Is this an insurance claim?

twopenny

That ivy is very old. Judging by the thickness of stem over 10yrs so any problem now will have been foreseeable and due to lack of care.
And yes, any mention of enquiries is noted on any type of insurance now. Has been for some considerable time.

ka7e

But the ivy didn't cause the bowing of the back wall - I think the whole thing is collapsing inwards!

lisyloo

It’s not clear from the photo what the cause of the issue is.
insurance covers you for perils like fire, flood, storms, burglary,
it doesn’t cover you for wear and tear, normal maintenance or ageing.
do you have any idea what the cause of the issue is?

stuart45

Looks like it could have been built overhand on top of an old garden wall, so is really down to poor construction.

lisyloo

Bendy_House said:

canaldumidi said:

Also be very hesitant about even mentioning this to insurers unless/until you decide to actually make a claim.

Just ringing them to enquire will lead to a record on your file, and bump up future premiums even if you don't make a claim.

Really? Are you sure?

Sounds harsh. Actually, it sounds completely unfair, and surely challengeable.

You are meant to declare any loss if/when asked.
if it’s on record then it’s risky not to declare because you could be accused of non-disclosure which then becomes a major problem with no end date.
if you don’t mention it then whether it’s actually considered a “loss” is sometimes a grey area where something poorly maintained is concerned.
you might have a hard job claiming it wasn’t a loss if you enquired about claiming for it though.

Sandtree

Bendy_House said:

canaldumidi said:

Also be very hesitant about even mentioning this to insurers unless/until you decide to actually make a claim.

Just ringing them to enquire will lead to a record on your file, and bump up future premiums even if you don't make a claim.

Really? Are you sure?

Sounds harsh. Actually, it sounds completely unfair, and surely challengeable.

You have to remember that insurers typically ask about any "incidents" and not just "claims" and so record it as an incident in their claims system and so consider it in the following year's renewal quote. 

The issue is that most of us "forget" to mention those things we didnt claim for and so it may feel "unfair" but the root of the unfairness is everyone else not mentioning it not the insurer. In theory if everyone did start recording every incident then it'd likely reduce the impact of a single non-claimed incident as they'd be seen as previlant as they really are

lisyloo

Santree - I’ve asked this many times before and not got an answer but seems to be a grey area to me.
lets say I get a stone chip on my car - it might actually devalue it if it was pristine, but if I decide to live with a slight imperfection is a stone chip an “incident”.
i wouldn’t expect breaking a mug, glass or laddering pair of tights an incident so where do we draw the line?
things get scratched, weathered all the time and mostly we continue using them.
normal wear and tear you say?
so is a stone chip on a car normal wear & tear? Or is it a loss? Does it make a difference if I have a dented old banger where there is no loss in value or a pristine luxury car where there might be a loss in value.
if my fence blows down and I simply put it back up again - is that an “incident”.

I use my common sense of course but it genuinely is not obvious to me where the line is drawn.

canaldumidi

The line is drawn when you make the decision not to just fix the car, fence, house, but instead to ring the insurer, where the customer services assistant will go clickerty clackerty on their keyboard recording the 'incident!