Ongoing buildings and contents claim - renewal?

MRSB

Hi all,

We're in the middle of a bit of a saga. We found symptoms of a leak under our concrete floor and claimed on our insurance in March 2017. The insurer's contractor's said that it was not a pipe leak and therefore not covered by our insurance policy so our claim was closed.

As of January 2018, our claim has now been reopened, as we now have proof that this is a pipe leak and it has been ongoing since March 2017, and our insurer has agreed with this.

We are due to renew our home insurance at the end of February, but obviously this claim is ongoing at present, and with the rectification work required, it will definitely not be settled before our renewal date.

We have had our renewal quote from our current insurer, and have had quotes from other companies which are significantly cheaper. We have told our insurer about this and they are unwilling to change the renewal price.

So, are we able to change insurance provider during a claim? As far as we are concerned if this leak had been correctly identified in March 2017 the claim would have been settled by now and so we would be able to get our home insurance from whoever we choose.

Does anyone know where we might stand regarding this please?

Thanks very much

paddyandstumpy

You can move, and it doesnt have any bearing on your claim.
Make sure youve disclosed the claim to your new provider.

PrivateClients

Whilst moving may not have any effect on your current claim you would seriously want to recheck your cheaper alternative quotes as they may not actually be valid quotes at all.

Firstly, the majority of UK household insurers won't accept a new business (to them) where there is an open claim. So declaring the claim on a price comparison website or online quote engine might not be enough because your new insurers are seeing this as a paid/settled claim which is not accurate.

Secondly, you would normally fail to meet the assumption on a policy that "your house is currently in a good state of repair and not undergoing renovations" or similar phrasing.

Thirdly, most policies make it a requirement that you notify any building works at the property to them (often above a certain threshold e.g. £25k) before works commence for cover to apply.

Just be very careful unless you have spoken to these potential insurers and they have agreed and understood the claim is ongoing and the house is currently being repaired. Failure to do so could see you disappointed if you needed to make a claim with your new insurers.