Plaster fallen from ceiling - insurance company says not covered

Rotor

Hi all , part of my mother in laws' ceiling ( roughly 1.5 sq m) has fallen down. Insured with liverpool Victoria who sent man around and now have told her it's not covered. There's no obvious reason why it should fall i.e. no water leak or previous physical damage so I am presuming ( although don't know - MIL is 90 years old ,lives on her own and we have only heard the conversation with LV via her memory and recollection) they have classed this as wear and tear. Sound correct?
House built 1925 , original lath and plaster ceiling.
Should it be covered normally or do insurance companies routinely not cover stuff in the absence of an obvious cause?

Thanks

Sandtree

Rotor said:

Should it be covered normally or do insurance companies routinely not cover stuff in the absence of an obvious cause?

Most mass market insurance is written on a "insured perils" basis, ie for the claim to be accepted you must be able to prove the loss occurred from the action of a list of perils (flood, fire, storm etc) that are stated in the policy book 

If you cannot prove one of these caused it then you have no cover for it. At nearly 100 years old it sounds like the plaster is just old and in need of maintenance.

Higher value policies are written on an all risks basis where the tables are turned and basically damage is covered unless the insurer can show the cause is one of the listed exceptions (of which wear and tear will be one of them). Likely to get the same result in this case but it shifts the burden and means you don't need to argue if the high winds were sufficient to meet the policy definition of a storm etc.

eddddy

The insurance policy will list the risks covered - as Sandtree says, it's typically things like: fire, smoke, explosions, flood, storms, fallen trees, vandalism, subsidence, vehicle or aircraft collisions.


It's a difficult situation as your MiL is 90 years old, but generally it's best to read the policy before contacting the insurers, to see if the damage is likely to be covered.


The insurers sent somebody around, and they will have paid that person - so they might now record the incident as a claim.

Or they might record it as an 'incident which might, or might not give rise to a claim'


Either way, your MiL's future premiums are likely to increase as a result. And she'd probably have to declare the incident, if she changed insurers. So it would have been better not to contact the insurers.

Rotor

Thanks both. Not covered then     Now to try to find a builder who is both honest in not doing more work than is necessary and practised in lath and plaster work. Wish me luck!

csgohan4

use word of mouth, I loathe to use checkatrade and their kind.