Insurance for chimney falling through ceiling due to poor workmanship / maintenance

F37A

Hi 

Can you get insurance for the above. Alot of insurers label as wear and tear and exclude paying out for it. 

Thanks

Ayr_Rage

If it's an existing condition then nobody is going to insure that risk.

When taking out buildings insurance there is always a declaration that the building is in a good state of repair, you'd be making a false statement if you know of the issue.

theartfullodger

You own the property or are considering purchasing?? Auction?

If there were a dodgy chimney I'd not want (me or my nearest & dearest) anywhere in the property anyway. 

user1977

F37A said:

A lot of insurers label as wear and tear and exclude paying out for it. 

Of course they do - I would say "all" rather than "a lot".

Might help if you told us why you're asking!

propertyrental

F37A said:

Hi 

Can you get insurance for the above. Alot of insurers label as wear and tear and exclude paying out for it. 

Thanks

Do you mean before or after the chimney collapse? If before, no insurer will ask about the chimney, or insure it separately, but will ask generally if the property is in a good state of repair, or if works are planned.

If the chimney collapsed during/after repair, the builder/roofer would claim on their professional insurance and compensate the client from that.

Section62

propertyrental said:

F37A said:

Hi 

Can you get insurance for the above. Alot of insurers label as wear and tear and exclude paying out for it. 

Thanks

Do you mean before or after the chimney collapse? If before, no insurer will ask about the chimney, or insure it separately, but will ask generally if the property is in a good state of repair, or if works are planned.

If the chimney collapsed during/after repair, the builder/roofer would claim on their professional insurance and compensate the client from that.

That would depend on whether the builder/roofer was negligent in the work they were doing.  A reputable builder (more likely the kind who would have applicable insurance cover) would probably refuse to work on a collapsing chimney unless the client accepted at least part of the liability.

It is also difficult to imagine what 'poor workmanship / maintenance' would lead to a chimney collapse, other than if they were removing part of it.

user1977

Plus a negligence claim could only be pursued by the builder's client, not a future owner (assuming there is no suitable warranty provided).

AlexMac

The lack of detail in the OP means we can only guess at the circumstances… so here goes? Poor workmanship presumably refers not to the original Victorian or Edwardian builders of what’s  probably a 100+ year old house; so it’s probably down to over - energetic wielding of the brush by the chimney sweep?  So sue !!!!!! Van Dyke (“Mary Poppins, 1964”)?

eddddy

Taking a step back... assuming you have a 'standard' buildings insurance policy, it only covers the risks mentioned in the policy document.

The risks will be things like:

• Fire, Explosion
• Storm
• Flood
• Collision by vehicle or aircraft
• etc

So if, for example, there was an big explosion, or a violent storm, that made the chimney fall down - that should be covered by insurance.

But if there was a 'mild' explosion or 'mild' storm and the chimney fell down - the insurers might argue that the explosion/storm was not strong enough to knock down a well maintained, well built chimney. So they might refuse the claim on that basis.

(If the claim was for a storm, the insurance co would probably check met office records for your area, to see if there really were high enough winds etc to blow over a well maintained chimney.) 


In general, the insurers wouldn't cover the chimney falling down (or any other damage to the house) due to age, poor maintenance, wear & tear, poor workmanship, poor materials, etc

youth_leader

Very good point @eddddy, when Storm Arwen blew my roof off the insurance company wanted confirmation of the wind speed.  Fortunately for me, or unfortunately truly,  it was 78 mph. 

F37A

theartfullodger said:

You own the property or are considering purchasing?? Auction?

If there were a dodgy chimney I'd not want (me or my nearest & dearest) anywhere in the property anyway. 

Purchase property