Do you feel that your insurance needs fall through the gaps? They aren’t covered in a drop down menu. You need help with a bespoke insurance service, not a ‘catch all’ policy. Is your insurer turning their back on you? Our client’s insurer ran for the hills when her renewal date came around and that’s when we stepped in to help.
My Insurer Dumped Me …
Donna is a Property owner and lets her property to third parties. Donna got in touch with us when she was unceremoniously dumped by her current insurance company. They contacted her two weeks before the policy was due to expire and said that they had changed their criteria and were no longer covering properties that had previously suffered from subsidence.
We’re used to receiving these calls because a lot of insurance companies are only interested in looking forward. As soon as they change their strategy they tend to dump their policy holders. They rarely provide any insight in to where their policy holders should go afterwards and often don’t allow the policy holders enough time to get their new cover in place.
Bespoke Insurance Service
So, when Donna contacted us and we told her it was not unusual, she was relieved. This was because she had previously been made to feel like a pariah, as if there was something wrong with her property. She knew her property was in better shape than properties that hadn’t subsided. Her property had been fixed and the features that caused it to subside had been removed. It couldn’t really happen again.
When we started talking to the specialists that could offer cover for this property, they asked for a raft of information. We had already gathered this from Donna. Having experience in these scenarios allows us to predict what information might be required. So Donna had been able to compile it and send it to us ready for the underwriters. Underwriters tend to ask all manner of questions with very few of them seeming relevant.
Solving the Complications.
Donna’s complication was the fact that her property was Let. While there are specialists in Let properties and specialists for properties that have previously been underpinned, there are no specialists in properties that have been previously underpinned that are Let. Our industry knowledge means, not only do we know who can help in these hybrid situations, we also know what information underwriters need to make it happen. Biba offer some great advice on insurance for subsidence.
Knowing Your Choices
Donna was delighted when we were able to secure the cover she required. She also had choice. She could decide to insure the property excluding subsidence, or, she could pay a little more and get wider cover, the widest available on the market. We discussed the Terms and Conditions of the policies with Donna and she made an informed decision. We also discussed conditions that weren’t relevant to the property’s history. Donna had never heard these before. It seemed that those who had provided her cover previously were more interested in selling her something than ensuring she had robust protection. Some call it a false sense of security.
What Surprises are in the Small Print?
Donna was intrigued to find out that when she insured her contents, the locks at her property didn’t meet insurers requirements. Indeed, Donna had insured with a household name for a number of years. They would never have paid out if her home had been broken into. They didn’t explain the conditions to her, they hid them in the small print. Yet their policy was clear, if you don’t have these devices we will not pay claims for theft, nor attempted theft and might not allow claims for other issues, because the policyholder had not disclosed that they didn’t have the locks that the insurers required!
Policy holders are always annoyed when they discover this. Yet they are delighted when it’s discovered before they have to make a claim. The problem has been solved and won’t rear up and catch them out at a later date.
WRAP UP
Insurers that offer the most competitive rates can change their mind at the drop of a hat. They might not give enough notice, so don’t wait for it to happen, get in touch today. Donna would have been hugely disappointed, to say the least, if her premises had been broken into and her insurer refused to assist.
TOP TIP
Small print doesn’t just affect locks. It also affects many other parts of the insurance policy. One being the amount of cover you buy. Click here to see our Vlog about a policy holder who wanted to cover £100,000 yet, due to the small print, would only have received £30,000 if the worst had happened.
If there is anything else we can help with please get in contact or if you want to book a free insurance health check click here.