Introduction | Homeowners
| Buildings insurance |
Contents insurance | Level of cover
| Costs of cover |
Choosing a policy | Making a claim
| Tenants insurance | Landlords
insurance
Making a claim
If you have reason to make a claim, you should notify the insurance
company as soon as possible. There will usually be a clause in the
policy document which requires you to do this as soon as is practically
possible. If you have been burgled, obviously you will need to notify
the police ahead of your insurance company.
For any major claim (different companies have their own internal
guidelines but it tends to be around the £1000 mark), the
insurance company will send a loss adjuster round to assess whether
you are in compliance with the terms of your policy. They will check
that all the details you providenot done anything that puts you
in breach of the terms of your policy. This applies d when you took
out the policy are accurate and make sure that you have to both
buildings and contents insurance.
One of the reasons that the insurance industry has had bad press
over the years is because of grievances over occasions when they
have not paid out. Many people live, apparently safe in the knowledge
that their home is insured against all manner of catastrophe, only
to find that they are left with next to nothing when disaster strikes.
There are two lesson to be learned from this:
- Never tell insurance companies something that is inaccurate
or untrue.
- Always read the small print.
Contained within the detailed policy document is an array of exclusions
- special circumstances or events where you insurance cover will
not be of use to you. Some of the more common ones are listed below,
but you should always check the individual policy details:
Failure to provide accurate information. Aside from anything else,
you run the risk of being prosecuted for fraud if it is found that
you deliberately falsified your claim details.
Failure to install or correctly use the door and window locks,
burglar alarm, or other security system.
Any repair work that is caused by lack of maintenance or negligence
will almost certainly not be covered. If you let your home go to
rack and ruin - never service the plumbing and boiler, forget to
ever clean out the gutters, or neglect to replace roof tiles lost
in a storm - then the insurance company is unlikely to foot the
bill for any major work that arises as a result of your lack of
action.
If your home suffers further damage as a result of you failing
to carry out proper repair work on the original problem, then you
will find it difficult to convince the insurance company of their
obligation to pay for the work.
Buildings insurance does not usually cover damage to fences, walls,
gates, or hedges for damage caused by storms or inclement weather.
You may possibly be able to claim if someone comes and steals all
your fences, but you almost never be covered if they are blown away
in a hurricane.
Similarly, your garden furniture may be covered if it is stored
in a shed that is secured with an approved lock, but you are unlikely
to get a payout if it is left on the patio.
Finally, bear in mind that sometimes it is not worth replacing
possessions or doing repair work using the insurance. If it will
cost less than or not too much higher than the excess then the loss
of no-claims discounts may make it worthwhile paying for some things
out of your own pocket.
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