Damage caused by a heat wave

Stuberry

Hi, I’m in dispute with my home insurance company and would like some advice on if I’m being reasonable.

We have a front door with a glass panel within. During a heatwave, the glass expanded and shattered. The door company say it’s not covered by guarantee and with that particular type of door the glass can’t be replaced, you have to replace the whole door leaf.

I have contacted my house buildings insurance provider to make a claim.

They say, this would be considered accidental damage. And I don’t have accidental damage cover so not covered for this situation.

I say that accidental damage is something like spilling a drink or dropping a laptop… something you’ve done by mistake to cause the damage. And that this situation would not seem to fit well into that type of scenario. It was outside of my control.

I say this is damage caused by extreme weather. The same way extreme cold might freeze a pipe and cause it to burst (which I would be covered for). Extreme heat has caused the glass to expand and shatter and I should be covered by damage caused by extreme weather. I think a heat wave is technically considered a natural disaster.

I have escalated the situation by recording a formal complaint. But if the insurance company hold their ground, where do I go from here?

Rodders53

I'd argue an inherent fault with the door / glass panel design.   Should be able to withstand the hottest and coldest days in the UK without a problem.  Rotten design that doesn't allow easy glass pane replacement, though... 
Have you asked another glazing company for an opinion on that?  

What is / was the cost of the replacement?  What is the insurance excess? How much have you saved by not paying for accidental cover over the years you've had house insurance?

But glass can and will shatter with almost no rhyme or reason - especially tempered safety glass.  I've had a front door DG panel go (inside pane not outside) and paid for a replacement (less than my excess).  Also had a glass pane in a cabinet indoors go, got a local glazer to get a new one made and fitted myself.  (Both were tempered glass). 

I also once had the wind slam a different front door which broke the glass and claimed under the accidental cover.

tripled

If a pipe burst I'm not sure the repair to the pipe would typically be covered (unless you have home emergency cover). It's the consequential damage from the escape of water that is covered. So I don't think that's a relevant comparison unless there was wider damage to your property as a result of the glass breaking.

It may be that your insurer would just pay all broken glass claims irrespective of how they occurred if you have accidental damage cover, however that isn't particularly relevant to whether or not it's covered under your buildings policy, which is what matters.

If a storm damaged your property then that would typically be covered. However, tiles falling off a poorly maintained roof in a stiff breeze wouldn't be.

You have a door that couldn't cope with some hot weather. Personally I would agree with Rodders53 that would be a manufacturing defect. However, maybe the ombudsman will side with you that it was extreme heat and should be covered in the same way as storm damage.

Good luck!

Aretnap

Most home insurance policies are written on what's called an insured peril basis. The policy includes a list of "perils" that it covers - fire, flood, storm, subsidence, escape of water (ie burst pipes) etc - and if you want to make a claim you have to say which peril caused the damage.

So it's not enough to say that you don't think it was accidental damage - you have to say what you think it was, and point to the part of the policy that says that this cause is covered.

"Natural disaster" is not an insured peril on any policy that I've ever seen, nor is "heatwave" or "extreme weather". "Storm" wouldn't cover it, as that's defined in terms of high wind speed rather than bad weather in general. The only common insured peril that might cover it is accidental damage, but if you don't have accidental damage cover then whether or not it meets the definition of accidental damage is academic.

This assumes that you do have an insured peril policy. A minority of policies are written on an "all risks" basis - they cover "bad things that happen to your house" and then list some exclusions. Basically in that case the onus is on the insurer to show that your damage is excluded, rather than on you to show that it's included. They might still try to argue that it was excluded as a manufacturing defect, but at least that would be an arguement that you could have, and maybe have half a chance of winning if it was extremely hot weather.

Otherwise I'm afraid the next step is to get it repaired yourself as cost effectively as you can. Or complain again to the manufacturer on the grounds that a door sold in the UK should be able to cope with any weather that can reasonably be expected in the UK.

MyRealNameToo

Stuberry said:
I have escalated the situation by recording a formal complaint. But if the insurance company hold their ground, where do I go from here?

buy a new door, find someone who can replace the glass or live with a draft.

As well explained by Aretnap you need to show the damage was caused by one of the perils you are covered for. It sounds generous that they could have considered it AD but unfortunate that you hadn't bought AD cover. 

Design flaws arent covered either.

You probably have a better chance with arguing with the vendor that the product wasnt fit for purpose.