Home insurance claim

worrydude67

I hope I’m in the right place. I just need some help from those of you who are more experienced than me in dealing with insurance claims.

I arrived home last Sunday after being away on holiday for three weeks to find my living room, the bedroom above it, and the cupboard in the loft conversion (where the boiler is) all flooded due to a leaking pipe. The plasterboard ceilings in both rooms have collapsed, and there is damage to the wooden floor, stereo, TV, doors, furniture, etc.

I reported everything to the insurance company (not sure if I can name it here). They sent an emergency electrician and plumber, but now they are saying they will refer the case to the underwriters because my wife did not mention a previous claim from last year.

Last year, my wife contacted the insurance company about a garden table that broke during a storm. We soon realised the cost was very low, so we did not pursue the claim. For this reason, my wife did not consider it an actual claim.

I have a few questions:

1. If the insurance company already had access to our records, why did they accept to insure us without clarifying any mistakes, and simply adjust the premium if necessary? Am I now in trouble with my claim?

2. How long does it usually take for the insurance to appoint a loss assessor and inspect the damage? I’m concerned about leaving the house in damp conditions, as mould could start to form. My daughter is disabled so my concern is her health. 

3. Would it be worthwhile for us to appoint an independent “no win, no fee” loss assessor?

Please forgive any mistakes in my grammar, and thank you in advance for your advice.

Mark_d

Whilst you did not not make a claim, you suffered a loss.  This makes you a higher risk customer but were not paying the appropriate premium.
I wonder what caused the pipe to leak.  Perhaps your property gets badly affected by storms and maybe a storm weakened the pipe?
As you made a genuine mistake it's likely that the insurance company will pay out however the amount would have be be adjusted for you not paying the correct premiums.

MyRealNameToo

worrydude67 said:

I have a few questions:

1. If the insurance company already had access to our records, why did they accept to insure us without clarifying any mistakes, and simply adjust the premium if necessary? Am I now in trouble with my claim?

2. How long does it usually take for the insurance to appoint a loss assessor and inspect the damage? I’m concerned about leaving the house in damp conditions, as mould could start to form. My daughter is disabled so my concern is her health. 

3. Would it be worthwhile for us to appoint an independent “no win, no fee” loss assessor?

Please forgive any mistakes in my grammar, and thank you in advance for your advice.

You can name companies if you wish to do so

1. Insurance is a contract of utmost good faith, you are legally obliged to answer the insurers questions honestly and completely when obtaining a quote and the law gives insurers significant options if you have been unfaithful. Different sellers of insurance take different approaches, the majority do very little up front checks in line with the concept of good faith, a minority do a lot of checks at point of sale or immediately after.

The insurer (aka underwriter) will have to decide if they believe the error was deliberate/reckless or careless. In the case of the former the law (CIDRA) gives the insurer the right to void the policy and avoid the claim. In the case of the later it depends on if the insurer would have offered terms had the truth been told in the first place, assuming they would then the claim continues as normal but any settlement is reduced to reflect the difference in premiums so if you paid £160 for the year but would have paid £200 had it been declared they can reduce the settlement by 20%

Some insurers were originally very generous when the law came into force and allowed the insured to pay the additional premium and then settled the claim in full but have seen less of these cases of late. 

Your problem is that almost certainly you were asked to declare any losses irrespective if claimed for or not and therefore "didnt think of it as a claim" doesnt fit well with the question you were asked. From what you say it was a claim that was subsequently withdrawn which is why there was a record of it in CUE. The withdrawal of the claim wasnt because you found out actually there was no loss but decided it wasnt economical to claim. 


2. How long is a piece of string? If your lucky and its internal I've appointed a LA to come out the next day. Obviously if they're really busy and/or an external is used it can be a few weeks. Right now we are in holiday season so likely not to be at the shortest end of the spectrum and they may not be willing to appoint anyone until the policy issue has been resolved 


3. I doubt anyone would take you on on a conditional funding basis if you are honest and tell them your policy is being investigated for a non-disclosure

worrydude67

Thanks for all the advice.  I will update as soon as I have some