Tree damage before start of new insurance

Tistosh

After 6 months of emailing the insurance company who cover my house since 2022 have declared that the damage caused by tree between mine and a neighbours driveway was not caused during the current policy.  They tell me that I must approach the previous insurer who my mother had for 50 years and who got rid of me as soon as her probate was final.  (a completed claim for subsidence paid for by them before 2002).  I can try calling them but I am no longer insured with them so Im stuck!  Who can advise me on such a problem please.  I am willing to pay for the tree to removed and roots removed etc but to renew my neighbours drive will cost £15k.  

user1977

When do you think it was caused?

The previous insurers should in theory cover it (to the extent there is actually any insured liability - unclear from your post), but I expect the first question they may ask is why it's taken so long for them to be notified. And they might argue that it was caused more recently...

elsien

If the tree is between yours and the neighbours driveway, are you sure you are responsible for paying for work to your neighbours drive?
on the basis that just because the neighbours say it’s down to you, doesn’t mean that it is.

DullGreyGuy

Home, Motor and probably all personal lines insurance is written on a date of loss basis (aka losses occurring during). The policy in force when the damage was done is the one that needs to cover the damage, it's irrelevant if that policy is still in force or not. 

Is your claim for subsidence or some other form of damage? When was the damage first spotted?

For subsidence, which doesn't typically have a sudden incident that causes the damage, there is an ABI agreement on how insurers determine which insurer picks up the bill if the insurer on cover changes. 

Annemos

https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/home-insurance/subsidence/

• If you discover subsidence damage after changing your insurance provider 
  • If you change insurer and then discover subsidence damage, the ABI's subsidence claim handling agreement will help determine whether your previous or current insurer should handle your claim. The decision will be based on the amount of time that has passed between you switching insurer, discovering subsidence damage, and notifying your insurer: 
    • if the date of notification is within eight weeks of changing insurance provider your previous insurer will handle your claim 
    • if the date of notification is between eight weeks and one year of switching provider then your previous and current insurers will share the cost of your claim 
    • if the date of notification is more than a year after you switched insurers your current insurance provider will deal with your claim 

Annemos

Just my thoughts, like elsien.  (I am not a big expert... I had a Subs claim myself and read lots of information.) 

If your own property has not got any new damage. 

Only the neighbour has damage. Shouldn't they be going to their own Insurance policy? (And then..... is there often something in policies that says, garden walls and paths etc are only covered, if the main building has also subsided?) 


Then if their Insurance won't cover it, they would have to prove you had been negligent by not maintaining the tree, in order to get a court to agree that you should pay for their damage. Would that actually be really difficult for them to prove? 

Isn't the best your neighbour could do, is write you a letter saying the tree is now damaging their driveway and requesting you to take it down. Only then, if you did not do it and their driveway continued to get worse, then they can take you to court, because you had been told about the problem, but you had not acted to alleviate it. 


(Just my thoughts.) 

k12479

DullGreyGuy said:

The policy in force when the damage was done is the one that needs to cover the damage, it's irrelevant if that policy is still in force or not.  

"...the previous insurer who my mother had for 50 years and who got rid of me as soon as her probate was final."

If the property was owned and insured by the OP's mother at the time and ownership has now changed and, presumably, the OP didn't have a contract with the previous insurer, do they still have any liability now?

Marley16

MY 20-YEAR SUBSIDENCE SAGA!  WHAT I'M ABOUT TO WRITE, IS BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE, WHICH HAS BEEN HORRENDOUS!

INSURANCE - SPECIFICALLY "SUBSIDENCE CLAIMS"; WHICH I'D DESCRIBE AS CHRONIC AS OPPOSED TO FLOOD AND FIRE BEING ACUTE; BEING 3 OF THE MAJOR CLAIMS AN INSURER WILL RECEIVE.  

WITH FIRE AND FLOOD THE DAMAGE IS INSTANT, IS VERY VISIBLE/CANNOT BE DENIED AND IS USUALLY URGENT WITH HOME HAVING BEEN RENDERED UNINHABITABLE.  

SUBSIDENCE DIFFERS IN MANY WAYS AND LOSS ADJUSTERS DO THEIR LEVEL BEST TO "WRIGGLE" AND WILL COME UP WITH ANY NUMBER OF REASONS/EXCUSES WHY THEY BELIEVE THE DAMAGE IS NOT SUBSIDENCE-RELATED, BUT THIS IS "FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW; REMEMBER THEY WANT TO KEEP-IN WITH THEIR EMPLOYER!  REASONS CAN BE ROOF SPREAD [AN UNINSURABLE ITEM], LACK OF/OR INADEQUATE WALL TIES, ETC.  DAMAGED UPVC WINDOWS [DISTORTED, GAPPING AND BOWING] PUT DOWN TO POOR MANUFACTURE, BAD INSTALLATION, WEAR & TEAR, THERMAL MOVEMENT AND WAIT FOR IT:  LACK OF MAINTENANCE EVEN THOUGH WINDOWS IN OTHER AREAS REMAINED IN GOOD ORDER.   EVENTUALLY, AFTER MAYBE 10 YEARS THE DEFECTIVE WINDOWS WERE REPLACED UNDER INSURANCE; CLAIM HAVING BEEN TRANSFERRED TO A DIFFERENT LOSS ADJUSTER WHO THEN FAILED ME ON ANOTHER COUNT!

