bankruptcy question re; home insurance

dappanumber1

hi, my next door neighbour has been bankrupt since oct 06, and will be discharged next month.

however she has just had a house fire, and there was a lot of smoke damage which, when inspected, meant getting rid of beds, cooker, washer, curtains, blinds, microwave, kettle, pretty much everything and the housing association moved her to another house while damage is being sorted. the insurance have already taken all the damaged goods away.

however today an insurance woman came round to do another examination and ask some questions, she asked if she was or had been bankrupt. she said yes, so the woman refused to talk to her anymore and left, saying that she hadnt informed them and she cant deal with it further until she has sorted it with her boss. this however has left her with no goods in her property, as they have all been taken away.

are they allowed to just leave her with nothing?! surely not! i have reassurred her, but just thought i'd check with you lot!

thanks a lot, adam.

Conor_3

It's the same situation with life insurance as well. Not sure why it is or what its about.
She needs to get some proper advice. Might be worth asking the OR why.

tigerfeet2006

bumpity bump!

Posthinking

This has been raised before, by myself and others. Full disclosure is essential with insurance companies. Some will not accept BRs, some will. This case is the very reason why. They're quite happy to take our premiums but reluctant to pay out and will refuse to do so at any opportunity.

truffsie

Hi dappanumber1,

I'm gussing the goods were taken away by a cleaning company instructed by the insurers. If so your neighbour would have been asked to sign an inventory of goods taken away and confirming she would be responsible for any costs not met by the insurers.

If the goods have been disposed of, who gave authority for this? If it was the insurance company, they should not have done so until they had confirmed policy liability and as such would be legally responsible to pay for the goods.

The representative should not have left without advising your neighbour what the implications of not disclosing the bankruptcy were and what options the insurers have-(as I see it they can void the policy and return the premium-unless there have been any other claims and they could ask for the money back, or they can deal with the claim, being aware of the situation.

Do you know if your neighbour witheld the information deliberately or was it an oversight?

dappanumber1

no, she overlooked it, nothing dodgy or anything!

just heard today though that the insurance will now cover her anyway so she will be sorted soon!

thanks for your help anyway!!

adam

truffsie

Glad it's all sorted, it's traumatic enough having to deal with the after effects of a fire without having problems with the insurance company as well.
Best wishes and hope the claim's sorted soon.