Insurance for contents refused on a house that has subsidence!!

[Fallowfields]

Im not asking for buildings insurance as the intention is to get planning and rebuild a new home in its place. The house is sound and secure, so whats the deal with trying to get cover for my contents? Anyone have any similar issues and how to deal with this nonsense😫

[ProDave]

Try a different insurer and don't tell them the building is suffering susidence.

[Chanmenie]

Just now, ProDave said:

Try a different insurer and don't tell them the building is suffering susidence.

That’s not a good idea, in the event of a claim if they find out they’ll invalidate the claim and you get black listed or done for fraud. 
 

[ProDave]

1 minute ago, Chanmenie said:

That’s not a good idea, in the event of a claim if they find out they’ll invalidate the claim and you get black listed or done for fraud. 
 

I could see that if the subsiding building collapsed on your contents and you tried claiming for that but otherwise why?  They are insuring the contents not the building.  Did they specifically ask "does the building have subsidence" or was it a little detail you told them without being prompted thinking you were being helpful?

[Fallowfields]

29 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I could see that if the subsiding building collapsed on your contents and you tried claiming for that but otherwise why?  They are insuring the contents not the building.  Did they specifically ask "does the building have subsidence" or was it a little detail you told them without being prompted thinking you were being helpful?

I agree, Ive no idea why my contents is an issue in a house thats perfectly good to live in. Everything works and locks. Yes they all ask now has there been any previous issues, stating subsidence, flooding etc. In fact the last insurer actually asked if these issues had happened in the last 10 years to which I replied no, it was nearly 20 years ago!!

[Chanmenie]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

I could see that if the subsiding building collapsed on your contents and you tried claiming for that but otherwise why?  They are insuring the contents not the building.  Did they specifically ask "does the building have subsidence" or was it a little detail you told them without being prompted thinking you were being helpful?

Yeah but the point is you must answer the questions honestly, or they can invalidate any claim, whatever the circumstances.

if they don’t ask it’s fine, but any questions asked must be answered honestly 

[saveasteading]

4 hours ago, Chanmenie said:

any questions asked must be answered honestly 

Firstly Truth is good.

 

Secondly, most insurers invest heavily in finding an excuse to deny responsibility.

 

I met an insurance manager (you will have heard of them) who boasted that only 30% of their income went out again in claims.

This is exceptional I believe, but the principle stands.

[Fallowfields]

7 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Firstly Truth is good.

 

Secondly, most insurers invest heavily in finding an excuse to deny responsibility.

 

I met an insurance manager (you will have heard of them) who boasted that only 30% of their income went out again in claims.

This is exceptional I believe, but the principle stands.

The discrimination is appalling. Ive always used insurance and I cant even remember when I claimed on it, has to be over 20 years. I will be very picky in return when my new home is built, this elephant never forgets, they wont get my money again

[patp]

Try Farmers Union insurance. They get a very good ?Which rating and they take a more personal approach. The only thing I didn't like about them was the time it took, on the phone, with a very nice but oh so chatty, representative. 

[andyscotland]

I guess the issue is most policies would cover the contents for damage due to subsidence (either the building / a section of wall collapsing on them or e.g. if movement caused a pipe to crack and flood, or an electrical supply or gas line to be damaged and start a fire.

 

Although potentially low probability (depending on the scale/nature of the subsidence) that could be a much more expensive claim than e.g. theft as it could involve total loss of your contents. So presumably off-the-shelf insurers aren't willing to get into trying to assess how likely that is for your specific property.

 

It might be worth going through a broker to either find an insurer that is willing to price the risk or a policy that excludes subsidence-related claims.

[Marvin]

Hi @Fallowfields

 

Previously had the problem of high insurance costs due to our old home having had subsidence and underpinning 30 years before! 

We phoned round as it seems every insurer has different criteria. Sometimes we found better deals which after a year increased a lot so started phoning round again.

 

However we never asked for just building contents insurance. But if you have to buy buildings insurance you can ask for subsidence exclusion or a massive excess for a subsidence claim to reduce the cost. Keep trying.

 

M

Edited July 25, 2023 by Marvin

[Chanmenie]

18 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Firstly Truth is good.

 

Secondly, most insurers invest heavily in finding an excuse to deny responsibility.

 

Yeah I worked in the insurance industry for 30 years 

and know of a lot of happy customers because the insurance paid out on claims, I also know where claims were not paid because the claimants were dishonest not that they would ever admit it. 
You would not believe the bogus and dishonest motor claims the companies deal with on a daily basis.

[Fallowfields]

16 hours ago, Marvin said:

Hi @Fallowfields

 

Previously had the problem of high insurance costs due to our old home having had subsidence and underpinning 30 years before! 

We phoned round as it seems every insurer has different criteria. Sometimes we found better deals which after a year increased a lot so started phoning round again.

 

However we never asked for just building contents insurance. But if you have to buy buildings insurance you can ask for subsidence exclusion or a massive excess for a subsidence claim to reduce the cost. Keep trying.

 

M

Thanks Marvin,

Do you happen to remember any of the names of the insurers, Ive done a lot of ringing and online searching without much luck. We are about to complete on the purchase and im freaking out about not having insurance for anything at all

[Fallowfields]

6 hours ago, Chanmenie said:

Yeah I worked in the insurance industry for 30 years 

and know of a lot of happy customers because the insurance paid out on claims, I also know where claims were not paid because the claimants were dishonest not that they would ever admit it. 
You would not believe the bogus and dishonest motor claims the companies deal with on a daily basis.

