Home Insurance Discussion

swm1

Hi,

I've just has a house insurance policy auto-renew even though I rang them to cancel the auto-renew straight after I took out the policy (AXA).

There was an old topic showing peoples opinions on the Insurers allowing themselves to just auto-renew policies without any discussion with their customers (only 2% (211) out of 10,500 voted for this), but this topic seems to be closed and nothing seems to have changed in the following years.

Is there any ongoing discussion about this as there seems to be no-where you can go to voice your opinion. In my experience if you complain to the insurers they just say 'company policy', and that's the end of the discussion.

murphydavid

swm1 said:

Hi,

I've just has a house insurance policy auto-renew even though I rang them to cancel the auto-renew straight after I took out the policy (AXA).

There was an old topic showing peoples opinions on the Insurers allowing themselves to just auto-renew policies without any discussion with their customers (only 2% (211) out of 10,500 voted for this), but this topic seems to be closed and nothing seems to have changed in the following years.

Is there any ongoing discussion about this as there seems to be no-where you can go to voice your opinion. In my experience if you complain to the insurers they just say 'company policy', and that's the end of the discussion.

Not an answer to your question but for what its worth.
To voice your opinion:
If I were looking to get a recommendation or post a favorable or critical review I would go to trustpilot.com or look here in which case I can see your post.
Also
I presume you can cancel or negotiate on the renewal within 14days cooling off period or something like that.
After complaining and getting a bad response, You are able to go to the ombudsman.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance

Vetinari64

Hi

First time homeowner, we just managed to buy and move in last month. My partner is feeling paranoid regarding subsidence/landslip and was worried that our buildings insurance would be invalidated for any reason, such as the previous owners hiding previous signs of subsidence. As far as we are aware, there are no signs of subsidence, the homebuyers report said as much. We can see no signs currently. If symptoms of subsidence were to appear, is there any reason to think the insurance company wouldn't cover it?

For context, I know this must seem like overreacting, but the house when we bought it looked like it had no issues, only to find out the bathroom had a long term leak due to some really poor DIY plumbing, which we are in the process of repairing. The previous owners has specifically said they had the bathroom redone and had experienced no leaks since they had it done, which is entirely unbelievable at this point. Our main worry is that an unknown action by the previous owners could invalidate an insurance claim for something bigger, like subsidence.

gaily

Vetinari64 said:

Hi

First time homeowner, we just managed to buy and move in last month. My partner is feeling paranoid regarding subsidence/landslip and was worried that our buildings insurance would be invalidated for any reason, such as the previous owners hiding previous signs of subsidence. As far as we are aware, there are no signs of subsidence, the homebuyers report said as much. We can see no signs currently. If symptoms of subsidence were to appear, is there any reason to think the insurance company wouldn't cover it?

For context, I know this must seem like overreacting, but the house when we bought it looked like it had no issues, only to find out the bathroom had a long term leak due to some really poor DIY plumbing, which we are in the process of repairing. The previous owners has specifically said they had the bathroom redone and had experienced no leaks since they had it done, which is entirely unbelievable at this point. Our main worry is that an unknown action by the previous owners could invalidate an insurance claim for something bigger, like subsidence.

If the home buyers report hasn't identified anything, and your insurers haven't asked you any additional questions - such as asking you to complete a subsidence questionnaire, then there shouldn't be a problem. 

On your insurance quotation, you will have been asked for your postcode, this will give the Insurer the ability to check factors such as subsidence risk, flood risk, crime and a number of other factors that has allowed them to underwrite the policy. Often insurers check CUE to see if there have been previous claims. CUE is the Central underwriting exchange, where many insurers log previous claims at an address, or for a policyholder, to limit their exposure to fraud - if a client tried to move insurers to hide excessive claims with another one for example, or in your case if a property has a history that you are unaware of. 

Doc_N

Vetinari64 said:

Hi

First time homeowner, we just managed to buy and move in last month. My partner is feeling paranoid regarding subsidence/landslip and was worried that our buildings insurance would be invalidated for any reason, such as the previous owners hiding previous signs of subsidence. As far as we are aware, there are no signs of subsidence, the homebuyers report said as much. We can see no signs currently. If symptoms of subsidence were to appear, is there any reason to think the insurance company wouldn't cover it?

For context, I know this must seem like overreacting, but the house when we bought it looked like it had no issues, only to find out the bathroom had a long term leak due to some really poor DIY plumbing, which we are in the process of repairing. The previous owners has specifically said they had the bathroom redone and had experienced no leaks since they had it done, which is entirely unbelievable at this point. Our main worry is that an unknown action by the previous owners could invalidate an insurance claim for something bigger, like subsidence.

First off, well done for achieving it!  Quite something these days.

As for the subsidence issue, I can perhaps reassure you both - in addition to the advice you’ve already received.

Essentially, insurers will ask questions before assuming cover. They’ll ask a series of questions, some of which will relate to subsidence, some to flood risk, and some to other issues.

Provided you answer those questions honestly, as I’m sure you will do, or have done, you should have no problems at all with any potential claim. And the fact that the Homebuyers’ Report said the same thing supports that. No worries!

Incidentally, the sellers are potentially liable to you for any misstatements made in the pre-contract enquiries by your solicitors. I’m not suggesting that the bathroom issue is worth pursuing, but it’s something to bear in mind.

dunstonh

As far as we are aware, there are no signs of subsidence, the homebuyers report said as much. We can see no signs currently. If symptoms of subsidence were to appear, is there any reason to think the insurance company wouldn't cover it?

