Are Direct Line deliberately grinding me down?

[noonakai]

My first post so here goes – I made a claim with Direct Line because my tenant had more or less trashed my house. Direct Line rejected my claim on the grounds that the tenant had been ‘DSS-Type’. I was told I had withheld information about this and therefore my whole policy was now void.

I challenged on the basis that my tenant had not been DSS – which was the criteria on the contract – and that Direct Line had added the word ‘Type’ which effectively moved the goalposts.

To complicate things further, it turns out that Direct Line have not even finished their investigation of my claim despite sending me a decision on it! I was contacted for more information concerning my claim which I willingly gave them.

I have sent them in all the documentation I have to back up my case and they have simply gone silent. The upshot is that my house is now uninsured based on a decision that Direct Line admit they haven’t finished investigating, and I am no closer to getting a decision from them.

Is there anything at all I can do? – I feel vulnerable but that is exacerbated by the feeling that they are sitting on their hands hoping I will give up and accept their initial decision.

[Yorkyclaims]

Ask them for a "final decision letter" for the purposes of the FOS. It would appear they have issued a "tentative denial" to see if you will go away.

 

Receipt of the final letter will let a. the insurers know you will pursue the claim, and b. enable yo to take the complaint to the ombudsman.

 

If they will not issue this, ask them how long they anticipate their investigations to continue - anything more than 3 months since the notification is excessive.

[noonakai]

Thanks for this, it's really appreciated!

[vusys1]

Direct Line have very specific rules regarding let properties and would not cover a perm let property etc.

 

and terms do apply excluding acts of vandalism or malicious damage by a tennant etc.

[noonakai]

My cover is (was?) for Residential Landlords Insurance and the tenant didn't so much wilfully vandalise anything so much as neglect things to an extreme extent. Unfortunately my letting agents didn't really inform me of this. I was naive especially because I have no ambition to be a landlord, I just needed to let out my house because I've moved to Leeds.

 

I honestly believe my claim is valid. What hurts is that right now I am broke and Direct Line have been sitting on this case for around six months.

 

As an aside - I was given a rejection that turned out to be premature (see my first post.) I was told I would receive approx. £470 of payments back in 21 days. Around 30 days later I received a cheque for approx. £350. What offended me was that it came in a handwritten envelope with no return address. The cheque was handwritten and was on behalf of RBS Insurance. Direct Line's name was nowhere to be seen. There was no covering letter, no compliment slip, no explanation of any kind. Only by matching a policy number written on the back of the cheque with documents in my files could I tell the cheque was from Direct Line.

 

I took that to be symbolic of the contempt with which they held my claim.

[noonakai]

I want to follow this up and pick some brains! First off - my case in a nutshell: I made a claim when a tenant left my house. Direct Line rejected it and said that tenant had been 'DSS-type'. I pointed out that the contract stipulated no DSS (type wasn't mentioned) and that my tenant had not been DSS. Direct Line then contacted me and apologised saying that the decision had been premature and that the investigation hadn't been finished - however, despite admitting this they allowed the initial decision to stand and voided my policy.

 

Since then I have (i) sent them all the information they have requested (ii) sent in evidence to show my claim is valid (iii) followed the advice of members of this forum and asked for a final decision or at least a timescale for it.

 

I have been met with silence. I'm left therefore with a house that I cannot afford to look after and have had to put it up for sale.

 

I have contacted the Ombudsman but am aware they might take months to deal with this. In the meantime I am left with an uninsured house that is up for sale for less than it would have been if I'd have had the insurance payout to look after it and spruce it up.

 

I am in limbo - can anyone throw me any crumbs of comfort or advice?!