My insurance claims i have made a claim when i have not. How do i renew or move elsewewhere?

darcyscorpion

Three months ago my wife tried to call our insurer (Policy Expert) but kept getting put into queues and so decided to go the automated online route. The route was very limited and so, for a floor that was a bit wobbly in the bedroom and is located next to the en-suite she could only find the option of burst pipe. Her logic was the flooring could be due to a leaky water pipe. Anyhow the insurer sent out an assessor from a company called Trinity who surveyed the floor and stated that it was definiteley NOT a water leak and was probably due to floor boards that have been cut when fitting the radiators not being finished prperly. He finished the conversation that he wouldn't claim as the excess was £700 and we could probably get it done cheaper than that. It was decided there and then that we would not claim and my wife followed the progress through to closure and saw that it was recorded as no claim. Anyhow last week we got an insurance renewal from Policy Expert which had gone up by £250. I looked around and found that i could get our existing policy with the same company, Policy Expert, slightly cheaper than the pre-renewal price. I have just been on the phone for a very long time with Policy Expert and the insurers are stating that we made a claim for a burst water pipe and that our policy would not that cheap anymore with anyone! They understand that we havent used our policy but the fact that we had an assessor out with Trinity is equivalent to a claim? Please confirm if anyone believes that this should be counted as a claim on our history when we didn't claim but just got confirmation that we didn't have a leaky pipe. Many thanks for any advice. I have a feeling that we might need to use the ombudsman but am not sure if we are in the right to do so.

sheramber

Your wife made a claim but then closed it after the assessor had  visited.

Hoenir

darcyscorpion said:

 Please confirm if anyone believes that this should be counted as a claim on our history when we didn't claim but just got confirmation that we didn't have a leaky pipe.

Your enquiry resulted in the insurance company administering your "claim" and the cost of the third party travelling to your property to assess the issue. Then reporting back.  In reality £250 probably doesn't even cover the full cost. Insurance companies don't provide these services for free. 

DullGreyGuy

Hoenir said:

darcyscorpion said:

 Please confirm if anyone believes that this should be counted as a claim on our history when we didn't claim but just got confirmation that we didn't have a leaky pipe.

Your enquiry resulted in the insurance company administering your "claim" and the cost of the third party travelling to your property to assess the issue. Then reporting back.  In reality £250 probably doesn't even cover the full cost. Insurance companies don't provide these services for free. 

The cost of the claim is broadly irrelevant, declined claim, claim below excess, claim withdrawn etc are all still claims even if there is no outlay. Also you have to declare all "incidents" and for many insurers there is little difference in pricing between an incident and a declined claim so even if you drop the "c" word it has the same outcome.

darcyscorpion said: 
I have just been on the phone for a very long time with Policy Expert and the insurers are stating that we made a claim for a burst water pipe and that our policy would not that cheap anymore with anyone! 

On the former they are correct, cannot comment on the accuracy of the later but its certainly not something they should be telling you on a non-advised sale. 

Hoenir

DullGreyGuy said:

The cost of the claim is broadly irrelevant, declined claim, claim below excess, claim withdrawn etc are all still claims even if there is no outlay. 

From a financial perspective totally relevant. Costs incurred have to be recouped from someone. Every company can determine their own business model in this regard. 

DullGreyGuy

Hoenir said:

DullGreyGuy said:

The cost of the claim is broadly irrelevant, declined claim, claim below excess, claim withdrawn etc are all still claims even if there is no outlay. 

From a financial perspective totally relevant. Costs incurred have to be recouped from someone. Every company can determine their own business model in this regard. 

Insurance doesnt look to recoup their outlay from the policyholder that incurred the cost, having dealt with claims in their millions no realistic increase on a £400 premium is going to get that repaid in a policyholders lifespan. Even when recouping does occur its only the allocated claims costs that are recouped from a third party insurer etc, the unallocated costs (eg staff, systems, buildings, utilities) arent. 

Premiums are intended, in aggregate, to cover future losses not historic ones. Hence when you change insurer after making a claim your new insurer still charges you more than if you had had no claims despite they have suffered no loss.