Claim Amount Vs Excess

GlassPanda

Hi All

Annoyingly I've had a kitchen cupboard fall of a wall. We moved in about 4 months ago and the units were already in place. We finished putting some shopping away and we heard an almighty crash and found the cupboard on the floor. There's been damage to the floor (including a massive dent right through the vinyl click flooring) and the kitchen units below it.

I've got home insurance but have a couple of questions:
1. Is this likely to be a claim against buildings or contents insurance?
2. I have quite a high excess. Are there likely to be any problems if I put in the claim and the claim doesn't meet the excess (e.g. lose no claims if I put in a claim but it isn't worth claiming due to high excess)?

I'm really not sure how much it would cost to replace/repair the floor (would I need to replace the whole floor? Could the damaged piece be cut out and replaced (if I can find matching flooring)?). I don't want to impact my no claims bonus by raising it with my insurer if the claim value isn't likely to be worth it. Do I get a say if I don't wish to progress with the claim?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm hoping someone can help.

Sandtree

1) The kitchen unit is a fixture so is covered by buildings however "it just fell off the wall" is unlikely to be an insured peril. Flooring can vary between being contents and buildings - if its removable then its contents, if its glued/nailed down and unremovable its building. It is fairly likely damage to this would be covered under accidental damage if you have purchased this extra level of cover

2) If you put in a claim it is a claim that has to be declared even if the claim is subsequently withdrawn by you or declined by the insurer as below the excess. NCD is not well developed in home insurance and for most they simply ask how many claim free years you've had to which the answer will now be 0

3) Repair to the flooring will depend on if you have matching set cover or not, again a feature of generally higher quality products rather than the cheap ones on aggregators. Without it the insurers are only liable for the damaged parts so if only 3 of 30 planks/tiles are damaged they only have to deal with them and not the other 27. If they are irreplaceable then the ombudsman generally expects the insurer to cover 50% of the others if you are going to be in a situation of having to replace the whole floor because you dont want just 3 odd tiles/planks in one area.

GlassPanda

That's great Sandtree. A very thorough response.

I'll have a look through my policy and see whether I'm likely to be covered or whether I just need to cover the repair myself, or live with a big hole in the floor.