Is it worth a home insurance claim?

forumuser1665

Hello.

I am in search of some advice or opinion on whether I should make a claim on my home insurance.

We had a break-in recently but we disturbed the thieves so they got away with next-to-nothing, and it's stuff we'd struggle to prove we had in any case. So call the value of the lost items £0.

The damage to the windows is what I have been offered a cash settlement for. The insurers will pay me £340 (that is after taking off excess), maybe increased by the relevant VAT amount.

However, my gut instinct is to take it on the chin and not claim. I've been a homeowner for over 16 years and have never made a home insurance claim. The no claims discount is not protected. My last premium was around £220. I am not sure what effect a claim will have on the premiums and for how long that effect will last. If it puts £100 on and lasts for five years then it's not worth claiming - that's my thinking.

Any advice or similar experience appreciated.

DanielJones

I don't know if I'm in the right place or not.
So here goes....
The previous homeowners before my partner and I, had for some reason decided to move the soil stack so it went along two walls and then down into the ground via a inspection chamber, causing many nightmares with blockages and now having to pay between £1100-£1500 to have said soil stack repositioned and new flooring in our bathroom. So the question is, would I be able to claim on my home insurance to have both the soil stack(going straight down into the ground) flooring replaced?

Aretnap

DanielJones wrote: »

I don't know if I'm in the right place or not.

Better to start your own thread for a new query. I've reported this post in the hope that a moderator will spin it (and replies) off so that the original query doesn't get side-tracked.

The previous homeowners before my partner and I, had for some reason decided to move the soil stack so it went along two walls and then down into the ground via a inspection chamber, causing many nightmares with blockages and now having to pay between £1100-£1500 to have said soil stack repositioned and new flooring in our bathroom. So the question is, would I be able to claim on my home insurance to have both the soil stack(going straight down into the ground) flooring replaced?

Home insurance covers unexpected events which cause damage to your house (eg fire, flood, storms, subsidence). It doesn't cover poor workmanship, or the fact that your house was defective in the first place. So it certainly won't cover the cost of repositioning the soil stack. However if the bathroom floor was damaged by water leaking from the soil stack then you might be able to claim for that damage under the escape of water section of your policy.

Did you have a survey done when you bought the house? If so you may have a claim against the surveyor if the defective soil stack was something they should have spotted and didn't (no idea whether it's the sort of thing they should have spotted myself, but it's a question worth asking).