A homebuyers report is largely a pointless option.  It gives little more value than a basic valuation.  Many sections are copied and paste with generic warnings rather than specific.    It's not as informative, personalised or as useful as a survey.      So, you wouldn't expect that much to be identified unless it is really really obvious.

If there is no known history of subsidence and no identifiable issues at present then its not a problem.

Subsidence is not that widespread and not normally something to worry about.   Movement is far more common and that is sometimes mixed up with subsidence by mistake but that isn't a problem if it happens.  Indeed, many millions of homeowners live in houses that expand and contract every year with occasional cracking at cosmetic/maintence level where an insurer never gets involved.    So, tell your partner to stop worrying.

For context, I know this must seem like overreacting, but the house when we bought it looked like it had no issues, only to find out the bathroom had a long term leak due to some really poor DIY plumbing, which we are in the process of repairing. The previous owners has specifically said they had the bathroom redone and had experienced no leaks since they had it done, which is entirely unbelievable at this point. Our main worry is that an unknown action by the previous owners could invalidate an insurance claim for something bigger, like subsidence.

Whenever you buy a house, it is pretty normal to find a whole list of things that are not quite what you thought.  Issues where things are at end of life and need replacing or had temporary/bodge fixes.    Its part and parcel of buying a house.

We found out, after we moved in, that the previous owner had put a fence post through the sewage pipe and never bothered to fix it.  Instead, they dug a ditch by the tank, bashed a whole in the side and dug a small channel to the front ditch (which was unlawful).  When the surveyor or us came to view, he filled it in so it wasn't visible.   When we left, he opened it up again.      When we moved in, he filled it in and we only found out the issue when it backed up within a few weeks.   We had to have new piping put in across 3 acres of paddocks in a snowing February.   We have found a load of other bodge jobs too.    Some from much earlier owners, such as covering a well with a thin piece of wood and then putting paving slabs on top of that.   That was interesting with the digger started tipping back into it after the slabs were taken up.

You just have to accept there will be things like this.  Some are more extreme than others.

averageguy11

 Just had my renewal from AVIVA re buildings and contents…up 15%…no claims ever (lived here over thirty years)…think I’ll be looking at those comparison sites before the due date.

danthemanlfc

Hi all, I've got a bit of a quandary for the collective mind of the MSE forum!

We submitted a claim to esure at the start of June regarding possible water escape damage to our patio and the underlying hardcore that has essentially crumbled. To say they have dragged their feet is an understatement, or to be precise, their loss adjustors Sedgwick have been painfully slow. Currently we are waiting on a sub-contractor so this is now a 4th party we've been dealing with.

Unfortunately the time has come to renew our home insurance; in fact it's due in 12 days time. I got a quote a little later than I would've liked for a self proclaimed MSE addict (15 days to go instead of the ideal 21!) but on trying to pursue the best quote I was told I could not proceed as there was an open claim. I thought honesty was the best policy when revealing the ongoing claim to Admiral but now I wish I hadn't, however it seems as if this issue will block me from moving to any other provider.

esure on the other hand have quoted me a premium £230 more than last year, presumably as a result of this ongoing claim. They've said there is no room for manoeuvre and in hindsight I can't help but be a bit cynical and think this was planned all along (i.e. drag their feet until the renewal date). I've got some email but mostly phone log evidence regarding the amount of times we've had to chase them...have I got grounds to take this higher e.g. to an ombudsman?

gaily

Unfortunately, with an open claim, insurers have you over a bit of a barrel. With an open claim many insurers won't want look at taking on a policy, and many times I've had to advise clients of mine to renew a policy if it crosses the renewal date. Whether you can prove that Esure have dragged their feet, or whether the claim has genuinely taken longer than normal is the issue (builders and construction industry has been really busy this year with people spending their holiday money on their houses, and consequential shortages of supplies)

But to take things to the Ombudsman, you'll need to have completed the complaints procedure with your insurer and have a formal decision letter from them. Otherwise the Ombudsman might be able to offer guidance, but cannot intervene.

Sandtree

danthemanlfc said:
I thought honesty was the best policy when revealing the ongoing claim to Admiral but now I wish I hadn't, however it seems as if this issue will block me from moving to any other provider.

esure on the other hand have quoted me a premium £230 more than last year, presumably as a result of this ongoing claim. They've said there is no room for manoeuvre and in hindsight I can't help but be a bit cynical and think this was planned all along (i.e. drag their feet until the renewal date). I've got some email but mostly phone log evidence regarding the amount of times we've had to chase them...have I got grounds to take this higher e.g. to an ombudsman?

If you hadn't declared it there is a reasonable prospect Admiral would have found the claim on CUE after you purchased and then voided the police for fraud... this entitles them to keep the paid premiums and means you then have to declare for life that you've had insurance voided for intentional non-declaration - if you think its expensive/difficult to switch with an open claim try doing so with a history of fraud on your record!

Whilst some insurers won't be interested in taking on a risk with an open claim others will, especially if it isnt a major loss or subsidence etc.

You can take a complaint to the ombudsman but only after a final response to a formal complaint by your insurers or 8 weeks have passed since the complaint was made (whichever is sooner). The Ombudsman does have a reasonable backlog at the moment so dont expect any action in time for this renewal.