Unsure how to answer prev claims question

Blackavar

Hi. I am in the process of changing buildings and contents insurance away from current provider as cost gone from £200 to £600.
I usually use Moneysupermarket but anyway a question asked in the application is 'have you made any claims in the past X years?'
Well, I did make 2 claims last year - 1. tile damage on roof causing water leaking into bedroom. Insurer said wind speed insufficient to be covered (despite a named storm that my neighbour claimed successfully for) and the 'emergency cover' guys showed up the next day to take a look but did nothing. So claim not paid.
2. carpets being destroyed in 2 corners apparently by an insect. Advised not covered on policy so fair enough. Claim not paid.
So my question is - when asked 'have you made any claims' I guess the answer is yes although nothing paid out but I don't want to seem like a serial claimer because I'm definitely not. There doesn't seem to be an option of claimed but not paid out.
So does 'Have you made a claim' mean a paid out claim or any claim?
Thanks in advance for advice.

forgotmyname

No, it means did you make a claim which you did twice.

Whether you were covered or paid out is not the question at that point.

davidwatts

In common with most insurers, Moneysupermarket ask if you've made any claims or "suffered any losses" in the last 5 years so you need to disclose events whether you claimed successfully, unsuccessfully or chose not to claim.

I'd be a bit 50/50 about disclosing the second incident myself as that's something that wouldn't be covered by most, if not all, policies. If you "made a claim" then I'd disclose it. If you enquired about whether you could claim and were told you couldn't then I'd be inclined not to mention it. I definitely wouldn't be disclosing that event if I hadn't advised the insurer about it. The risk you run is that the event has been added to the claims database and is picked up and challenged by the new insurer.

Safety first approach is disclose both, answering the specific questions your are asked as accurately as possible. You may find it doesn't have too drastic an impact on the quotes you get back.

Quentin

davidwatts wrote: »

I'd be a bit 50/50 about disclosing the second incident myself as that's something that wouldn't be covered by most, if not all, policies. If you "made a claim" then I'd disclose it. If you enquired about whether you could claim and were told you couldn't then I'd be inclined not to mention it. I definitely wouldn't be disclosing that event if I hadn't advised the insurer about it. The risk you run is that the event has been added to the claims database and is picked up and challenged by the new insurer.........

The OP did make a "claim" for damage to the carpet.

It was rejected

Nevertheless a claim was made and will be on record

Not to disclose it would be a breach of the policy TS & CS , allowing the insurer to reject a future claim/ void or cancel the policy etc

davidwatts

A claim may be on record. If there's any doubt whatsoever then I agree it should be disclosed to avoid issues further down the line.

It's not uncommon for some insurers to "pre-screen" or triage claims and not proceed to actually register it as a claim if that would be in the customer's best interests (and their own in terms of formally registering a claim). If you phoned up, briefly explained what had happened and were told it was something you couldn't claim for then that might be the end of the matter with some insurers. I certainly know of insurers who seeks to dissuade customers from registering small claims that might be barely worth it after the excess and no claim discount reduction are taken into account. Some of them have this built into the recorded message you hear before getting to actually speak to someone to register a claim.

Best for the OP to assume they made a claim for that event and proceed accordingly, unless they feel inclined to check with their insurer. (Perfectly reasonable to ask if that event was recorded as a claim or just treated as an enquiry.)

Quentin

Problem arises if you are asked (as many insurers do) about " claims OR losses".

In this case the OP will certainly have at least a loss to disclose!

Most insurers do record rejected claims (obviously they need a record of the facts of a rejected claim should the policyholder subsequently contest their decision)

davidwatts

As I said earlier, I wouldn't be disclosing the insects munching carpet incident myself if a claim hadn't been made.

I accept, though, that this is an instance where it would be better to do as you say rather than as I'd do.

The previous claims/losses question is probably the toughest nut to crack when it comes to having clear and unambiguous questions. There's a significant pressure from various sources to just ask about claims made and do away with losses and incidents because it's hard to frame a question that clearly conveys what should be disclosed and what doesn't need to be.

At one extreme, if you have significant losses whilst uninsured (e.g. fire, theft, multiple instances of malicious damage) then insurers will want to know about those even if you weren't able to make a claim. On the other hand, you might have dropped a couple of plates whilst doing the washing up but I doubt anyone is disclosing that to the insurer even if, by strict interpretation, the question wording would require it!