House insurance increased because we phoned to see if we were covered after a leak

ianwalford

We've recently had our Tesco house insurance policy renewal notice through and were faced with a £150 increase. Because of this we decided to change insurer to Admiral and take advantage of what seemed to be a lower quote.

However in December 2014 we had a small leak in our kitchen as a pipe had split under the sink. Not knowing how much it would cost to repair we phoned Tesco to see if we would be covered in event of a claim. We would be but In the end the repair was only around £70 and not worth claiming for.

Despite not claiming, this is now on our record as a 'claim event' meaning the lower quote went up considerably.

Is this something Tesco are able or meant to do? It seems odd that phoning to see if we're covered by a policy can be registered as a claim.

paddyandstumpy

Yes they can, and yes it's legit.

Just because the value of the claim was so small, doesn't mean you didn't suffer the loss. If the value was larger I'm sure you would have claimed, it's this propensity to claim the insurer has rated on.

This is why it's advised to only speak to the insurer when you're sure you're making a claim.

Blibble

You are now riskier to insure as you have declared the loss, and as such premiums are increased.

All standard stuff I'm afraid.

Andyjp1

Any excuse.

paddyandstumpy

Andyjp1 wrote: »

Any excuse.

Care to elaborate?

System

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

, it's this propensity to claim the insurer has rated on.
.

Anybody who has read this thread now has a greater propensity to claim, because we now know that a water leak from a small split pipe under the sink is a claimable event.
In ignorance before I might have just assumed it wasn't.

Blibble

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

Anybody who has read this thread now has a greater propensity to claim, because we now know that a water leak from a small split pipe under the sink is a claimable event.
In ignorance before I might have just assumed it wasn't.

Or is it now a lesser propensity to claim as those who have read this now know that declaring a loss and not pursuing the claim may increase your premiums? You tell me!