water damage question

clint_silver

Cistern in main bathroom. theres a plastic blank plug underneath it. the blank must have corroded/eroded/hardened with scale over time. Must have been dripping for I dont how long, tiles all cracked on the floor from what I can imagine is warped wood underneath. radiator cover beside it all warped.

I thought it might have needed tightening, put my hand on it to see was it loose and it literally disintegrated, water flowed out of it, water flowing out of ceiling downstairs. tied off the ballcock, got a replacement blank in local shop, all fixed.

Can I claim for the damage or is that wear and tear?

To Elland Back

clint_silver wrote: »

Cistern in main bathroom. theres a plastic blank plug underneath it. the blank must have corroded/eroded/hardened with scale over time. Must have been dripping for I dont how long, tiles all cracked on the floor from what I can imagine is warped wood underneath. radiator cover beside it all warped.

I thought it might have needed tightening, put my hand on it to see was it loose and it literally disintegrated, water flowed out of it, water flowing out of ceiling downstairs. tied off the ballcock, got a replacement blank in local shop, all fixed.

Can I claim for the damage or is that wear and tear?

Sounds like a combination of wear & tear and 'gradually operating cause' both of which are excluded under your insurance.

However,the damage the water caused with the sudden flow of water when you touched the cistern may be recoverable but not the areas affected over a period of time. If this damage is above the policy excess, give your insurers a call

clint_silver

thanks, Id talked to them a short while ago, they've said that any damage is covered, but not the fault in the cistern itself. the new blank only cost a euro so not worried about that, the floorboards under the tiles is where Im more concerned.
Have an assessor coming out, excess is 500 so judgement call there whether I lose the no claims bonus if I claim obviously.

coylemj

clint_silver wrote: »

Have an assessor coming out, excess is 500 so judgement call there whether I lose the no claims bonus if I claim obviously.

A word of warning if you decide not to claim, this is based on a poster's experience in another thread. If you are shopping around for a quote on your next renewal, do not mention that incident. Some insurance companies regard even an inquiry about a possible claim as an 'event' that counts as a claim for quotation purposes i.e. your risk profile is damaged whether you claimed or not.

In some cases they will refuse to quote you and then you are deep in the brown stuff because virtually every insurance company asks: 'have you ever been refused a quote or had conditions attached to your policy?' to which you will be obliged to answer 'yes'. Then you will have a serious problem.

So when you're asked if you've had any claims in the last 'nn' years, reply truthfully but do not volunteer information about any events that did not result in a claim.

clint_silver

coylemj wrote: »

A word of warning if you decide not to claim, this is based on a poster's experience in another thread. If you are shopping around for a quote on your next renewal, do not mention that incident. Some insurance companies regard even an inquiry about a possible claim as an 'event' that counts as a claim for quotation purposes i.e. your risk profile is damaged whether you claimed or not.

In some cases they will refuse to quote you and then you are deep in the brown stuff because virtually every insurance company asks: 'have you ever been refused a quote or had conditions attached to your policy?' to which you will be obliged to answer 'yes'. Then you will have a serious problem.

So when you're asked if you've had any claims in the last 'nn' years, reply truthfully but do not volunteer information about any events that did not result in a claim.

thanks for that. I get what youre saying but small bit of clarification please. If I decide not to claim ring another providor and they ask "have I made a claim", I answer no truthfully, why would they refuse a quote?
Is one companies risk profile shared with another? Are you saying that even if I dont make a claim that my existing providor will attach conditions to my policy that I'll have to share with other providors when requesting quotes?

coylemj

clint_silver wrote: »

thanks for that. I get what youre saying but small bit of clarification please. If I decide not to claim ring another providor and they ask "have I made a claim", I answer no truthfully, why would they refuse a quote?

The other poster foolishly volunteered information about an 'incident' that involved accidental damage but no insurance claim. The call agent decided that that was as good as a claim in terms of risk assessment and refused to provide a quote or gave an inflated quote that made it clear that they didn't want his business.

clint_silver wrote: »

Is one companies risk profile shared with another? Are you saying that even if I dont make a claim that my existing providor will attach conditions to my policy that I'll have to share with other providors when requesting quotes?

No, they don't share data with one another about policyholders - they do on third party claimants to detect serial fraud. As with most insurance, they take what you say at face value but if it later transpires that you gave false information in relation to a material fact, they can revoke the policy. Give truthful answers to any question you are asked but do not volunteer information that could harm your risk profile. They ask you if you've had a claim in the past 5 years, not if you've had a leaking pipe in the same period so you're under no obligation to tell them about every domestic mishap you've had. If everyone told them about every water leak and TV knocked over or damaged by children, none of us would be able to get insurance.

To Elland Back

Just to clarify what coylemj said. If you report a claim and it is paid, turned down, below policy excess, withdrawn etc., it is logged and available to alternative insurers for the future. If an incident happens and you deal with it yourself without calling insurers, I'd have no problem not disclosing it

clint_silver

To Elland Back wrote: »

Just to clarify what coylemj said. If you report a claim and it is paid, turned down, below policy excess, withdrawn etc., it is logged and available to alternative insurers for the future. If an incident happens and you deal with it yourself without calling insurers, I'd have no problem not disclosing it

So if I call the insurers and open a case as I may need to make a claim.

I then decide not to proceed with that claim/withdraw it, that case is available to alternative insurers as a "potential claim" and Im flagged as a risk.

If I go to another providor and say can I have a quote, theyll ask "have I ever made a claim". I legitimately say no. Am I lying or the fact I opened a case above mean that qualifies as a claim, whether I went through with it or not?

To Elland Back

clint_silver wrote: »

So if I call the insurers and open a case as I may need to make a claim.

I then decide not to proceed with that claim/withdraw it, that case is available to alternative insurers as a "potential claim" and Im flagged as a risk.

If I go to another providor and say can I have a quote, theyll ask "have I ever made a claim". I legitimately say no. Am I lying or the fact I opened a case above mean that qualifies as a claim, whether I went through with it or not?

If you register a claim with an insurer and decide later on not to proceed with it, your insurers will close it off as 'Claim not pursued' and note it as Nil Payment.

This information is available to all insurers and will be cross referenced should you have another claim in the future. If you tell a prospective insurer that you reported a claim but didn't go ahead because it was below the excess, manageable, not worth it etc, it should not prejudice your quote. Do not hide it

clint_silver

thank you for clarification.

MikeCairo78

clint_silver wrote:

Cistern in main bathroom. theres a plastic blank plug underneath it. the blank must have corroded/eroded/hardened with scale over time. Must have been dripping for I dont how long, tiles all cracked on the floor from what I can imagine is warped wood underneath. radiator cover beside it all warped.

Just a quick clarification re post earlier. No Insurer asks "have you been refused a quote" Insurers do ask have you made a claim, had a policy cancelled or had special terms imposed. Any Insurer can refuse to quote and it has no impact on future policies.

coylemj

MikeCairo78 wrote: »

Just a quick clarification re post earlier. No Insurer asks "have you been refused a quote" Insurers do ask have you made a claim, had a policy cancelled or had special terms imposed. Any Insurer can refuse to quote and it has no impact on future policies.

Aviva Ts & Cs ....

We assume that:

No insurer has declined or stopped insurance on your property.


Allianz 'assumptions' .......

Neither you nor any member of your family living at the house:

Have not had any insurance declined, refused, cancelled, voided or made subject to special terms or conditions


BTW, I think the Allianz assumption is misworded because taken at face value, it means that unless you have had insurance declined or refused, your policy is void! It should state that 'neither you nor ..... have had any insurance declined .....' - the 'not' introduces an unintended negative.