Home/Contents renewal question.

Monobloc

Hi All,
         Currently on the annual merry go round looking for serious quotes that don’t have me rolling about laughing.
This one question when inputting quote info always has me wondering whether to answer yes or no.
This question is the one about how far is the property from a stream/river/lake etc.
The boundary fence of my back garden is approx. 125yds. in a straight line from a small stream which runs through a 25foot deep ravine.Between my garden and the ravine is a B-road then an expanse of cut grass.
Also my garden level is approx. 5 feet higher than the B-road.
So it can be seen from the above,that the ravine would need to fill up with water,then spread across the cut grass and road,rise a further 5 feet before becoming a threat to my house.We are talking millions of gallons of water of Biblical Proportions.Also a vast surrounding area would need to be flooded first.
I have tried clarifying this with insurers to no avail.To be be on the safe side,I have confirmed in past quotes that my property is within running water as per the distances specified.
I still don’t know how much this impacts any premiums.
As mentioned before,I have been tempted to say no water nearby as only locals would know the existence of this hidden stream.
Would not mentioning this stream invalidate the policy as a whole,as opposed to a flood claim only?.
Tia.

dunstonh

You answer the questions accurately as to how they are asked.  No more, no less.    

DullGreyGuy

The relevant legislation is CIDRA

It effectively states that if you intentionally or recklessly make false declarations when buying the insurance the insurer can void the policy and avoid any claim. If they think you carelessly didnt declare it then it comes down to if they would have insured you had you declared it... no, then they can cancel the policy and avoid the claim, yes then they can reduce your claims payment by the % you underpaid your premiums by (ie if declaring the stream would have added 50% to the premiums then they can reduce claims by 33.33%)

Unlike the previous self regulation on these matters the non-disclosure doesn't have to be relevant to the claim for it to apply. Naturally they are more likely to find things out though if it is related. ie if you claim for your phone being pick pocketed whilst in town they are unlikely to suddenly  get google Maps up looking for waterways near your home. 

The other matter is CUE where insurers exchange information about policies with each other which may contain your declaration of a waterway in previous years making it more likely to be seen as reckless/intentional if you now cease to declare it (NB I don't know if waterways is one of the items on CUE, I've mainly used it from a claims point of view)