Home insurance renewal declined

griffb

I have been insured through Hastings for the past 6 years with no claims (in fact no claims on a home insurance policy for 38 years!). Received an email yesterday from Hastings saying that none of their "panel of insurers" have been able to offer a renewal so my policy will end on 30/9. Called them and all they could say is that this is for the current renewal only, come back next year. Very strange. They could see nothing to suggest what the problem is. The actual insurer is Advantage, which is a Hastings Group company

Alarm bells are ringing that I now have to tick the box "Have you ever had insurance declined", which seems to include renewals, before I get new quotes. Having said that if I get quotes from comparison sites without mentioning the renewal problem 3 out of the top 9 quotes are from Hastings!

I have seen a few similar posts but they are all quite old and didn't seem to reach conclusions. What do I do? Tick the box and accept that most companies won't quote and those that do will be expensive? Carry on with the Hastings quote as a new customer? Do I have to notify my car insurers that I've had an insurance declined?

Any thoughts gratefully received

dunstonh

Alarm bells are ringing that I now have to tick the box "Have you ever had insurance declined", which seems to include renewals, before I get new quotes. 

No you do not.    

What do I do? 

Buy elsewhere.

SaverRate

You don't need to select you have had insurance declined. 

On a comparison site there are insurers than decline to quote so if the above was the case everyone would have to select yes to this question. 

I wonder if Hastings have changed their cover (check their T&C's) so they have declined to quote for renewal but the new quotes are for the 'new cover' so they are happy to quote? When AXA changed their home insurance cover they increased a family members renewal yet a new policy with their new cover was alot cheaper and they even suggested on the renewal page to check their new cover to see if it was cheaper!! 

Do check the T&C's to see whats different though. 

Personally, if your happy with the new Hastings cover and they are the best value go for them on a new policy. if they are not the best value or your not happy with the new cover go elsewhere. 

DullGreyGuy

dunstonh said:

Alarm bells are ringing that I now have to tick the box "Have you ever had insurance declined", which seems to include renewals, before I get new quotes. 

No you do not.    

Dunstonh is correct if the Q is as simple as that, a refusal to quote is not a decline... anyone who has ever done a quote on confused.com will have had dozens of insurers refuse to quote because they are always at the bottom of the page as each insurer has their own preferences for customers and wont quote for those that fall outside of that.

However, be a little more careful, some ask a more in-depth question than simply "ever had insurance declined" and can add "ever not been offered renewal terms" (or words to that effect). With that question you would need to answer yes.

As what to do? Shop around, and dont be too surprised if Hastings dont quote for your business on Confused.com or such.  

400ixl

As people have said, they have declined to provide a renewal quote. They have not terminated your existing policy, that will run until termination, so nothing has been declined as far as your existing cover is concerned.

griffb

Thanks guys. I guess I'm having difficulty distinguishing

"We've searched our panel of insurers to find you a renewal price for your home policy at <address>, but none of them have been able to offer one so your policy will end on 30th September 2023" (Hastings letter)

from

Neither I nor anyone living in the house have had home insurance refused, cancelled, declined or void or had any conditions imposed (Comparethemarket question)

What's the difference between unable to quote and refusal to cover and decline cover? Some comparison sites (eg Comparethemarket) seem to use the terms pretty much interchangeably, which doesn't help at all. If Hastings wanted rid of me all they had to do was quote double the premium.

Oh and as the icing on the cake - in case there were any doubt, the letter announcing Hastings' failure to secure a renewal quote also serves as the NCD  confirmation!

elsien

You haven’t been refused because you haven’t applied for a renewal. They pre-empted that by informing you in advance that for whatever reason they are not able to offer you a quote this year.
I had similar  for my car insurance when (after I successfully managed to write my car off) my insurer said pretty much the same as yours, that they wouldn’t quote for the next year’s cover.
 I phoned them up and specifically asked the question as to whether I would need to declare it to get quotes from other companies and they said no - it wasn’t refused or cancelled, it just wasn’t on offer in the first place. 

in_my_wellies

Hi, I had exactly the same email from Hastings in June. I had had no claims or changes. Went on the comparison site and Hastings came third on the list!
I rang Hastings to find out what was going on. I told them they came up third on the comparison site. After putting me on hold whilst he 'had a word with his manager' he said the email 'was a mistake due to a computer system glitch' and that I could indeed be insured by them. After a few questions they were able to give me a quote which I was happy with. 

griffb

in_my_wellies said:

I rang Hastings to find out what was going on. I told them they came up third on the comparison site. After putting me on hold whilst he 'had a word with his manager' he said the email 'was a mistake due to a computer system glitch' and that I could indeed be insured by them.

Ah the old "computer glitch" excuse. The chap I spoke to also went off to double check, but couldn't do anything. I think my choice is now between Hastings (as a new customer) or Policy Expert. Prices are near identical, possibility of cashback with PE

mgfvvc

griffb said:

Ah the old "computer glitch" excuse. The chap I spoke to also went off to double check, but couldn't do anything. I think my choice is now between Hastings (as a new customer) or Policy Expert. Prices are near identical, possibility of cashback with PE

While all insurers have some unhappy customers, my impression is that Policy Expert have more than most.

Gaynor72

griffb….. just wondering how you got on as I’ve just had exactly the same email from Hastings :-(