House Insurance Nil and Void

summer14

I'm after some advice if anyone can help. Our fridge freezer broke 2 weeks ago and with it lost all the contents, together with that, when my husband was moving the fridge freezer out he ripped the lino in the kitchen. We have accidental damage so figured we would try and claim...here lies my problem..Having rung our insurance company it would appear that we made 3 claims on previous insurance policies that we didn't declare which spanned over 5 years, this was purely an oversight (albeit would now appear a very costly one) and was never brought to our attention when we took the policy out last March. We were told that our current claim would not be processed until our policy was reviewed by the underwriters. We have had a call today advising that our policy is nil and void. I understand the reason behind this and no rules are in place, but am struggling now where to go now with this. As it stands we now have no cover and need to resolve this issue asap. Has anybody had a similar experience that can help...I'm worried sick we aren't going to get insurance and if we do will be paying a fortune.

dacouch

You will need to declare forever more if asked that you have had a policy voided.

It's very very important that you declare all of your claims in future and if asked about lossed or incidents that you also declare the frozen food and accidental damage to the lino which are both separate losses / incidents.

Try these guys http://www.bureauinsure.co.uk/

You will find insurance from now on is expensive.

You and your partner will also need to declare the void policy to your car insurers if they ask about void policies.

How on earth did you manage to not disclose three previous claims?

summer14

God knows, I'm not normally really careful with form filling, the claims were for a phone and cooker hob dating back 4 years ago, which to be honest I'd forgot all about...i know it sounds ridiculous, but it was really was an oversight, and we'll pay the price for years to come, feel sick to the stomach, thank you for the link

vaio

As above, having a policy cancelled for non disclosure is going to cost you ££££ in the future.

The FOS have views on it, basically "innocent"or "inadvertent" non disclosure should result in claims being paid and cover continuing but with three undisclosed claims I suspect are firmly in the deliberate/reckless/fraudulent area where not much can be done other than to put your hand in you pocket and pay.

An expensive lesson

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

As above, having a policy cancelled for non disclosure is going to cost you ££££ in the future.

The FOS have views on it, basically "innocent"or "inadvertent" non disclosure should result in claims being paid and cover continuing but with three undisclosed claims I suspect are firmly in the deliberate/reckless/fraudulent area where not much can be done other than to put your hand in you pocket and pay.

An expensive lesson

Innocent for claims is pretty unlikely, inadvertent is a pretty non starter as it relies on the Insurer having been in the position to offer cover originally had they been told of three claims. There are not that many companies who would offer cover for a customer with three claims

LeafGreen

definitely contact a broker

trollopscarletwoman

dacouch wrote: »

You and your partner will also need to declare the void policy to your car insurers if they ask about void policies.

Never knew they could link different types of insurance on honesty grounds like that. But you learn something every day.

Could get very expensive.

vaio

dacouch wrote: »

Innocent for claims is pretty unlikely, inadvertent is a pretty non starter as it relies on the Insurer having been in the position to offer cover originally had they been told of three claims. There are not that many companies who would offer cover for a customer with three claims

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/misrepresentation-and-non-disclosure.htm seems to be the current FOS position

The first case is interesting in that it says that previous misrepresentations can have no effect on current policies.

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/misrepresentation-and-non-disclosure.htm seems to be the current FOS position

The first case is interesting in that it says that previous misrepresentations can have no effect on current policies.

It should be noted that if asked whether you've had a policy voided or cancelled when the policy is due for renewal, you need to answer it truthfully.

dacouch

trollopscarletwoman wrote: »

Never knew they could link different types of insurance on honesty grounds like that. But you learn something every day.

Could get very expensive.

Funnily enough Insurers as a whole take a dim view of customers who have had policies voided, especially so if it's for not declaring claims.

vaio

dacouch wrote: »

It should be noted that if asked whether you've had a policy voided or cancelled when the policy is due for renewal, you need to answer it truthfully.

Yep...... "just answer all the questions truthfully, no more & no less"