had home insurance cancelled - advice needed

rolysatch

[FONT=&quot]Hi[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I recently had a small extension built on my house. Unfortunately due to my ignorance I didn't realise I was meant to inform my home insurance company. I’ve just informed them of my extra bedroom and they have cancelled my insurance from the date the building works started. Now I’ve got insurance elsewhere which isn't a problem (I bought this while waiting to hear back from them as it was significantly cheaper than my renewal price anyway).[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]What I’m concerned about is the fact they have cancelled my policy. Will this affect me from getting insurance elsewhere in the future (home/car insurance) or affect the cost? The lady I spoke to on the phone at policy expert (the brokers) said that it's not recorded but wanted to check as it was the underwriters which have cancelled the policy. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Any advice greatly appreciated[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Thanks in advance[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Roland[/FONT]

in_my_wellies

I can't help but wondered how long it had been a rule that you need to inform the insurer about building work? We had an extension in 1993 (extra bedroom) and another in 2009 (study, garage) but didn't think to inform the insurer.

rolysatch

Yes not sure, it certainly caught me out.

elsien

Building cover covers the cost of a rebuild of the house if something happens. Makes sense that they'd want to know if they were making good on a house that's bigger than the one they thought they were insuring.

Isn't there an obligation for all insurance to let them know of any material changes? Sticking an extra bit on as opposed to a bit of redecoration would seem to fall into that.

rolysatch

well the plan was to notify them of the extra bedroom when it was built. i didn't realise i had to notify them of intention to build and while the build was in progress.

Chickenlips

Some insurers will reduce the cover whilst works are in progress, or apply additional terms on the policy for the duration. The reason for this is that having building works in progress is considered a higher risk.

Some insurers have a strict policy regarding the number of bedrooms they are willing to insure. There was a case in the press regarding Age as and a five bedroom property that transpired to be seven bedrooms.

It's always worth reading your policy and noting what is listed in the "Changes you must tell us about" section. They don't tend to vary too much between insurers... but it's better to let your insurers know as soon as possible, as if they can prove they wouldn't have insured the risk based on the new information they can void your policy. Often people only find this out when they actually need the cover.

Hope this helps for future reference

rolysatch

thanks for the advice guys. i've now contacted my new insurers to advise that i am now aware that my previous policy has now been cancelled and they are now not willing to insure, which i thought might be the case. anyway i have found someone else who covers previous cancellations and its going to cost me about £100 a year more which is painful but could be worse i suppose.

uk1

rolysatch wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Hi[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I recently had a small extension built on my house. Unfortunately due to my ignorance I didn't realise I was meant to inform my home insurance company. I’ve just informed them of my extra bedroom and they have cancelled my insurance from the date the building works started. Now I’ve got insurance elsewhere which isn't a problem (I bought this while waiting to hear back from them as it was significantly cheaper than my renewal price anyway).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What I’m concerned about is the fact they have cancelled my policy. Will this affect me from getting insurance elsewhere in the future (home/car insurance) or affect the cost? The lady I spoke to on the phone at policy expert (the brokers) said that it's not recorded but wanted to check as it was the underwriters which have cancelled the policy. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Any advice greatly appreciated[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks in advance[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Roland[/FONT]

Roland,

This isn't a black or white situation but unless the risk once you had added the extension was such that the insurers would never have accepted the risk if informed then I believe that they over-reacted. I believe the correct reponse would have been to simply request additional premium from the date they were informed for the balance of the policy period on the basis that in fact you were not covered in theory (at least in part) from the moment the new extension was added because if there had been a claim it would have been scaled back by the under-paid premium percentage.

The failure to inform them wasn't purposeful and I believe that although it is now too late to re-establish the insurance I belive that you should make a formal complaint asking that their respo0nse was unfair and that at this late stage their records should be changed and that they reinstate the insurance until the date that you informed them and that the policy should be lapsed from that date on the basis that any additional premium wasn't requested. It is important you get the record changed from cancelled to lapsed or simply not renewed. I believe that if the complaint was escalated to the ombudsman they would find that the insurers response was unfair.

Good luck.

rolysatch

[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]Thanks for taking the time to respond. That's extremely helpful and certainly worth a shot. As I also notice that when quoting insurance they ask if you've ever had any insurance cancelled and don't out a time limit on it so this is going to stay with me for ever. I’ve never once claimed on my house/contents insurance and never made any false claims, so does seem a bit unfair.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Do you happen to know whether I have to declare this cancellation when applying for motor insurance? The lady I spoke to at Sainsbury’s said I didn't as it wasn’t home insurance I but was hoping to clarify as the last thing I need is another unintentional non-disclosure.[/FONT]

uk1

You have to read the declaration on any new insurance. If it says "any insurance" it MUST be declared. If it says "motor insurance" it needn't. That is why you must resolve it.

Call them and explain that your failure to inform them wasn't wilfull and that you simply hadn't thought of the insurance until it was renewed. That you accept that you should have but that their reaction is disproportionate and unfair, and that unless they reconsider in the way I outlined previously you would formalise it into a complaint.

Good luck.

rolysatch

[FONT=&quot]Oh dear, that's what I feared you might say. Well let me thank you again, you've really been very helpful and given me a little bit of hope. I’ll do all you suggest and report back when and if I get a conclusion.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Thanks again![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Roland [/FONT]