Didn't declare previous claim - home insurance

Lilly345789

Hi.

When my partner renewed our home insurance he stated that we had owned our home for X years, and that we had 0 NCB for building insurance and X NCB for contents insurance. He assumed this was the equivalent of declaring we had claimed. I have looked at what he completed and there was direct a question about previous claims but he has genuinely misread this question and so he stated no. We have a lot going on in our personal lives and he thought this was asking about criminal convictions. I normally do the house insurance renewal but I am struggling with my health so I've had to take a step back from daily tasks and to be honest everything sits with him.

We have now needed to claim on the home insurance and the insurance company are saying we need to refer the matter to the underwriter as you did not declare the previous claim. The previous claim was for about £500 so not a massive claim but we are really stressed now as to whether we will be covered for the most recent incident. It has been 2 days and the insurance company haven't given us an answer. It also worries me if anything major was to happen to the house while we wait for an answer what if we are not covered for that too. We put this to the insurance company today and they just said its your choice what you do.

I have been told it if was a genuine mistake, and the insurance company would have covered you if you declared the claim, they should just pay the extra premium but the waiting is killing us. 

Any ideas?

DullGreyGuy

Lilly345789 said:

I have been told it if was a genuine mistake, and the insurance company would have covered you if you declared the claim, they should just pay the extra premium but the waiting is killing us. 

Any ideas?

Who ever told you that was wrong. The law (CIDRA) is fairly clear:

1) Intentionally or recklessly make a false declaration - policy can be void, claim avoided and premiums kept by the insurer

2) Carelessly make a false declaration - comes down to if they would have insured you had the true answer been given. If they wouldnt then they can cancel the policy and avoid the claim. 

If they would have insured you then what the law states is that the claim being made should be reduced by the percentage of under payment of premium. EG if you were paying £240 premium but had you declared correctly the premium would have been £300 then they only have to pay out 80% of the claim

In practice some insurers instead of reducing the claim charge you the additional premium, they cannot force you by law to do this but in many cases its economically better for you especially given you may have a second claim in the future and the same thing would apply. 


It will really come down to how believable his story is 

Lilly345789

Thank you for your reply. I meant someone suggested WE would have to pay the difference in the home insurance premium; the premium we paid, and what we should have paid had the previous claim been declared, which is kind of what the end of your last point suggests might be a route the insurance company takes. I do believe they still would have insured us if we had declared the previous claim as it was a minor claim and the only claim we have ever made.

Even if they covered a proportion of the claim in line with the lower premium we paid that would be great. 

Thank you once again.

Smithcom

Lilly345789 said:

Hi.

When my partner renewed our home insurance he stated that we had owned our home for X years, and that we had 0 NCB for building insurance and X NCB for contents insurance. He assumed this was the equivalent of declaring we had claimed. I have looked at what he completed and there was direct a question about previous claims but he has genuinely misread this question and so he stated no. We have a lot going on in our personal lives and he thought this was asking about criminal convictions. I normally do the house insurance renewal but I am struggling with my health so I've had to take a step back from daily tasks and to be honest everything sits with him.

We have now needed to claim on the home insurance and the insurance company are saying we need to refer the matter to the underwriter as you did not declare the previous claim. The previous claim was for about £500 so not a massive claim but we are really stressed now as to whether we will be covered for the most recent incident. It has been 2 days and the insurance company haven't given us an answer. It also worries me if anything major was to happen to the house while we wait for an answer what if we are not covered for that too. We put this to the insurance company today and they just said its your choice what you do.

I have been told it if was a genuine mistake, and the insurance company would have covered you if you declared the claim, they should just pay the extra premium but the waiting is killing us. 

Any ideas?

Who is the insurer?     
How much is the new claim for?

Hopefully, the insurer will be understanding, but you need to avoid them cancelling the policy because of non-disclosure as this will cause many future problems.   Hopefully this will not happen, but it's possible.

Be sure to communicate to the insurer the vulnerable nature of your family because of your recent health issues.   

Good luck

SC