Home insurance Notification Claim

andrewfromoxendon

Having just gone out for quote on my home insurance I have been surprised to learn there is a claim on the database from June '23.

Having not made any claims on my home insurance ever, I had not factored this in when obtaining insurance quotes.

After a bit more digging with Hastings and AXA I have found out that a notification only claim was raised following a phone call I made to them around that time. It is on the database for zero value and is closed. Hastings also sent me an email to confirm it would not effect my claims free years when obtaining a new policy. 

The problem is that when I am getting quotes I am saying that I haven't made any claims (as I haven't made any). Admiral came back and said due to the notification only claim on the database they have to factor this in before requoting. Low and behold that adds £200 to my premium! 
So back to the Hastings email - does it effect my no claims or not???

At the time we had a leak coming out from under the toilet. Whilst we were waiting for the plumber to pop round I was becoming concerned that the worst case scenario would be that the foul drain pipe had burst. As this is boxed into the wall I knew this would potentially be a nightmare to fix.

I called Hastings and asked them for clarity about what was and wasn't covered under the terms of my policy. They said the only thing that might be covered is damage to the floor. I confirmed there wasn't any as we had been quick to mop it up. I said if we found anything when we undertook the work I would call them back to enquire further. 

When the plumber arrived it turned out the pipe was just blocked with toilet paper and flushing the chain was causing excess water to leak from a seal behind the toilet. Plumber unblocked the pipe and changed the seal for around £60 no further action required.

Apparently this constitutes claiming against my home insurance. 

Have I fallen into a trap here?
If so this is next level housery from the insurance companies. 

user1977

The question you think was "have you had any claims?" almost certainly was wider than that. Have another look.

DullGreyGuy

andrewfromoxendon said:

Having just gone out for quote on my home insurance I have been surprised to learn there is a claim on the database from June '23.

Having not made any claims on my home insurance ever, I had not factored this in when obtaining insurance quotes.

After a bit more digging with Hastings and AXA I have found out that a notification only claim was raised following a phone call I made to them around that time. It is on the database for zero value and is closed. Hastings also sent me an email to confirm it would not effect my claims free years when obtaining a new policy. 

The problem is that when I am getting quotes I am saying that I haven't made any claims (as I haven't made any). Admiral came back and said due to the notification only claim on the database they have to factor this in before requoting. Low and behold that adds £200 to my premium! 
So back to the Hastings email - does it effect my no claims or not???

At the time we had a leak coming out from under the toilet. Whilst we were waiting for the plumber to pop round I was becoming concerned that the worst case scenario would be that the foul drain pipe had burst. As this is boxed into the wall I knew this would potentially be a nightmare to fix.

I called Hastings and asked them for clarity about what was and wasn't covered under the terms of my policy. They said the only thing that might be covered is damage to the floor. I confirmed there wasn't any as we had been quick to mop it up. I said if we found anything when we undertook the work I would call them back to enquire further. 

When the plumber arrived it turned out the pipe was just blocked with toilet paper and flushing the chain was causing excess water to leak from a seal behind the toilet. Plumber unblocked the pipe and changed the seal for around £60 no further action required.

Apparently this constitutes claiming against my home insurance. 

Have I fallen into a trap here?
If so this is next level housery from the insurance companies. 

Most insurers don't ask "have you made a claim?" but ask something much broader like "Tell us how many claims were made and/or losses suffered in the last 5 years by you and anyone living with you?"

These types of "notifications" are debatable as to if they are a "claim" or a "loss" and it somewhat comes down to how systems are setup, in my day notifications were registered as claims just closed with £0 outlay and claim withdrawn or declined status.

Most insurers dont differentiate between claims and notifications but the followup question on how much the claim was for is where the delta comes in. 

As you told your insurers about it they put it onto CUE to make sure you dont "forget" to tell others. Admiral are now happy they did as they've been able to remind you about the loss you had but forgot to declare. 

Annemos

As an example, here is a Case that talks about this. There are many similar cases where the FOS found the Insurance Company had acted correctly to report on the CUE. 

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-1819195.pdf

Northern_Wanderer

Yes you have to declare the information only incident as your insurer has recorded it on your insurance policy.

Perhaps your current insurer won't penalise you so much on the renewal policy if you stay with them?

andrewfromoxendon

Success. AXA have removed the claim from the database as the agent who took the call at the time did not notify me she would be opening a claim. 

The threat of solicitor seemed to speed up the process somewhat.

DullGreyGuy

andrewfromoxendon said:

The threat of solicitor seemed to speed up the process somewhat.

99% of threats of solicitors dont materialise and the solicitor would be at your own expense. Back in my claims days at least 35% of the people I spoke to were lawyers, it's just part of the job and better than speaking to third parties who ask for ridiculous things whereas their lawyers are much more reasonable. 

Threat of the ombudsman is more material as its £650 a pop even if your complaint is immaterial and you lose but make sure you know the process as otherwise again it comes across as hollow threats.