House Insurance claim against neighbour

browniej

Deleted as too much info given - not wanting it to somehow get back to neighbour.

Have taken comments on board though so thank you.

Quentin

Unless you can prove that this was an act of negligence by your neighbour you will have to pay for this yourself or claim off your own insurance.


If there was no negligence and it's cost effective to make a claim against your own policy, (rather than pay yourself), then bear in mind that the claim will affect future premiums over the next 3/5 years depending on how long a claims history insurers require.

huckster

Your neighbours Insurers might not pay for work on your side, leaving you to sort out the damage. You would then have to pay yourself or claim on your Insurance.

Unless your neighbour is held liable through negligence, you or your Insurance might not be able to claim from them. They might argue that the wall was defective, hence it crumbled easily.

Either Insurance company might not be willing to consider an accidental damage claim, because of the wall seemingly just failing. If you check Insurance policies, there is a general exclusion concerning defective or faulty workmanship.

brewthebear

Just ask the neighbour to put right the damage They are probably awaiting you to call If it had been me I would have gone straight round to them

Quentin

browniej wrote: »

Another neighbour was in my house at the time and heard the drilling from next door. I went straight through to the neighbour and stopped him drilling. There is no doubt that his actions caused the damage and my neighbour is a witness. Does this prove negligence?

Already tried a dummy quote and policy would increase by about £40pa. That and the excess at £100 makes me unsure how to proceed. Insurers may well try to recover their loss from neighbour if negligence can be proved but that won't mitigate the increased cost of insurance over next 3/5 years.

The neighbour isn't denying drilling - your problem is proving this was negligent.


If you make a claim and your insurer agrees it is due to negligence and successfully pursues your neighbour/neighbour's insurer then you will be able to get your excess back from the other side, and the claim will be a no fault claim.


What you could try first is to get a quote, then ask your neighbour for his insurer's details and send in your claim to them and take it from their reply.


Bear in mind as soon as insurers get involved that you will have this loss on your record (even if you end up paying yourself), and will have to disclose it in future years when taking out your insurance.

Alter_ego

Sounds like a job for Polyfilla to me.

Quentin

browniej wrote: »

I believe it would still have to be declared and would still push up further policy amounts for 3/5 years. So again I lose out. Is that correct?.........

Yes I understand this from a point of view of claiming myself. Is it still regarded as a claim if I claim via the neighbour's insurance?

If any claim is made, then you have it on your record (irrespective of which insurer pays the claim)


If any loss is reported at all it goes on your record even if it doesn't end up as an insurance "claim" and most insurers require you to disclose claims AND losses.


The only way to keep this off your insurance record is make sure no insurer gets involved.

Alter_ego

browniej wrote: »

Yes it's simple when you know how. I wouldn't know where to start with removing a radiator and the hole is a bit big for simple Polyfilla - and that's only what I can actually see!

How about a long spatula to do what you can see. What you can't see shouldn't really cause a problem if it's behind a rad.
Polyfilla (Other fillers are available) Can be layered and left to dry then another layer etc.

huckster

With that type of property, you really should have a proper repair done, by someone who deals with this type of construction.

Quentin

browniej wrote: »

I haven't contacted them but curious about this for future reference as a friend suggested asking the insurance company for advice.

If you only phoned to ask advice on making a possible claim, would they record that and mean that you have to declare it in future.

Yes.


Never contact an insurer regarding a loss/possible claim until you are certain you are going to make a claim.


All losses you report get put on your record on the database - and you must then disclose them to all insurers you approach for quotes over the next 3/5 years depending on the length of claims and losses history you are asked about