Home Home renewal - question on possible claim

[coley]

Hi,
Am looking for advice on our insurance renewal which is up in few days. We have a leak in roof which leaked badly during the year. I called our current insurer explained situation and they sent me out a form to complete to progress claim.
The leak stopped (although damage is still apparent and we haven't found the root cause) I did not progress the claim with current insurer.
My question is - Do I have to disclose this to any potential new insurer if we move despite the fact that we did not actually claim
We are going to have to fix the leak so I do envisage a claim in the next 12 months to repair (prob about 2.5K to fix)
Any help much appreciated

 

[ailbhe]

Hi,
Am looking for advice on our insurance renewal which is up in few days. We have a leak in roof which leaked badly during the year. I called our current insurer explained situation and they sent me out a form to complete to progress claim.
The leak stopped (although damage is still apparent and we haven't found the root cause) I did not progress the claim with current insurer.

Why didn't you progress with the claim? The longer you leave it, the more damage will be caused. You have a responsibility (which is stated in your policy booklet) to show due care and attention and this means you are responsible for sorting out problems as quickly as you notice them. If you don't know what caused the leak there is nothing to say it will happen again or that the water hasn't simply been leaking into a neighbours wall/somewhere less obvious to you.

My question is - Do I have to disclose this to any potential new insurer if we move despite the fact that we did not actually claim
We are going to have to fix the leak so I do envisage a claim in the next 12 months to repair (prob about 2.5K to fix)
Any help much appreciated

You don't have to disclose that you have a claim as you don't. But there is another question on the proposal which will ask if the premises is in a good state of repair. You cannot answer yes to this without lying.

Also, when you do go to claim, they will send an assessor. You will have to state when the loss happened and they will want you to claim from your previous insurer who will already have a record that you told them about the claim. If they see the gap between reporting and fixing, they might decline the claim based on duty of care etc.
Your new insurer may also (if they do any digging at all) cancel your insurance from inception (if you lie on the claim form about the property being in a good state of repair).

It's a minefield. My advice is to claim off the current insurer. It will probably mean staying with them another year but at least your house is repaired.

 

[coley]

Thanks for your response.
I am sitting in the kitchen as the water is dripping through the roof....I will renew tomorrow and let you know how I get on with current insurer. Have also called builder. As you know you never think about a leak till it starts raining;-)