When is a claim not a claim?

William2064

I recently made a claim on my home insurance. As the claim developed, it became clear that the damage was not covered by the terms of the insurance and I have therefore withdrawn the claim and received no payment. Now, when I go onto a website and ask for a quote, should I enter this as a previous claim or not? 

Zbubuman

with regards to buildings insurance, there is no central database. So unless you declare it as a claim to new insurers, they will not know about this.  If it was something which you dealt with yourself, there shouldn't be a need to declare it. Insurers would usually ask " is the property in a good state of repair, to cover themselves against any maintenance related issues"

The ones you should always declare is if the property suffered from flooding or cracking ( movement like subsidence, etc)

DullGreyGuy

Zbubuman said:

with regards to buildings insurance, there is no central database. 

Guess you've never heard of CUE then @Zbubuman?

There are various counter fraud databases like CUE but admittedly different insurers subscribe to different ones but CUE is the most well known and widely used. 

You have made a claim and it's either been declined or withdrawn, depending on how got their first. There may be costs associated to the claim even if you didnt get a payout if loss adjustors etc were appointed. Unfortunately these folk dont work for free. 

Zbubuman

the Claims Underwriting Exchange is mainly used on Motor, PI and EL claims, Whilst insurers can also log Property claims on there, from my experience very few bother to do so. 

Most property claims I come across where where fraud or non disclosure of past claims is detected, was not via CUE, but was on the off chance of either an experienced claims handler who smelled something fishy with the evidence supplied or through a coincidence where it went to a broker or adjuster who already held a claims history for the property. 

I had a case myself where a PH did not declare a previous claim when he switched insurer and was only found out because on a new claim he was unlucky to be assigned a loss adjuster who had dealt with his previous claim. 

William2064

Thanks for the replies. They are helpful. However, I'm not trying to "get away with it". I'm just wondering what the correct answer is. The thought of my place burning down and the insurance not paying out is terrifying.

dunstonh

In insurance eyes, a claim means an incident with a potential loss that they have been notified about whether you choose to proceed with the insurer or not.  Or even if the insurance rejects it or would reject it.    You should also notify them of any loss event but most do not and they wouldn't know in the vast majority of cases.   But once you have contacted them, you declare it as a £nil claim or notification (depending on the the quote engine being used)

XRS200

Zbubuman said:

the Claims Underwriting Exchange is mainly used on Motor, PI and EL claims, Whilst insurers can also log Property claims on there, from my experience very few bother to do so. 

I'm not convinced about that.  It's been a few years but I recollect it started with home and private car.

DullGreyGuy

Zbubuman said:

the Claims Underwriting Exchange is mainly used on Motor, PI and EL claims, Whilst insurers can also log Property claims on there, from my experience very few bother to do so. 

Most property claims I come across where where fraud or non disclosure of past claims is detected, was not via CUE, but was on the off chance of either an experienced claims handler who smelled something fishy with the evidence supplied or through a coincidence where it went to a broker or adjuster who already held a claims history for the property. 

The MIB who run CUE state its Motor, Home and Injuries, which I guess is what you meant by PI rather than Professional Indemnity 

As stated, there is no obligation for insurers to use it and use does vary notably. It's equally not the only counter fraud database in existence. If you look on here you will find cases of users stating their insurer has discovered an undisclosed claim from CUE for Home, though not as commonly as for Motor. 

So stating there is no central database is simply incorrect. There is one, it's just potentially less complete for Home. Having worked for over a dozen insurance groups in my decades in the industry its easy to see why some that have worked for only a couple of firms assume that everyone must be doing everything the same and whilst there are commonalities there are lots of differences too.