Does this count as 'cancelled' house insurance for the purposes of ?

thesled

Hello

My current house insurers LV are looking to virtually double the cost of my home/contents insurance at the next renewal so I've been trying to get some online quotes.

There's a standard question which is "Have you or anyone living in the house had home insurance refused, cancelled, declined or void or had any conditions imposed?"

So what happened was when I first got the house I wasn't living in it so I got some 'empty property' insurance on it. However during the first lockdown one of the side windows got busted so I boarded them up. I told the insurers about this and they were not happy and told me to remove the boarding or they would terminate the policy. I refused as the boarding was basically doing its job so they ended the policy and gave me a (partial) refund. 
By that time I was able to live in the property so I just insured it in the normal way with LV. I told them about the boarding and they were not bothered at all. All they were fussed about was to confirm I was actually living in the property.
SO have I had a policy 'cancelled' or 'voided' in terms of the question? Because I've noticed if you answer 'Yes' to this question, it doesn't ask for any details but the premiums don't half go up. 

Many Thanks !

dunstonh

SO have I had a policy 'cancelled' or 'voided' in terms of the question? Because I've noticed if you answer 'Yes' to this question, it doesn't ask for any details but the premiums don't half go up. 

It is one of those cases where I would want to speak to a real person where the phone call is being recorded by them (and you log the date, time and name) and go by what the insurer say whether it does or not.

thesled

Yes, I think that's probably where it's headed. 
Even if I speak to a knowledgeable broker to avoid repeating the conversation with several insurers. 

Sandtree

They have given you a choice and so you have effectively chosen to cancel the policy which is not the same as the insurer cancelling the policy without giving you any options. Generally this wouldnt fall under the category of an insurer cancelled policy in the same way as if you upgraded your car from a Citroen Saxo to a Rolls Royce Wraith and your motor insurers saying that they dont offer insurance on such expensive vehicles and so you cancel the policy rather than cancelling the car upgrade.

thesled

Thanks Sandtree

Yes I like that argument. A lot. 
I certainly could have continued with the policy if I had removed the boarding, no problem.
However in terms of the actual wording of the question. . . . . tricky. I think it's a bit of an evil question. It seems designed to filter out anyone who has ever been in a 'marginal' situation and almost cherrypick the market. ('Compare The Market' by the way).
Strictly speaking, did I have a policy cancelled - yes - although I could have easily pre-empted that by cancelling it myself first. But arguably I even had 'conditions imposed' - the condition being the removal of the boards. 
I think I'd do two things - take a bit of a gamble and say 'No' to the question, and then explain it to whatever insurance company I end up with, so I can't be accused of not making full disclosure, and secondly try a different comparison site to see if they ask the same question, or not,  in a different way.

Sandtree

The question is poorly worded, and always has been. In the days of telephony, or before that local brokers, it was ok because you had someone to explain it properly and you had a dialog before the answer was submitted. 

The majority of people have had insurance cancelled, they've sold their car and not replaced it so cancelled the policy. They moved home and their insurers wanted 10x the premium so they cancelled and went to another insurer. Insurers are not interested when the customer has cancelled it, even if the insurer somewhat forced their hand. 

Generally in your kind of situation it will depend on if you were active (ie you told them you wouldnt remove it and therefore please cancel) or were passive (you ignored them and so they cancelled as you hadnt followed their instruction). The former isnt declared but the later is.

thesled

Great. Yes I do see what you're getting at. I'm certainly a lot more relaxed about that now. It's certainly true in my case I was 'active' - I refused the condition and went elsewhere. 
However if I do proceed 'online' I guess I should probably still tell the insurer about my boarded up windows - there's no question about THAT on the online forms. I guess there's a risk they might go 'Whaaaat !!!' but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.