Insurance saying no cover, day before final inspection

[sutton6344]

The title says it all really.

 

I had severe flood damage to my house and on the instructions of the insurance threw out all permanent fixtures including kitchen and flooring so that the house could be dried out.

 

Reinstatement work has been completed in accordance with the Surveyors Guidelines and within 24 hours of the final inspection to assess the completed work I was told that no cover was in place.

 

This obviously leaves several unhappy builders screaming at me.

 

Can this be done at the last minute in this way?

Edited July 2, 2009 by sutton6344
change

[LemonTwist]

I think the first thing you need to do is find out exactly why they are saying you have no cover. It could be due to any number of things, for example the policy expiring just before the flood occurred, that your policy didn't cover you for flood damage (which would be unusual), that the broker didn't pass on the premium to the insurer, payments being missed etc or it could be a systems fault at their end.

[Mossycat]

Who authorised the repairs, did the Insurer concerned authorise the builders directly or did they authorise you to instruct the builders to start the repair work. Or did you instruct them off your own bat?

 

Mossy

[sutton6344]

The loss adjusters authorised me to instruct the builders on condition it was within the guidelines of the surveyors report.

[Mossycat]

OK this sounds odd, normally cover is checked BEFORE appointing loss adjusters to deal, do you have this authorisation in a written format?

 

Mossy

[sutton6344]

OK this sounds odd, normally cover is checked BEFORE appointing loss adjusters to deal, do you have this authorisation in a written format?

 

 

Yes........by email

[djmetsandy]

Can you please find out why they have repudiated the claim?

Without this, we are unable to determine why they withdraw their decision to cover the claim.

[sutton6344]

Can you please find out why they have repudiated the claim?

Without this, we are unable to determine why they withdraw their decision to cover the claim.

 

They say there was a problem with the direct debit payment in May 2008 and the policy was cancelled accordingly.

[djmetsandy]

They say there was a problem with the direct debit payment in May 2008 and the policy was cancelled accordingly.

 

Pay the premium for that renewal and all should be sorted

[sutton6344]

Pay the premium for that renewal and all should be sorted

 

It was the monthly premium not the renewal and I've already offered to pay any shortfall.

[Helford]

When was the date of loss (Flood)?

 

Did the Insurers or Third Party Finance Company send you a letter advising that the month's premium was unpaid? If so, what action did you take and what was the date of this letter relative to the date of the flood?

 

H

[sutton6344]

When was the date of loss (Flood)?

 

Did the Insurers or Third Party Finance Company send you a letter advising that the month's premium was unpaid? If so, what action did you take and what was the date of this letter relative to the date of the flood?

 

H

 

 

The flood was in January 2009

 

They sent me a letter in July 2009 advising the premium was unpaid and policy cancelled, this was the day before the final inspection.

 

I immediataly offered to pay any shortfall that can be confirmed.

[Helford]

Please clarify:-

 

You say 'They say there was a problem with the direct debit payment in May 2008 and the policy was cancelled accordingly.' and then 'They sent me a letter in July 2009 advising the premium was unpaid and policy cancelled, this was the day before the final inspection.'

 

So is it correct that NO premiums were paid May 2008 onwards and you did not notice? The flood occurred 8 months later and you notified the Insurers who having checked your records appointed Loss Adjusters who dealt and some six months later have decided cover is not operative as cover was cancelled over a years past. Something is definitely not right????

[sutton6344]

So is it correct that NO premiums were paid May 2008 onwards and you did not notice? The flood occurred 8 months later and you notified the Insurers who having checked your records appointed Loss Adjusters who dealt and some six months later have decided cover is not operative as cover was cancelled over a years past. Something is definitely not right????

 

 

 

 

That's what happened in a nutshell!!! Although contents insurance did continue to be deducted on the same day!!!

[sutton6344]

Hi.. Basically despite over 50 emails discussing the progress of the work and £7k already paid out for drying costs, the insurance cancelled the final inspection due to a payment error 12 months previoiusly (they didn't try to collect failed payment when previously they had). In one of their emails they even asked me to clarify the address to post the cheque.

 

Since this, I have sent another 50 emails and have hit a brick wall.

 

Now that floods are in the news and considering Axa's new TV advert regarding flood victims, is it now worth contacting the press about this.

[MicheleFloyd]

Request a copy of all correspondence that has been issued to you since May 2008. If it's not in order, make a formal complaint to the policy underwriting manager. They will send out information for you to contact the Financial Ombudsman so if what they tell you isn't fair, escalate your complaint.

 

This advice is based on you're being certain that you were not told that the policy was cancelled before the date of the loss.

