Home Insurance cancelled before extension works start

huckster

Quentin wrote: »

The guy giving the bad advice has a history of taking umbrage when his "advice" gets questioned

This "argument" is more about him saving face than trying to help the OP

Yes, it seems that way.

I stopped posting to this site awhile back, because you don't get as many new posts per day and you get some really stupid arguments.

InsideInsurance

huckster wrote: »

I agree with Quentin on this one

Worryingly, even I do :eek:

huckster

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Worryingly, even I do :eek:

World peace next !

vaio

Doesn't happen often but I'm with Dunstonh on this.....

The wording of the question is critical. If it says "have you ever had a policy cancelled" then the OP needs to answer yes and then maybe explain the circumstances to try and mitigate the insurers response.

The FOS and legislation is clear, insurers need to ask clear unambiguous questions and punters need to answer honestly. You can't get clearer or more unambiguous than "have you ever had a policy cancelled" and the answer the OP gives needs to be honest. If insurers only want to know about polices cancelled for specific reasons then they need to include those reasons in their question.

In the OP specific circumstances I'd say it's unfair of the insurer to cancel the policy in advance of the works starting. What would have been fair is for the insurer to advise the OP that they wouldn't be prepared to continue cover in the event that the works took place thus allowing the OP to cancel the policy himself and arrange alternative cover. If I was him I'd be making a complaint/FOS referral along those lines

rs65

fool-on-the-hill wrote: »

It seems very odd to me - are they allowed to cancel insurance in this way?

Cancellation rights will be set out in the policy. It is normal that they can cancel in this way but 4 days seems very quick. Check your policy wording.

fool-on-the-hill

rs65 wrote: »

Cancellation rights will be set out in the policy. It is normal that they can cancel in this way but 4 days seems very quick. Check your policy wording.

To be fair to them, four days notice was only because I called them 4 days before the works are due to start. And that was only because I never considered that my phone call would be any longer than "Hi. I'm doing some building works; thought I should let you know". "Thanks for telling us. Bye".

But as an update, I'm now all sorted. I called another very mainstream insurer, they similarly said they couldn't insure the risk (again, no reasons given). Was getting a little worried, but then got a quote from Axa. Their online form didn't even ask about whether building works were ongoing so I called them. The guy on the phone said I didn't even need to inform them, as long as we weren't moving out!

I did double check their policy docs after buying, which does ask you to tell them so called back. Again, was told they don't need to know, but he put a note on my file anyhow.

All solved, and shows how wildly differently underwriters are measuring their risk. Thanks all for your help.

huckster

fool-on-the-hill wrote: »

To be fair to them, four days notice was only because I called them 4 days before the works are due to start. And that was only because I never considered that my phone call would be any longer than "Hi. I'm doing some building works; thought I should let you know". "Thanks for telling us. Bye".

But as an update, I'm now all sorted. I called another very mainstream insurer, they similarly said they couldn't insure the risk (again, no reasons given). Was getting a little worried, but then got a quote from Axa. Their online form didn't even ask about whether building works were ongoing so I called them. The guy on the phone said I didn't even need to inform them, as long as we weren't moving out!

I did double check their policy docs after buying, which does ask you to tell them so called back. Again, was told they don't need to know, but he put a note on my file anyhow.

All solved, and shows how wildly differently underwriters are measuring their risk. Thanks all for your help.

Just make sure that the builders have Insurance for the works they are doing.