Is Churchill's House Insurance Excess Really a Fee?

sarahj2122

Hello,
I have house insurance with Churchill, although I have discovered any claim is dealt with via a third party (Sedgwick insurance). I have two cracked roof tiles letting in a small amount of water, a assessor has viewed today and has confirmed the claim is legitimate, my question is in regards to excess (I've never claimed on house insurance before only car).
For argument sakes let’s say I had £1000 worth of damage on my car and excess of £300, I would pay the £300 and my car would have £1000 worth of fixes (costing me £300).
However, on my house insurance I have £1000 worth of damage, my excess is £300...The insurance company has given me £700 to fix the roof (costing me £300 up front). However, I know have only £700 to pay for £1000 worth of damage, I've got to pay another £300 (£600 in total) towards the fix and not £300 that I would pay for the same claim on a car? This to me is not excess, but a charge, Is this "normal"? 

I feel the £300 excess is not excess but a fee...

Churchill’s policy states “Excess – The amount that you must pay towards any claim.”

The £300 been taken off me is not going to the claim?

 

Any thoughts (again, is this normal), any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Tokmon

sarahj2122 said:

Hello,
I have house insurance with Churchill, although I have discovered any claim is dealt with via a third party (Sedgwick insurance). I have two cracked roof tiles letting in a small amount of water, a assessor has viewed today and has confirmed the claim is legitimate, my question is in regards to excess (I've never claimed on house insurance before only car).
For argument sakes let’s say I had £1000 worth of damage on my car and excess of £300, I would pay the £300 and my car would have £1000 worth of fixes (costing me £300).
However, on my house insurance I have £1000 worth of damage, my excess is £300...The insurance company has given me £700 to fix the roof (costing me £300 up front). However, I know have only £700 to pay for £1000 worth of damage, I've got to pay another £300 (£600 in total) towards the fix and not £300 that I would pay for the same claim on a car? This to me is not excess, but a charge, Is this "normal"? 

I feel the £300 excess is not excess but a fee...

Churchill’s policy states “Excess – The amount that you must pay towards any claim.”

The £300 been taken off me is not going to the claim?

 

Any thoughts (again, is this normal), any advice appreciated.

Cheers

They give you £700 to repair the roof and it costs £1000 so your down £300 which is your excess...

I'm not sure where you getting the extra £300 cost from and saying your paying £600 towards it?

davidmcn

sarahj2122 said:

on my house insurance I have £1000 worth of damage, my excess is £300...The insurance company has given me £700 to fix the roof (costing me £300 up front)

How has it "cost you £300 up front"?

TELLIT01

I wouldn't be happy accepting payment from an insurer on the basis of an estimate of cost.  Surely the insurer should deal direct with the company doing the repairs.  When my roof was damaged during a storm they paid the company direct and took the excess from me via debit card.

IvanOpinion

It all works out the same, in your motor example you paid the insurance company the excess fee whereas in your house example the insurance company has simply deducted the excess (you do not pay anything to the insurance company).  So in both examples you pay £1000 for the fixes, the insurance company pays £700 and you pay £300.

Smithcom

sarahj2122 said:

Hello,
I have house insurance with Churchill, although I have discovered any claim is dealt with via a third party (Sedgwick insurance). I have two cracked roof tiles letting in a small amount of water, a assessor has viewed today and has confirmed the claim is legitimate, my question is in regards to excess (I've never claimed on house insurance before only car).
For argument sakes let’s say I had £1000 worth of damage on my car and excess of £300, I would pay the £300 and my car would have £1000 worth of fixes (costing me £300).
However, on my house insurance I have £1000 worth of damage, my excess is £300...The insurance company has given me £700 to fix the roof (costing me £300 up front). However, I know have only £700 to pay for £1000 worth of damage, I've got to pay another £300 (£600 in total) towards the fix and not £300 that I would pay for the same claim on a car? This to me is not excess, but a charge, Is this "normal"? 

I feel the £300 excess is not excess but a fee...

Churchill’s policy states “Excess – The amount that you must pay towards any claim.”

The £300 been taken off me is not going to the claim?

 

Any thoughts (again, is this normal), any advice appreciated.

Cheers

You are possibly over-thinking this.
An excess is your contribution towards the claim. In this case £300.
Your claim is for £1,000.   Insurers will pay £700 presumably.   Therefore, the £300 deduction is the excess.
You have not paid £300 twice (unless you are saying that you have).