Home insurance claim

peeppeep94

Hi

I'm selling my property which i own outright. We have already moved out and are no longer living there.

My insurance ran out this morning.
I tried to review/ update  and renew it online last night but provider are STILL having issues with online access (ongoing for nearly a month)
I called them up today to renew along with providing updated info. i.e. Property not selling so now vacant, they told me that they couldn't renew it because the date has passed, but also they couldn't give me a new policy because the property is now vacant and they don't cover that. (Previously it was showing as unoccupied at night)

So now I have no home insurance cover. 
I'm contacting companies that provide vacant cover.

The other issue that i wanted to update the now lapsed insurer with was that we have now had a  structural survey done picking up subsidence (possibly inadequate drainage at front and side but also possible collapse of drain at back of house). The recommendation was monitoring/ investigation. We were trying to decide whether to do this or not (personally or through home insurance), put house up for auction, sell to cash buyer company.
When i was trying to renew I didnt even get to the point where i was going to tell them that.
And if you are wondering why we hadnt raised it with insurers yet, we were trying to find out how it could affect the sale, future insurance etc and had been waiting to discuss the options with estate agent. (The house has been on the market for over a year but has fallen through on mortgage we are now getting desperate)

Because the insurers online account option wasn't working i had to contact them several times to get copies of the policy document to see what info needed to be updated for renewal but also to see what subsidence cover was/ wasn't in place sent to me (the first copy didn't arrive). 

For the new quotes i'm sharing the subsidence report and being told that the policy wont cover subsidence. So I guess have 2 questions:
1) before i go ahead with new insurance, is getting vacant property insurance without subsidence cover my only option now?
2) as i had issues getting access to the info and as the structural report was done within a period of insurance - is there still an option to claim even though the policy has now expired?

I'm anticipating the response to the above will be Yes to Q1 and No to Q2 but thought it was worth asking

Kind regards

Jane

DullGreyGuy

In reverse order...

Home insurance (and Motor etc) are written on a date of loss basis and therefore you always claim on the policy that was in force when the loss actually occurred not the one you happen to have now. Subsidence is a little different because it's generally hard to pin exactly when it happened -v- when your elderly neighbour mistakes the accelerator for the break and ends up in your living room. As such there are agreements in place between insurers as to how to deal with a case when someone switches insurers and then subsequently notices the subsidence. This wont apply in this case though as you have a report dated before the end of your old policy and so it will be a claim against them. The fact it's lodged after you've moved away is irrelevant (though they may be less likely to give gestures of goodwill etc to a ex-customer than a current one).

Q1 is harder to answer, in quick and simple terms probably yes. There is an industry agreement that if an insurer deals with a subsidence claim they will continue to offer terms to that customer afterwards even if they would normally have not offered terms to them as a new business customer. There are various Ombudsman decisions about where if someone swtiches from Home to Landlords (or the other way) or if they stop writing a class of business etc that the insurer should either continue to provide cover or make reasonable efforts to find another insurer who will inc subsidence cover. It isnt however all cases and the fact they are ombudsman decisions means it's probably taken almost a year to get the decision because the insurer in question was saying no. 

Your Mark 50% - could do better.