Home insurance cancelled 19 July 2022 at 12:57AM in Insurance & life assurance 8 replies 249 views

FullerP91

My home insurance has been cancelled due to my partners CCJs. I was not aware of said CCJs.

My partner is not on the mortgage or deeds and all of our finances are completely separate.  All bills paid by myself. So why would her ccjs affect MY insurance for MY house? 

Sandtree

Because the typical question or declaration is that no one living in the property has a CCJ.

There is always the concern that something "may fall" or "become lost" as an easy way to liquidate assets at a much better rate than a pawnbrokers if there are financial issues in the household which a CCJ would suggest there has been.

You can only declare what you know about however a question will be raised on if you reasonably should have known about them if you want to contest the cancellation which in principle is worth doing as you'll have to declare it for life if you dont get it reversed.

[Deleted User]

Formally complain to the insurer to get this reversed and escalate to the Ombudsman as needed, don't let it drag on, act now

user1977

FullerP91 said:

My home insurance has been cancelled due to my partners CCJs. I was not aware of said CCJs.

Was your partner aware of them?

Sandtree

Deleted_User said:

Formally complain to the insurer to get this reversed and escalate to the Ombudsman as needed, don't let it drag on, act now

On what grounds should the complaint be? Lets assume the partner was fully aware that they had CCJs do you think the OP acted reasonably by not checking with their partner when asked if anyone in the household has had a CCJ?

I agree that the OP should try the complaints route but its far from certain a complaint will get the decision reversed. The law requires the OP to make reasonable efforts to know the correct answers, they cannot rely on ignorance to say they only have to answer to the best of their knowledge. 

The other comment to make to the OP... now knowing your partner has CCJs you should be informing all those others that have asked similar questions (eg most other classes of insurance, particularly those where they are named) and ensure you deal with it on the front foot rather than hoping they dont find out and keeping quiet. 

[Deleted User]

Sandtree said:

Deleted_User said:

Formally complain to the insurer to get this reversed and escalate to the Ombudsman as needed, don't let it drag on, act now

On what grounds should the complaint be? Lets assume the partner was fully aware that they had CCJs do you think the OP acted reasonably by not checking with their partner when asked if anyone in the household has had a CCJ?

I agree that the OP should try the complaints route but its far from certain a complaint will get the decision reversed. The law requires the OP to make reasonable efforts to know the correct answers, they cannot rely on ignorance to say they only have to answer to the best of their knowledge. 

The other comment to make to the OP... now knowing your partner has CCJs you should be informing all those others that have asked similar questions (eg most other classes of insurance, particularly those where they are named) and ensure you deal with it on the front foot rather than hoping they dont find out and keeping quiet. 

Firstly, it depends if the CCJ is relevant to insurance - why is the partner's history (assuming no financial link) relevant to this situation? OP insured their house, paid the bills, insurance is only in their name etc. So why does it matter?

Secondly, whether the insurance asked OP if they or anyone in the house had a CCJ. 

Thirdly, people who are willing to hide information like having a CCJ are equally likely to lie to their partner, so OP entered the information in good faith and now has a cancelled policy on the basis of something they weren't aware of that has no material impact. Would you ask a new partner if they had a CCJ before doing insurance renewal?

OP would almost certainly win at the Ombudsman particularly because of the effect of having a cancelled policy being so severe and that they took out the policy in all honesty

dunstonh

Firstly, it depends if the CCJ is relevant to insurance - why is the partner's history (assuming no financial link) relevant to this situation? OP insured their house, paid the bills, insurance is only in their name etc. So why does it matter?

CCJs are relevant to insurance.   

The partner lives with the op in the house.  That is the link.   Someone with CCJs is an increased risk.  This is why many employers will not employ people with CCJs and why lenders and insurers will restrict or refuse cover. 

The FOS have absolutely no issue with insurance being rejected to those with CCJs (plenty of FOS decisions published showing that), and there really isn't any reasonable grounds to argue that point as the person is clearly an increased risk.

Secondly, whether the insurance asked OP if they or anyone in the house had a CCJ. 

Valid point but you would be hard pushed to find  an application question that does not include wording along the lines of "have you or anyone living at that address......"

Thirdly, people who are willing to hide information like having a CCJ are equally likely to lie to their partner, so OP entered the information in good faith and now has a cancelled policy on the basis of something they weren't aware of that has no material impact. Would you ask a new partner if they had a CCJ before doing insurance renewal?

And this is why insurers, lenders, employers etc don't like people who need to be taken to court and cannot settle a judgement within 30 days.  Answering your earlier point as to why it is relevant.

