Two household claims in one year – endorsements?

G'day, all.

Wonder if anyone has experience of refusal to renew/endorsements being applied to their household policy following a claim or, in this case, two claims in the one calendar year?

After 15 years claim-free, we had to make a sizeable enough claim (€10,161) in April of last year for loss of water damage. Basically, our immersion tank split its sides and emptied 140l of warm water through the ceilings to the hall/living room downstairs. We had assessors settle a total claim with the insurers for just over €10K net of excess under the buildings section of the policy (nothing under contents). Painting, plastering, replacing a section of wooden flooring.

Then, unfortunately, we had a separate incident over Christmas of a leaking pipe causing damage to another section of downstairs ceiling. This claim is still open at the moment, their assessor is in the process of signing off on a repair bill which looks likely to come in at just under €3,000.

In a spectacular piece of bad timing, our policy is now up for renewal at the end of the week. Our broker tells us we can’t move to a different insurer while the second claim is open; another broker I’ve tried says she can’t get anyone to quote us because we’ve had two claims in a year — too bad about the previous 14 years! — and our existing insurer is quoting a whopper of a premium, with a greatly increased excess (up from €500 to €1,500 in respect of each and every claim) and with a specific endorsement to the effect that:

“It is warranted that cover for escape of water is excluded pending sight of, and approved by ourselves, written confirmation from an approved plumber that all pipes and fixed water apparatus are in a sound condition and adequately lagged.”

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I don't know yet exactly what's meant by "an approved plumber" (i.e. whether we can use the plumber who has carried out the repairs, or whether it has to be from a list approved by the underwriters and, if so, who they have in our area.) Nor what this will cost me.

Is this par for the course? Is there anything I can do, or is it a case of — forgive the expression — “sucking it up”?

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer...

Hi I am a loss assessor and I would have substantial experience in the insurance field for over 20 years.
I do think that you should give your broker a serious kicking for not representing your position.
Your insurers are trying to incorporate an endorsement in your policy that no plumber can honestly comply with.
Contact your broker ask him to get your insurers to provide a list of "approved Plumbers" who will carry out whatever testing is required to satisfy the insurers requirements.
Your broker should really have advised your Insurers that their endorsement is impossible to comply with.

Ed054 said:

Contact your broker ask him to get your insurers to provide a list of "approved Plumbers" who will carry out whatever testing is required to satisfy the insurers requirements.

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Thanks, Ed. That was my first move — I asked them to confirm what exactly they mean by an "approved plumber" (i.e. can we use the plumber who has carried out the repairs, whose work has already been verbally approved by the loss adjuster appointed by the insurers?) — or does it have to be someone from a list approved by the insurers and, if so, who do they have in our area.

Ed054 said:

Your broker should really have advised your Insurers that their endorsement is impossible to comply with.

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I see your point, but what are my options if — according to more than one broker — no other insurer will quote me? There's a mortgage on the house, so I assume it's not an option to leave it uninsured even for the few more days it will take to finalise the claim.

Is it typical for insurers to refuse to quote someone in my circumstances? It sems like if I'd had a single claim for €13,000 or €14,000 I'd have had no problem! I've read the small print of the policy and I see that in calculating my premium for last year they applied a no-claims multiplier of x0.85 (i.e. a discount of 15%), but the premium they've now quoted me is treble what I paid last year — and then these endorsements on top...

Your broker should be working for you on this.
He is getting probably 20% commission on your policy and he should earn it.
You have had two claims under your policy which were not caused by any negligence on your part.
Get your broker to try to agree less onerous terms.
No plumber is going to give a report that will leave them wide open to be sued by your insurers if you have another burst pipe.
How can a plumber give a view on a pipe that is within your walls or floors.

Your broker should make a case for you stating the previous number of claim free years should fight both the level of premium increase and the increased excess.
If your insurers will not reduce your excess in year 1 your broker should get them to agree on a year by year reduction of excess to reflect the number of claim free years.
If your broker does nothing why don't you contact your mortgage provider and see if they can do anything for you

Thanks again, Ed, lots of food for thought there.

I've just spoken to her again, have sent off a follow-up email and will await her response.

I also managed to get the insurance company's appointed assessors (who had been rather dragging their feet) to settle the more recent claim — for a final figure of €2,850 less €150 excess — so that at least the broker can now approach other insurers.

I'll let you know how it pans out.

I think you will find it hard to move to another insurer, but Ed is right. You're broker should be working harder for you to try & reduce the premium/conditions. Unless of course you're insurance company just don't want to cover you anymore. If this is the case it may be hard for the broker to improve on the policy as the company could be taking a take it or leave it attitude. Unfortuntely unlike car insurance there is no onus on the company to offer you renewal terms. Best of luck with it.


www.powerinsurances.ie

as mentioned, your insurer is not obliged to even issue renewal terms for house insurance. The only one under law that they must issue terms, is Motor.

Your broker can make a case, but given that the bulk of insurers are foreign owned, the local people probably have their hands tied. I do not think that s/he will get far.

I wonder if a blandish report from whatever plumber they require would do. This would be worded similar to house surveys, kinds stating that the pipes look ok on visual inspection and that on pressure test on a given date, they withstood the pressure. All joints visible are dry to touch.

I would venture to sugegst that the premium and the excess is not out of the ordinary and in the event of being claim free for two years, you could look for a reduction. It is the endorsement that would cause concern.

Another alternative would be to contact lender and see if their insurance wing will quote. Most of the banks are only dying to get house insurance on the books to get the commission for no risk (on banks part).

Thanks, Ravima, I'll talk to the plumber and see what he can suggest.

The lender is NIB — I don't think they have an insurance wing as such...?

not in house, but they would be able to place the business with their chosen insurer and get the commission. Per their website, they place with ALLIANZ and quotations are available through your local NIB branch.

Thanks again Ravima, I may just drop into the branch and see what that turns up.

The insurer's concern is that, with two water damage claims in one year, the plumbing may be deteriorating and cause more problems in the future. That said, there is absolutely no justifiable reason to increase the excess on 'each and every claim'.

A threefold increase in the premium also seems extremely harsh given the exclusion of water damage claims. Your broker should fight this case on your behalf to obtain some amelioration in these terms, particularly given your previous track record.

Was your insurer one of those who offered great value initially (provided you made no claims of course). Many insurers seem to forget that the reason they are in business is to provide protection for those who pay their premiums. They then resent paying claims and punish those who 'transgress' with punitive terms.