Building insurance refused as their structural engineers visit, how common is this?

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Hey

As above—I'm a bit worried our buildings insurer might refuse to renew or massively rocket up our premium (and by massive, I mean anything over 15%).

Has anyone experienced this predicament? If you did, who did you manage to get buildings insurance with, and how much extra did you end up paying? Was the excess the standard £1,000 for subsidence, or was it set much higher?

To be brutally honest, I was shell-shocked when I first read about this. The fact that insurance outfits can just refuse to renew, or massively jack up premiums and—even worse—the excesses, caught me completely off guard. I foolishly assumed there was some kind of protection in place to stop customers from getting shafted like this.

I wrongly assumed that if a customer had problems with their building that didnt exist before, or if a claim was made or concerns reported, the insurer would be obliged to offer a renewal. Otherwise, every other insurer could just refuse to cover you, or the quotes for new cover would be astronomical and completely unaffordable.

It makes you wonder what on earth happens if you have a mortgage and end up in this predicament.

Any other tips or advice to help people prepare for a potential refusal from their insurance company would be greatly appreciated as always. Many thanks!

Heads up: This is a hypothetical question, as IMHO it’s always best to prepare for the worst rather than panic at the last minute—forewarned is forearmed, and all of that stuff!!

I appreciate your time and efforts.

user1977

Not sure anybody is going to devote time and effort to a rather obscure and hypothetical problem. Or do you actually have a real-life issue related to this?

Annemos

I will try my best on this question. (See note in italics at the end, in particular.)

(Poster does have a potential issue with a Claim/Notification to their Insurance Company. Anything to do with potential Subsidence and we all go down these awful rabbit holes. I have been down there, too!)

In the case of a valid Subsidence Claim for a home, where the subsequent remedy and repairs are carried out "with the approval" of the Insurer……. then the Home Insurance Industry-wide good practice (and ABI Agreement) is that the Insurer will normally provide Continuation of Cover both during the Claim and when the Claim has finished. And if that Insurer permanently leaves the UK Home Insurance Market, then they should put measures in place for Continuation of Cover to carry on with another Insurer.

(Re Repairs Approval…. typically, this would be done as part of the Subsidence Claim Process.)

As I understand it, the above good practice does not apply to properties which are being rented out.

So, what happens if there is no valid Subsidence claim on a home which was seen through to the end, but a claim was once opened. Say, if it was deemed not to have been Subsidence. I have always imagined that one would have to get a written Survey or Assessment from the Insurance Company who reviewed the claim and possibly also from one's own Structural Engineer, to show that the building is indeed stable and does not have any structural problems. Then one can go to an Insurance Broker with all these facts and get a tailored policy.

Brokers I have heard of are AJ Gallager and Howdens, for example and I believe BIBA can also help find a Broker.

Unfortunately, it is inevitable that there may be a higher excess and/or higher premium, but one would hope it would stay within reasonable levels. (Depending on what the issue has actually been.)

In this scenario, one should also endeavour to make sure that the CUE does not show a Subsidence claim and that it is characterised as something else. Such a claim would fall off the CUE anyway after 6 years, if it is not classed as a subsidence claim.

Footnote: in my opinion, once a claim has been opened to check for Subsidence, the above is why one should not really prematurely withdraw a claim for Subsidence. Once opened, one should wait until the Insurance Company has actually done their investigations and one has obtained a written assessment from their Surveyor/Structural Engineer. This will help clarify the situation for the subsequent renewals and a Broker. And while Subsidence investigations are taking place, the Insurance Company cannot drop you from cover anyway.

(That is…. unless it is discovered that there was a big disclosure error when the policy was taken out, and then they might be able to do it.)

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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82187771#Comment_82187771

Hi

Many thank that, that was very, very helpful, appreciated!