Renewing insurance after bereavement

Kessian

Taking on family home of 40 years plus and looking at my decease parents insurance they were paying a ridiculous amount £1300 per year. My first investigation got this down to £800. 4 bedroomed end terraced house on a council estate which they bought. Problem is when asking about materials they ask about brick and there is no option for concrete. they still send me a quote but would the concrete part invalidate the insurance

Flugelhorn

are you actually living in the property? if not then yes can be tricky to insure such places. some insurers can be funny about concrete 

ACG

If you were an insurance company and a house that had been declared as brick was actually made from concrete - would you pay out? 

At best you might get a partial pay out if it was destroyed due to something not down to its construction (eg a plane flying into it). But generally speaking I would say no you would likely not be insured and would be better keeping the £800 in your pocket. 

Im not sure you have got the premium down from £1,200 as you are not comparing like for like. 

Beeblebr0x

Why not phone the insurance company and ask their advice about the house being made of concrete?

DullGreyGuy

Kessian said:

Taking on family home of 40 years plus and looking at my decease parents insurance they were paying a ridiculous amount £1300 per year. My first investigation got this down to £800. 4 bedroomed end terraced house on a council estate which they bought. Problem is when asking about materials they ask about brick and there is no option for concrete. they still send me a quote but would the concrete part invalidate the insurance

Where are you trying to get quotes from? 

Most websites give you a modest number of options initially, some will include concrete, but they will almost certainly have an "other" and often this then opens up a sub menu with many more options to choose from. 

CIDRE is the legislation the governs disclosures to personal lines insurance companies, what would happen would depend on if they consider the wrong answer was because you were careless or that it was deliberate/ reckless. 

If its reckless, deliberate or it was careless and they wouldnt have insured you had you given the correct answer then they can avoid the claim and end the policy.

If it was careless and they would have insured you then they can reduce the claim by the percentage difference in premiums so if the premium was 50% less because of the difference then you only get 50% of any claim less the excess.

ACG said:

At best you might get a partial pay out if it was destroyed due to something not down to its construction (eg a plane flying into it). But generally speaking I would say no you would likely not be insured and would be better keeping the £800 in your pocket. 

It's irrelevant if the claim is related to the question on which a false declaration was made since CIDRE came into force. 

In practical terms it may be relevant only because if, for example, you are claiming for lost luggage on a Travel policy then the insurer isnt going to ask for your full medical record to see if you declared all your pre-existing conditions but in principle were they to discover that you have failed to declare you have a terminal diagnosis then in principle they could decline your loss suitcase claim. 

ACG

I wasnt sure of the legislation name but that is what I was sort of getting at with my example. 
I think it is fairly safe to assume concrete is higher risk than bricks. If the premium was more expensive but the reason for claim is nothing to do with the build quality (ie a plan crash) then they would probably pay out IF they would have offered cover (ie best case scenario). 

But I think you have explained it far better and more accurately than I have... Even I get to learn on here.