SO, ITS NOT UNTIL YOU'VE EMPLOYED YOUR OWN STRUCTURAL ENGINEER [OR A LOSS ASSESSOR] DO LOSS ADJUSTERS BEGIN TO SAY....."WELL THERE MIGHT BE A BIT OF HISTORIC MOVEMENT"  YEH YEH!   I'VE HEARD IT ALL.  DIFFICULT TO TELL THE STORY OF MY 20-YEARS BATTLE FOR JUSTICE, IN A SHORT SPACE, NEEDS TO HAVE A BOOK PUBLISHED!  I'VE GOT THE INFO AND THE EVIDENCE "THE TRUTH" OF THE UNDERHANDEDNESS, THE FAILINGS, THE CHAOS, THE INCONVENIENCE, ALL OF IT "AND MORE".  MY LIFE HAS BEEN BLIGHTED MY FOR SO LONG, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS NORMAL ANYMORE !  

AS DAMAGE CONTINUED, DUE TO INADEQUATE REPARATIONS BOTH MY HOME AND MY HEALTH SUFFERED.  I WAS FORCED TO LIVE OUT OF MY BEDROOM FOR 2 PERIODS TOTALLING 16 MONTHS - NO ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION OFFERED/WAS TOLD DURATION OF WORKS [GUTTING KITCHEN/BREAKFAST ROOM TO REPAIR DAMAGED FLOORING] 3-4 WEEKS YET LASTED 4.5 MONTHS, SECOND ATTEMPT AS THEY FAILED TO INSTALL A DAMP PROOF MEMBRANE TOOK 11 MONTHS, INSTEAD OF THE PREDICTED 6-7 WEEKS!  HOW COULD THEY GET IT SO WRONG?  WAS THIS A PLOY FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION?  OR JUST SHEAR INCOMPETENCE?  

OF COURSE LIKE MOST OF THE COUNTRY, I'VE BEEN WATCHING THE GHASTLY AND VERY SAD STORY OF THE SUB-POSTMASTER SCANDAL UNFOLD.  DON'T GET ME WRONG, MY SUFFERING HAS NOT BEEN SO SEVERE, BUT ITS BEEN BAD AND SO I'M THINKING THAT PERHAPS I TOO NEED THE HELP OF A MR BATES.  I ALSO BELIEVE, THERE WILL BE OTHERS WHO'VE BEEN TREATED POORLY, UNFAIRLY AND WANT ANSWERS PLUS TRULY GENUINE COMPENSATION FOR WHAT WE'VE BEEN FORCED TO GO THROUGH.

WHY SHOULD THE BIG BOYS, ON BIG MONEY GET AWAY WITH UNJUST PRACTICES AGAINST US LITTLE PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY RELY ON THE FACT THAT WE DON'T HAVE LARGE SUMS OF SPARE CASH TO HIRE A SOLICITOR/BARRISTER?

SO, THIS PROMPTS THE QUESTION:  HAS ANYONE ELSE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF THEIR INSURER HAVING DISCOVERED CRACKS TO THEIR HOME?  ARE THERE ANY "INSURANCE/SUBSIDENCE CLAIMS" GROUPS - IF NOT CAN WE CREATE ONE?

I BELIEVE, FROM MY EXPERIENCES, THAT LOSS ADJUSTERS AIM IS TO PACIFY THEIR "EMPLOYER".  IMMEDIATELY YOU HAVE AN INKLING OF SUBSIDENCE, REPORT IT TO YOUR INSURER IMMEDIATELY, BUT ALSO GET YOUR OWN STRUCTURAL ENGINEER ON BOARD [OR CONTACT A LOSS ASSESSOR.]  DON'T GO INTO BATTLE ALONE, YOU NEED SUPPORT, GENUINE SUPPORT SO THAT YOU GET THE ISSUES ERADICATED/ NIPPED IN THE BUD ONCE AND FOR ALL.  DON'T SUFFER AS I HAVE DONE - ITS BEEN GHASTLY.

PS:  IF AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST READS THIS AND WOULD LIKE TO WRITE A STORY FOR THE PAPERS, PLEASE DO GET IN TOUCH!  THE MORE WE CAN HIGHLIGHT THE "TOO COSY A RELATIONSHIP" BETWEEN INSURERS AND LOSS ADJUSTERS and INSURERS AND FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN SERVICE, OH AN ALSO FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY ARE USELESS FOR WANT OF A BETTER WORD!

elsien

Can I just say that fewer capitals would make that post a lot more readable?

MeteredOut

Marley16 said:

<snip>

Aaaaarrrggghhh, my eyes!!!

On a more serious note, many people will simply not bother reading that, so best reformat it if there's a question in there somewhere.

Annemos

I think that anybody, who has already suffered some or all of the same issues, as Marley..... will definitely read all of his/her post, whether it is in capitals or not.  

I certainly did read it all!