Non-renewal of insurance while making a claim

Catshazza

I am in the process of a claim with my insurance company for a broken pipe under my porch which caused my porch to become unstable and have to be taken down and rebuilt. This claim has  been going on since Feb and they have still not settled, just dragging things out. I have now been informed by them that they are not going to renew my insurance when it becomes due on 27th June but that the claim is unlikely to be settled within that timeframe. This is making it virtually impossible to get building insurance elsewhere while the claim is still ongoing and I cannot even answer how much the claim was for on any new policy quotes as no offer has been made yet.  Can they legally do this as they seem to be forcing me to be uninsured by their actions?

Phoenix72

 No company is obliged to renew insurance so perfectly legal. 4/5 months is not that long a time for an insurance claim to be settled but unfortunately leaves you with an open claim.

You need to approach a 'proper' insurance broker to arrange cover.

DullGreyGuy

Catshazza said:

I am in the process of a claim with my insurance company for a broken pipe under my porch which caused my porch to become unstable and have to be taken down and rebuilt. This claim has  been going on since Feb and they have still not settled, just dragging things out. I have now been informed by them that they are not going to renew my insurance when it becomes due on 27th June but that the claim is unlikely to be settled within that timeframe. This is making it virtually impossible to get building insurance elsewhere while the claim is still ongoing and I cannot even answer how much the claim was for on any new policy quotes as no offer has been made yet.  Can they legally do this as they seem to be forcing me to be uninsured by their actions?

A contract is only as the stated duration, there is no commitment for future contracts on either parties. That said in certain circumstances the FOS has required insurers to assist policyholders find similar cover elsewhere but this more the case where they've made a change (eg decided to exit the market) rather than it you being the one that changed (eg if they've only ever offered terms to the under 70s and you turned 70 in this policy year). 

The insurer will be able to inform you of what their current estimated exposure is (paid to date + reserve) for the purposes of declaring values to the potential insurers.

dunstonh

Can they legally do this as they seem to be forcing me to be uninsured by their actions?

They are not forcing you to be uninsured.   You may just need to change how you buy insurance this year.  i.e. revert to the old fashioned way and not pick a comparison site that cherry picks the easy stuff.