House insurance.

[scott_e]

bump. Finally after 4 months on one claim and 12 months on another our insurance company have knocked back half our claim as wear and tear. so we have to find £15k to fix the roof and chimneys

Jesus ! , would you mind letting us know what insurance company that is so i can avoid them.

I am with Direct Line for house insurance on the Home Insurance Plus policy. They (and this policy) apparently have some sort of 5 star rating which is suppose to mean they are more likely to pay out. Thats all i know about the rating system sorry , think Aviva are 5 star rated too. Not had to test the theory yet.

[pete]

Mine went to appeal, then they sent a roofer round and the claim was upheld.

I then submitted the quote my roofer had put in.
"Oooh missus" they said, "that's a lot isn't it? Get another quote."

The new quote was twice the first one.

"Jings Crivens!", they said "Are you sure your roofer is really a roofer and not some cowboy? He seems very cheap."

In the meantime I complained about what I considered to be their fraudulent behaviour and they paid me 100 pounds to say sorry.

Yesterday I was checking my bank statements and the stuff associated with the claim as some parts of it are still ongoing. And I can't find any trace of the 100 pounds.

"Kittens McTavish!" they exclaimed when I rang them, "You're right we never paid you. Let us give you a slightly less trivial amount of money to compensate you for catching us out in our transparent attempt at subterfuge*."

Bastewards.

(*That is hyperbole on my part, I'm sure that HBOS are a competent and honest company who just made a few honest mistakes in the handling of this claim. Everyone makes mistakes. I am something of a grammar Nazi and it is not fair to expect call centre operatives to know what the words they are saying mean. Like when they say it wasn't windy but it was. Or we inspected the damage but they didn't.)

[scott_e]

Thats all i know about the rating system sorry , think Aviva are 5 star rated too. Not had to test the theory yet.

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/home-insurance

[BiggestNizzy]

Just to add the insurance paid for most of the work, the only thing they knocked back was the pointing on a gabel wall and to be honest fair enough.

They gave up on the wear and tear aspect when we produced receipts and an (spectacularly detailed, think phonebook) NHBC report that for repairs on the buildings stonework and roof repairs totally £250k

[Doc883]

I lost 8 hip (ridge tiles) as a result of the December storm then a further 16 in January. I am insured with Sheila's Wheels and also have the optional emergency cover Tut described. The December instance was put through under Emergency cover but instead of just making the area watertight they decided to erect scaffolding and carry out a complete fix. Cost was £814 of which just £500 was for scaffolding alone. The emergency cover claim limit is £500 so I am left with a bill for £314 . The January incident had a temp fix under emergency cover without the need for scaffolding at no cost to me and I was told to get 2 quotes for the repair. Sheila's wheels then authorised the cheaper quote and I had to pay my £100 excess. I now have an issue which I am about to complain about in as much as why were essentially the incidents handled differently resulting me being out of pocket by £214. If the 1st repair had been a temp it would have been free then I should have been told to get 2 quotes etc so should have cost me my £100 excess max. Also the 2nd roofing company were somewhat shocked when I said that scaffolding had been put up in December (2 storey detached house with single storey rear extension with flat roof) so clearly they are ripping the insurance companies off. Be interesting to hear Sheila's wheels response to why they handles the 2 claims differently.

My renewal letter came through the other day and Sheila's Wheels have declined to offer me cover for the next 12months presumably because I had the audacity or misfortune to actually have to make a claim This now leaves me in a predicament as one of the 1st questions a new Insurer asks is "Have you either been refused insurance or had special terms imposed" so by the letter of the law I'll have to say yes.

[Dark]

After our £3k claim for storm damage in January I was fearing our Sept renewal from Tesco Finest.
In the end the premium went up £50 which I thought was very reasonable considering that most of the comparison sites were showing the policy doubling as soon as I listed the claim.

[pete]

It didn't affect my renewal. (Although we are now covered by "Insure4Retirement" which is odd as we are both in our very early 40s).

I don't understand how it isn't fraud. Imagine that I had a car crash and claimed I was driving but then. when pressed admitted that Doc883 was actually driving uninsured. I'd be done for fraud. Yet they can effectively do the opposite (there wasn't an insurable event. OK there was.) with no consequence.

[j2 lot]

I agree with you Pete, if we do it its fraud, if they do it its claim management and they employ people to carry it out.

[robin]

Once Chas'n'Dave (Messrs Cameron and Osbourne) have taken the energy companies to task then the insurance companies should be next on their list. The amount of useless insurance that is sold is beyond belief. The apparently useful insurance that turns into cheese the moment you try to make a legitimate claim is a scandal.

I have long since taken the approach that I only insure what I cannot afford to lose (as in could not be without). The only exception is the cars which have to be insured by law. Thus the only thing I have insured is my house (buildings, not contents).

I pray I never have to claim .... though the amount I pay should buy me good service, I'll bet it does not ....

Cheers,
Robin

[Sanjøy]

Claim went in today for some tilling in our bathroom which has some form of leak around it that has blown the platerboard so needing a shed load of work, not holding my breath. "If its not a leak we will not leak, if it is not a leak we will not pay". Okay love heard you the first time.

[Sanjøy]

Claim went in today for some tilling in our bathroom which has some form of leak around it that has blown the platerboard so needing a shed load of work, not holding my breath. "If its not a leak we will not leak, if it is not a leak we will not pay". Okay love heard you the first time.

Man from Delmonte, he say "Yes"

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

Don’t let them put plaster board backing if you are planning on staying in the house for a while. Redo in plywood and it will last forever.