Home Insurance - should we claim or not?

KM42

Hi

Just wondering whether anyone has experience of claiming on their home insurance to then be hit by a huge hike in premiums when they renew?

We've had a water leak through into our kitchen ceiling caused by the lead flashing. Quotes are coming in at £1300+ to sort the flashing and repair the ceiling. Our excess is £200. If the cost of repairs would have been less than £800 we were going to pay for it ourselves and not bother with making a claim but now that we've found it's going to be over £1000 we're inclined to think that we'll claim as it's all adding up.

Our worry however is that the premiums will rise dramatically - I've heard/read that they could go up by over £200 a year. Other things I've read say that they'll only go up by 10-15% which wouldn't be so bad. So I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of this or has any advice. We've never claimed in the 16 years of having home insurance so I don't know whether this is taken into account too.

Thanks for reading

comeandgo

We had a roof claim a couple of years ago, value similar to what you are saying. Our insurance went up a wee bit but nothing too bad, certainly not by hundreds. When renewal time comes get quotes from other companies too.

dacouch

What is the problem with the flashing?

I ask this as the damage to lead flashing is generally not storm damage but wear and tear which an Insurer will not cover.

The damage to your ceiling will probably still be covered if you have accidental damage cover.

losgiganteskid

dacouch wrote: »

I ask this as the damage to lead flashing is generally not storm damage but wear and tear which an Insurer will not cover.

Correct

The damage to your ceiling will probably still be covered if you have accidental damage cover.

It will still be covered irrespective as to whether you have A/D or not.

TSx

losgiganteskid wrote: »

It will still be covered irrespective as to whether you have A/D or not.

This is an interesting one - I think that insurers may be changing their approach to this (possibly due to FOS rulings) but traditionally, you would need accidental damage to cover water damage internally which was due to a storm but only entered because of the poor condition of the roof. I am aware of several insurers who will now cover the internal damage under the storm peril rather than the accidental damage peril.

The FOS viewpoint is

Sometimes, we decide that there was no storm damage, or that the buildings were so poorly maintained it was reasonable for the insurer to decline a claim for storm damage. But the consumer may still be able to claim for some of their losses under the accidental damage section of their policy (if there is one).

However I note that they say so poorly maintained which would imply the damage would have had to be apparent prior to the incident...

In terms of lead flashings - these days, the FOS will basically say that if the damage wouldn't have happened, were it not for the high winds, then the damage should be covered - ergo, if the lead flashing was in place before the storm and not in place following the storm then it would have to be covered.

Obviously if there was already an issue, then it is different, but insurers are being very hesitant about repudiating storm claims where there are high winds, and require strong evidence to do so.

dacouch

losgiganteskid wrote: »

It will still be covered irrespective as to whether you have A/D or not.

Depending on the Insurer as some Insurers specifically exclude water ingress under A/D hence why I said "Probably"

KM42

Thanks very much for everyone's replies and comments.

Absolutely right about the insurance company not covering repairs to the lead flashing because it's due to wear and tear. I phoned them this morning and was advised of this. Naively I hadn't realised. They also said they would 'probably' cover the kitchen ceiling repair but it would have to be assessed etc.

Thanks again