Over insursed - what to cut?

Sunnie15

Help. I am in the process of taking over Mum's house paperwork as she has Alzheimer's and I think she is paying for things twice or even 3 times but its difficult to know what to cut.
1. House insurance, buildings and contents with Home Emergency which says it covers heating failure, blocked drains. She also has full accidental cover. I am moving companies with this as she is paying over the odds with LV.
2. Homeserve cover for drains etc. but they wouldn't pay out for a problem she had with her washing machine pipes recently.
3. Homeserve cover for electrical.
4. British Gas boiler cover.
Somthing there needs to go. I spoke to Homeserve recently and got her premiums right down for the existing year. On renewal for pipes and water supply etc. they want £380 a year. Way too much.
The other issue I have is that the house is not well maintained and although she has accidental damage and homeserve can they wriggle out as everything in the house is so old and is something breaks or blocks would it be down the age of it?
She isn't local to me either which makes it difficult. I know lots of people to contact if I have an issue but its hard when she is 70 miles away and mostly alone. I sort of think there is some protection for an old lady from these policies but at the same time think she is being ripped off.

Zorillo

Insurance won't cover a lack of maintenance so it is quite possible that she is both spending too much and wasting her money.

The only way to decide what needs to go is to read the policies and see what is duplicated and what is unnecessary.

And then concentrate on sorting out the maintenance issues that may prevent claims being paid.

70 miles is an unhelpful distance but it's not insurmountable. You need to try to sort out as much as you can before an incident occurs.

eddddy

Sunnie15 wrote: »

2. Homeserve cover for drains etc. but they wouldn't pay out for a problem she had with her washing machine pipes recently.

Homeserve don't 'pay out' as such.

If there is a plumbing leak, for example, you phone them and they send out their engineer/plumber to fix it.

Isn't that what happened?

(That's how most home emergency policies work.)

Sunnie15

Thanks, I am about to renew her house insurance so I will look closely at what is covered. Homeserve seem to be good at giving people the worst case scenario and mum has been scared to cancel her policy in the past because of what they will sort out for her but tbh how often do you need a new fuse box or if somebody goes through a cable its covered by their PLI or your own accidental cover. Maintenance of the house - its too far gone for that. Years of neglect and the 'it will see me out' mentality, the basics work OK. I get shot down in flames whenever I suggest to the family that things need doing.

Robin9

Don't forget her utilities

Sunnie15

British Gas 'read' her meter in December and God knows what they did because they input a completely incorrect figure that put her electricity up from £45 per month to £637. She was aware that it had gone up and I picked it up on a bank statement and she told me that it was because it was because she had been underpaying and it was a balancing payment. Didn't think much of it until I read a statement 2 months later and saw the same payment going off. £1858 refund later... My name on the bill now and I have used the POA.

HomeServe_company_representative

Hi there.

We have noticed your comment on your Mothers HomeServe Cover and her claims experience. We want to do all we can to help clarify any questions you have about this. Please take the time to contact us via the details found on our profile. This will allow us to look at this further.

Kindest regards

Rebecca
Here To Help Team

System

check the water company ours had an insurance that covered drains and it was under £30 a year.