Policy Expert have voided my insurance...

WillS_2

Hi all,

Looking for some guidance because I’ve found myself in a pretty shocking situation with my home insurance.

I had a burglary recently and made a claim for several pieces of jewellery that were stolen, together with other items. Most of these items were inherited from my mum, and I genuinely never knew their individual values, they’d just been kept safely in the house since my parents died.

During the original insurance application, there was a question asking whether I had any single items worth over £2,000. I answered “no”, because as far as I knew at the time, that was true.

As part of the claim, the insurer sent out details to a valuation company, who priced everything up and found that several items were actually worth more than £2,000 each. When they came back to the insurer with those valuations, the insurer decided to void my policy from the very beginning (March 2025), saying that if they’d known the true values, they would never have insured me.

They have classed my mistake as a careless error, not deliberate or fraudulent but they’ve still voided the entire policy, refused the claim, and told me I’ve effectively had no insurance since March. They’ve also noted that I may need to disclose this voidance to future insurers.

From my reading of CIDRA (Consumer Insurance Act), insurers are supposed to apply a proportionate remedy for a careless mistake, not automatically void the policy, unless they can show clearly that they wouldn’t have offered any cover at all. I’ve appealed, but I’m not confident they’ll shift.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before?
Is voiding the policy for a genuine misunderstanding of inherited items’ value normal or fair?
And how do insurers usually treat this kind of situation?

Any thoughts or experiences appreciated.

Will.

Isthisforreal99

Ultimately you can escalate any complaint but if they are correct in saying they wouldn't have insured you then you may have no recourse.

Personally I would agree it was pretty negligent not to get the items valued and it may prove to be an expensive lesson.

fatbelly

Anyone who insures with Policy Expert is making a mistake. Get out early.

In your case you need to refer to 

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance

MyRealNameToo

WillS_2 said:

Hi all,

Looking for some guidance because I’ve found myself in a pretty shocking situation with my home insurance.

I had a burglary recently and made a claim for several pieces of jewellery that were stolen, together with other items. Most of these items were inherited from my mum, and I genuinely never knew their individual values, they’d just been kept safely in the house since my parents died.

During the original insurance application, there was a question asking whether I had any single items worth over £2,000. I answered “no”, because as far as I knew at the time, that was true.

As part of the claim, the insurer sent out details to a valuation company, who priced everything up and found that several items were actually worth more than £2,000 each. When they came back to the insurer with those valuations, the insurer decided to void my policy from the very beginning (March 2025), saying that if they’d known the true values, they would never have insured me.

They have classed my mistake as a careless error, not deliberate or fraudulent but they’ve still voided the entire policy, refused the claim, and told me I’ve effectively had no insurance since March. They’ve also noted that I may need to disclose this voidance to future insurers.

From my reading of CIDRA (Consumer Insurance Act), insurers are supposed to apply a proportionate remedy for a careless mistake, not automatically void the policy, unless they can show clearly that they wouldn’t have offered any cover at all. I’ve appealed, but I’m not confident they’ll shift.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before?
Is voiding the policy for a genuine misunderstanding of inherited items’ value normal or fair?
And how do insurers usually treat this kind of situation?

Any thoughts or experiences appreciated.

Will.

Under CIDRA if they accept it is a careless rather than deliberate or reckless it comes down to the next question of if they would have sold you the policy had you made an accurate declaration...

1) They would have insured you for a different premium then they should cover the claim paying the percentage of the correct premium you should have paid. eg if they quoted £300 but had you made the correct decs they would have charged £450 then they should pay 2/3 of the claim. 

2) If they would not have offered you insurance had you answered honestly then they can void the policy. 

You state they won't cover people with possessions worth more than £2k so if this is true their answer is correct. Note that its not if Policy Expert, who are an intermediary, but the underlying insurers. PE may have other people on their panel who will cover such risks but thats a moot point. 

dunstonh

They have classed my mistake as a careless error, not deliberate or fraudulent but they’ve still voided the entire policy, refused the claim, and told me I’ve effectively had no insurance since March. They’ve also noted that I may need to disclose this voidance to future insurers.

The FOS have pretty much standardised the outcome on complaints like this.

Careless non-disclosure would either result in the claim being paid out minus the cost of any premium differences if the insurer had offered cover on the correct disclosure.  Or the policy being voided with premiums returned if they would never have offered cover in the first place had the details been declared correctly.

From my reading of CIDRA (Consumer Insurance Act), insurers are supposed to apply a proportionate remedy for a careless mistake, not automatically void the policy, unless they can show clearly that they wouldn’t have offered any cover at all. I’ve appealed, but I’m not confident they’ll shift.

They have told you that they would not have offered cover.    That is a fairly black and white position.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before?

Yes.  Many have which is why the FOS published the expectations so providers and consumers would know what to expect.  

Misrepresentation and non-disclosure – Financial Ombudsman service

Is voiding the policy for a genuine misunderstanding of inherited items’ value normal or fair?

It is normal and fair. Especailly if the thefts included the items over £2000.   However, if the items were stolen, how did the loss adjuster find items worth more than £2000?  In other words, what were these items over £2000?

And how do insurers usually treat this kind of situation?

as per CIDRA and FOS.

MyRealNameToo

dunstonh said:

They have classed my mistake as a careless error, not deliberate or fraudulent but they’ve still voided the entire policy, refused the claim, and told me I’ve effectively had no insurance since March. They’ve also noted that I may need to disclose this voidance to future insurers.

The FOS have pretty much standardised the outcome on complaints like this.

Careless non-disclosure would either result in the claim being paid out minus the cost of any premium differences if the insurer had offered cover on the correct disclosure.  

The law states that the claim should be reduced proportionally, ie if you only paid 1/2 the premiums they only have to pay half the claim. 

There are certainly examples where the insurer has instead offered to reduce the claim by the outstanding premium as you suggest, but these are the minority and not the standard position of the FOS. In most cases the customer is better off under this approach and so the FOS will accept it as a solution if the insurer suggests it.