House insurance refused after accident

HydeLAD402

Following a large van running into my property and causing damage to walls, metal art deco fences, front of house bay window, front door trees and other plants and brickwork. The damage was also in front room due to bricks coming through wall. My insurance appeared to be fairly quick in organising quotes etc. It then took a while for the work to begin and is still ongoing from Oct31st to Feb21 (time of writing) As my insurance became renewal time I was told that my insurer was not going to offer me the opportunity to continue with them. I have also been told many other firms will not offer me a reasonable price as I have a claim for £42,000 . The owner of the said lorry company gave me his insurance details the following morning. I cannot get insurance cover at a reasonable prices as I have a claim for a large amount. I have been the injured party, at no fault and am suffering, WHY? This year £351 new offer £1000 plus. There are no problems with the other persons insurance they will pay for the damage. Any ideas please.

uk1

It may be that amongst other considerations the insurer feels that your house is positioned so that it might be vulnerable for the same accident again. It isn't a matter of fault but more a matter of risk.

I suggest you consider contacting a broker to see if he could help and also consider offering to take a policy with a high excess say £5k. My policy has high excesses because I take the view that I only wish to claim for something substantial and will self-insure for trivial stuff. This keeps premiums lower over time.

Good luck.

Zorillo

Although they are within their rights to do so, it's poor form of your existing insurer to refuse renewal with a large non-fault claim outstanding in my opinion. I'd complain.

[Deleted User]

uk1 wrote: »

It may be that amongst other considerations the insurer feels that your house is positioned so that it might be vulnerable for the same accident again. It isn't a matter of fault but more a matter of risk.

Maybe install some crash barriers at the perimeter?

I think part of the problem here is claiming on home insurance instead of the van driver's insurance. Aside from anything else, any increased premiums could be added to the cost of the claim, along with things like increased costs (heating etc.) during the repair work which tends to speed things up a bit.

In this case I'd also consider making a complaint to your insurer about massively increasing your costs for a non-fault claim. Often complaining gets things straightened out.

uk1

DELETED USER wrote:

Maybe install some crash barriers at the perimeter?

I think part of the problem here is claiming on home insurance instead of the van driver's insurance. Aside from anything else, any increased premiums could be added to the cost of the claim, along with things like increased costs (heating etc.) during the repair work which tends to speed things up a bit.

In this case I'd also consider making a complaint to your insurer about massively increasing your costs for a non-fault claim. Often complaining gets things straightened out.

Complaining to the insurer is certainly a worthy option that has no downsides. It might nudge the thing in the right direction. They will likely say that the higher premium has nothing to do with fault but reflects the risk.

Claiming from the van drivers insurance doesn't reduce the future risks attatched to the property and it will appear on the database. Claiming for increased premiums will be a complex argument and not be clear-cut and will be more speculative. I'm not suggesting impossible but simply by no means certain. The complaint however is certainly worth a punt.

HydeLAD402

Thank you for your reply. I live on a reasonably quiet main road. The road is quite straight i where my house is. No near accidents whilst I have been here, 22 yrs. The driver said he swerved to avoid a deer crossing the road. On investigating where his tyre tracks pre collision were on my side of the road, the opposite to where he should have been, he was on the pavement some 30 mtrs before he hit my fences and stone pillar etc, it was obvious he was foot down and not braking. His boss who came over from Poland the following morning asked if I thought he was on his phone, which would account for not braking and possibly accelerating. Our houses which are in a row have not had any issues with damage from traffic.

HydeLAD402

Thank you for your reply. I live on a reasonably quiet main road. The road is quite straight i where my house is. No near accidents whilst I have been here, 22 yrs. The driver said he swerved to avoid a deer crossing the road. On investigating where his tyre tracks pre collision were on my side of the road, the opposite to where he should have been, he was on the pavement some 30 mtrs before he hit my fences and stone pillar etc, it was obvious he was foot down and not braking. His boss who came over from Poland the following morning asked if I thought he was on his phone, which would account for not braking and possibly accelerating. Our houses which are in a row have not had any issues with damage from traffic.

HydeLAD402

Thanks for your reply it is appreciated

HydeLAD402

Thank you for your reply t my problen much appreciated

uk1

The best thing is to call the insurers and explain it exactly as you have described it. If you feel that this is totally unlikely ever to happen again then as a very last backstop ie after trying to find cover elsewhere, you might offer to have vehicle impact as an exclusion. I doubt you will need to but just keep it in mind.

Jlo31

I would expect your house insurance will claim their loss back via the vehicle Insurance so I'm surprised premiums are so high. May be its because the case is pending until work is done then your insurers may reclaim their costs.