Edited November 23, 2009 by MicheleFloyd

[Mossycat]

Request a copy of all correspondence that has been issued to you since May 2008. If it's not in order, make a formal complaint to the policy underwriting manager. They will send out information for you to contact the Financial Ombudsman so if what they tell you isn't fair, escalate your complaint.

 

This advice is based on you're being certain that you were not told that the policy was cancelled before the date of the loss.

 

The Insurers will argue that the policyholder was aware that payments were not been taken from their bank since May 2008, which is a reasonable arguement and will stand up in Court.

 

The OP cannot reasonably argue that they were unaware that payments were not been taken for such a long period of time.

 

Mossy

[Mossycat]

Now that floods are in the news and considering Axa's new TV advert regarding flood victims, is it now worth contacting the press about this.

 

I'm not so sure how that would work in your favour, basically you haven't paid any installments on your policy since May 2008, 8 months before the loss occurred.

 

If the policy was cancelled because of non payment then it was cancelled and you had no cover when the damage occurred

 

Mossy

[MicheleFloyd]

I know they can backdate the cancellation to the date of nonpayment but I was under the impression there was a duty for insurers to notify the policyholder of cancellation as per the FSA guidelines. A quick re-print of the insured's documentation history will probably reveal he was issued a cancellation notice last year. If it was lost in the post, I would say that he was out of luck. If they never issued it, he's got a fighting chance. He could argue that he did not know that the payments were not taken out and because the insurer paid the claim, he was given the impression that he was on cover. He could argue that his decisions on how to handle his loss would have been affected had the insurer properly checked his cover before giving the go ahead for repairs. He might have done the work as DIY, sold the house or who knows what.

 

Just my opinion, mind you.

[Mossycat]

I He could argue that he did not know that the payments were not taken out and because the insurer paid the claim, he was given the impression that he was on cover.

 

Just my opinion, mind you.

 

I'm not sure I follow your argument there, the OP hasn't paid any monthly installments since May08, if it goes to Court the insurers will argue it is reasonable to assume that a person would notice that no payments had been taken from their account under a direct debit for the last 8 months, and I don't see that the insurer hasn't paid any claim since cancellation.

 

The insurers acted to expediate matters and proceeded as they should and then discovered the OP had a cancelled policy.

 

Mossy

[sutton6344]

I'm not sure I follow your argument there, the OP hasn't paid any monthly installments since May08, if it goes to Court the insurers will argue it is reasonable to assume that a person would notice that no payments had been taken from their account under a direct debit for the last 8 months, and I don't see that the insurer hasn't paid any claim since cancellation.

 

 

Well the insurance didn't notice for the 4 or 5 months whilst they were instructing me to carry out the work to their specification.

[Mossycat]

Well the insurance didn't notice for the 4 or 5 months whilst they were instructing me to carry out the work to their specification.

 

That's your only argument (and I personally think (and hope) you will succeed with it)), that you acted as you did because you were instructed by your insurers, and had they not told you to do something or advised you earlier that there was a problem with your policy then you wouldn't have incurred the expenses you did.

 

I'm also hoping that they instructed the builders etc and NOT you, if so then they have a bigger problem than simply saying the policy was cancelled

 

Good luck

 

Mossy

[hightail]

The OP cannot reasonably argue that they were unaware that payments were not been taken for such a long period of time.

 

I'm not sure I would have noticed if, as the OP said, the same insurers continued to DD payments at the same point in the month for contents cover.

[sutton6344]

The OP cannot reasonably argue that they were unaware that payments were not been taken for such a long period of time.

 

using the same logic, the insurance cannot reasonably argue they were unaware of the same for the period of time they were instructing work to their specification.

 

I'm not sure I would have noticed if, as the OP said, the same insurers continued to DD payments at the same point in the month for contents cover.

 

Is it standard practice for buildings and contents policies to be recommended seperately when taken out at the same time ?

[MicheleFloyd]

I'm not sure I follow your argument there, the OP hasn't paid any monthly installments since May08, if it goes to Court the insurers will argue it is reasonable to assume that a person would notice that no payments had been taken from their account under a direct debit for the last 8 months, and I don't see that the insurer hasn't paid any claim since cancellation.

 

The insurers acted to expediate matters and proceeded as they should and then discovered the OP had a cancelled policy.

 

Mossy

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the insurer is incorrect in denying cover due to nonpayment, but they might well have to eat the costs of his claim due to their not following proper procedures (assuming they did.)

 

I have known someone who didn't notice a DD had gone out for quite a few months, which is negligent and hands a good portion of the blame to the policyholder. But the insurer's mistakes in this case might cause them to reconsider their position and make him a "go away" offer.