Chan, are you able to suggest any insurers that might help in this case. Ive always had insurance, never defaulted, havent had a claim in God knows how many years and the subsidence was 25 years ago with remedial works done and the tree removed. Its insane as the house is sound so much so that even the structural surveyor couldnt see much had happened. 

[Fallowfields]

17 hours ago, patp said:

Try Farmers Union insurance. They get a very good ?Which rating and they take a more personal approach. The only thing I didn't like about them was the time it took, on the phone, with a very nice but oh so chatty, representative. 

Will give them a try, thank you

[Fallowfields]

Managed to find some cover.  For a 3 bed detached home these three Companies have quoted me for Buildings and Contents

 

Orwell Insurance via Lloyds £350 = 01473 292805

Amica Insurance via Magenta £414.32 = 01782 498814

Fresh Insurance via Castle £345.26 = 01527 593800

 

These policy quotes are for standard cover without accidental damage cover.

 

Hope this helps others looking. All the best FF

[andyscotland]

Glad you're sorted, those prices don't look too awful, considering.

 

It does seem mad it's so hard when the subsidence was rectified and so long ago, unfortunately probably another casualty of the tickbox "computer says no" approach to focusing on the easy customers and avoiding anything requiring a bit of thought...

[Chanmenie]

16 hours ago, Fallowfields said:

Chan, are you able to suggest any insurers that might help in this case. Ive always had insurance, never defaulted, havent had a claim in God knows how many years and the subsidence was 25 years ago with remedial works done and the tree removed. Its insane as the house is sound so much so that even the structural surveyor couldnt see much had happened. 

Just keep ringing round or try a broker.

I worked for Aviva for the last 21 years but retired last year.

[Marvin]

19 hours ago, Fallowfields said:

Thanks Marvin,

Do you happen to remember any of the names of the insurers, Ive done a lot of ringing and online searching without much luck. We are about to complete on the purchase and im freaking out about not having insurance for anything at all

Hi @Fallowfields

 

I just remember it was none of the big ones. They seemed to want only run of the mill situations. Who did the previous owners have insurance with??

[Johnnyt]

Having worked in domestic and commercial insurance claims for 15 years, it strikes me you have a novice underwriter.

There is no logical reason to refuse cover for contents for a property that has previously subsided. I agree NFU are one of the more considerate insurers and we personally use them for contents and personal effects. However they quoted over 1k for our new build whereas as Aviva were under £300.

It strikes me the days of proper insurance risk assessment have been given over to algorithms with the loss of personal service and cheaper establishment levels.

[Fallowfields]

On 26/07/2023 at 20:26, Johnnyt said:

Having worked in domestic and commercial insurance claims for 15 years, it strikes me you have a novice underwriter.

There is no logical reason to refuse cover for contents for a property that has previously subsided. I agree NFU are one of the more considerate insurers and we personally use them for contents and personal effects. However they quoted over 1k for our new build whereas as Aviva were under £300.

It strikes me the days of proper insurance risk assessment have been given over to algorithms with the loss of personal service and cheaper establishment levels.

You are not wrong Johnny, Admiral my current insurer actually rang me after i secured a  policy online offering all their criteria and no fibs and it sent me a notification saying it hasnt taken a payment and someone will ring me to ask questions. A lady called me and then checked with her manager twice whether they would take the risk, to which the answer was no!!!!! The following day I saw they took my money from my account and its taken me three days to actually talk to someone about it. Their settings are all down to a policy number to get you access, but of course i didnt have one. Luckily i hung on to the reference number they flashed on the screen when they said they didnt take my premium, i believe if i hadnt got that they would not of even admitted they took my money. 

Funny thing is when asking for my money back the assistant there was bemused that it was refused too and even asked me if i wanted to go ahead with it. Well I will never get those two days of my life back chasing that through and politely declined.

[Adsibob]

On 26/07/2023 at 11:10, Fallowfields said:

Managed to find some cover.  For a 3 bed detached home these three Companies have quoted me for Buildings and Contents

 

Orwell Insurance via Lloyds £350 = 01473 292805

Amica Insurance via Magenta £414.32 = 01782 498814

Fresh Insurance via Castle £345.26 = 01527 593800

 

These policy quotes are for standard cover without accidental damage cover.

 

Hope this helps others looking. All the best FF

Interesting, I was this week automatically renewed with my existing insurer, Home Protect, underwritten by AXA Insurance, but I still have time to cancel it if I find something cheaper. Last year, the quote for a 5 bed house (buildings and contents) was £444. This is a fairly populated area of London. Not particularly high crime, but London rates of crime. When the renewal came through the price jumped up to £521.50, which I thought was a rip off.

So I've just put in all the equivalent details into comparethemarket's search engine, with a £500 excess for buildings and £250 excess for contents and was shocked to learn that the cheapest available on comparethemarket was £760.  So I'm wondering if actually the £521.50 is good value.

 

But what bothers me is that my house has a couple of features which I think most insurers would like: we have an imist system on the ground floor and all our ground floor windows are PAS24 certified, and neither my current insurer or the search engine seems to care about. Does anybody know of an insurer that will take such measures into account?