If the OP was to tell the insurer that their partner lied to them and have split up because s/he was a liar there may be some scope for the insurer to pull back (the FOS would certainly consider it).  However, if the OP intends to remain with him/her because s/he didn't lie but was never asked, then it is unlikely to be overturned as the OP didn't answer the question to the best of their knowledge.  They guessed.

And yes, you would ask a new partner if they had a CCJ when doing an insurance renewal because you are living with them at that point.   Living together is a more serious and responsible position than dating someone who lives elsewhere.

OP would almost certainly win at the Ombudsman particularly because of the effect of having a cancelled policy being so severe and that they took out the policy in all honesty

We don't have sufficient information to put odds on that but based on the limited information so far and the published FOS decisions, I would have to disagree with you.  The OP didn't answer the question to the best of their ability as they didn't attempt to find out.

Sandtree

Deleted_User said:

Sandtree said:

Deleted_User said:

Formally complain to the insurer to get this reversed and escalate to the Ombudsman as needed, don't let it drag on, act now

On what grounds should the complaint be? Lets assume the partner was fully aware that they had CCJs do you think the OP acted reasonably by not checking with their partner when asked if anyone in the household has had a CCJ?

I agree that the OP should try the complaints route but its far from certain a complaint will get the decision reversed. The law requires the OP to make reasonable efforts to know the correct answers, they cannot rely on ignorance to say they only have to answer to the best of their knowledge. 

The other comment to make to the OP... now knowing your partner has CCJs you should be informing all those others that have asked similar questions (eg most other classes of insurance, particularly those where they are named) and ensure you deal with it on the front foot rather than hoping they dont find out and keeping quiet. 

Firstly, it depends if the CCJ is relevant to insurance - why is the partner's history (assuming no financial link) relevant to this situation? OP insured their house, paid the bills, insurance is only in their name etc. So why does it matter?

Secondly, whether the insurance asked OP if they or anyone in the house had a CCJ. 

Thirdly, people who are willing to hide information like having a CCJ are equally likely to lie to their partner, so OP entered the information in good faith and now has a cancelled policy on the basis of something they weren't aware of that has no material impact. Would you ask a new partner if they had a CCJ before doing insurance renewal?

OP would almost certainly win at the Ombudsman particularly because of the effect of having a cancelled policy being so severe and that they took out the policy in all honesty

1) Because the insurance covers the house holds possessions including the partners, as already pointed out, those in financial distress have been known to manufacture claims as the cheque from an insurer for losing your £500 watch is generally a lot more than you'd get for your secondhand watch on eBay. As an example you can see https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN4980378.pdf which was before the new rules came in and you'll note no question was raised on the nature of the CCJ just that they had declared no when the ombudsman believed they should have known about the CCJ


2) Show me a single insurer that only asks about the policyholder... I've never come across a single one


3) What I personally would do isn't really relevant relevant, for one they wouldn't be a new partner if they've already moved into "my" house. Ultimately yes the partner could have lied but that all forms part of the story that needs to be told if its true. The key part however is that the law doesn't accept ignorance if the person should have reasonably known... obviously the ombudsman opines on these sorts of things frequently like if mods on cars were obviously declarable or not and they certainly dont always land on the side of the policyholder.

4) There are plenty of cases of the ombudsman not withholding such complaints, https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN7424366.pdf where they claimed they didn't know about the CCJs  and https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN5248822.pdf is another one close to the OP where it was the daughter-in-law that had the CCJs which the ombudsman said the policyholder should have made more enquiries to find out about.

user1977

Deleted_User said:

Sandtree said:

Deleted_User said:

Formally complain to the insurer to get this reversed and escalate to the Ombudsman as needed, don't let it drag on, act now

On what grounds should the complaint be? Lets assume the partner was fully aware that they had CCJs do you think the OP acted reasonably by not checking with their partner when asked if anyone in the household has had a CCJ?

I agree that the OP should try the complaints route but its far from certain a complaint will get the decision reversed. The law requires the OP to make reasonable efforts to know the correct answers, they cannot rely on ignorance to say they only have to answer to the best of their knowledge. 

The other comment to make to the OP... now knowing your partner has CCJs you should be informing all those others that have asked similar questions (eg most other classes of insurance, particularly those where they are named) and ensure you deal with it on the front foot rather than hoping they dont find out and keeping quiet. 

Would you ask a new partner if they had a CCJ before doing insurance renewal?

If I didn't know the answer, yes. If this was a motor insurance proposal form, would you just assume they hadn't had any relevant accidents and had a clean licence? Or would you ask?