensation in the region of £50 to maybe £100. However if you do this I would expect them to not offer renewal next year which will leave you in a lot more trouble than you imagine.

hushpuppy

Dacouch,

Thanks for clarifying the whole process and answering my question, that's put it to bed for me.

*Scarlett

Indeed this is a fair offer from Morethan.

Presumably you would have renewed in July at £290 if you had received the paperwork, especially as you have subsequently found that a large claim will limit your options to insure elsewhere.

So you are not any worse off for their actions and have had continuous cover on the insurance.

They made a mistake by sending the renewal docs to the wrong address but have rectified it by offering you cover from the renewal at the original price.

I don't think there is any cause for complaint.

dacouch

hushpuppy wrote: »

Dacouch,

Thanks for clarifying the whole process and answering my question, that's put it to bed for me.

I would be annoyed if they had applied terms they did not apply to the original renewal. However if you were my client (I don't deal with More Than) I would tell you to bite their hand off and not rock the boat.

If you're not happy with More Than, wait a few years and other Insurers will ignore the claim and you can take your business else where.

There are plenty of Insurers at the cheap end of the market who would just leave you high and dry or try and screw extra premium out of you