123 refusing to renew

whoopsadoodles

Posting this on behalf of someone else.

He has an home insurance policy (building and contents) for 10 years with 123.ie.

They called him a few days ago and asked him had the plumbing been redone in the last 40 years. It has. Have the electrics been done in the kast 40 years. They have. Has the roof been fully replaced in the last 40 years. He said it hasn't (in fact he has only lived in house for 35 years so can't answer this accurately).

They have now issued him with a refusal to renew notice. They state that this is because the roof has never been replaced in 40 years.

He has never had a house insurance claim.

They have also stated in their letter that they will have to inform his bank that he has been refused insurance.

My questions are these:

Can they refuse to renew insurance on this basis?

Should they not have issued him with a high premium quote which he then had an option to refuse?

Now that he has been refused insurance, does this put him in a bad position when trying to find an insurer to cover his home?

He will obviously have to answer the question "have you ever been refused insurance?" As a yes so how will this affect him?

Does he have any recourse?

Thank you.

Sue Pa Key Pa

As house insurance is not compulsory, so they can decide not to invite renewal

Sometimes, no amount of increased premium would compensate for the perceived increased risk and would be unaffordable for the client if it was

Yes, this needs to be disclosed to potential new insurers

The matter has to be notified to his mortgage providers if their interest is noted under the policy. There is no real recourse for this decision, but there are specialist insurers out there who should offer something. It will be a case of hunting high & low. I would also contact his mortgage providers, as they all have links with major insurers. They could find cover for your friend, as it is in their interest to do so

Fred Swanson

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Atlantic Dawn

Out of interest how old is the house?

whoopsadoodles

Thanks guys.

House is >100 yrs old.

No mortgage on property so unfortunately that's not an option.

These questions have never been asked before and he had never previously been advised that they would not insure this risk so he wasn't really given a chance to find insurance without the refusal now being an issue.

GerardKeating

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

Thanks guys.

House is >100 yrs old.

No mortgage on property so unfortunately that's not an option.

These questions have never been asked before and he had never previously been advised that they would not insure this risk so he wasn't really given a chance to find insurance without the refusal now being an issue.

A lot of companies will refuse insurance on houses on that age.

whoopsadoodles

GerardKeating wrote: »

A lot of companies will refuse insurance on houses on that age.

I'm aware of that.

This isn't about the age of the house though, it's specifically about the age of the roof.

GerardKeating

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I'm aware of that.

This isn't about the age of the house though, it's specifically about the age of the roof.

Perhaps get "someone" to look at the roof, since it is at least 35 years old, a good inspection might be worth the investment.

whoopsadoodles

GerardKeating wrote: »

Perhaps get "someone" to look at the roof, since it is at least 35 years old, a good inspection might be worth the investment.

He suggested that an engineer check the roof and was told no.

heroics

Quick question but why would they notify his bank if he has no mortgage on the property?

Fred Swanson

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Zaph

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

He suggested that an engineer check the roof and was told no.

That's ridiculous. If an engineer inspects the roof and declares it sound and in good condition, then they can hardly insist on a perfectly good roof being torn off and replaced just to satisfy their own bizarre rules, can they? Is there any point in contacting the Insurance Federation for clarification of the rules, or even the Financial Services Ombudsman?

whoopsadoodles

Update:

He contacted their complaints department and said he would be contacting the ombudsman, this was then followed up with a call from the underwriters (Royal and Sun Alliance). They said they "looked at his roof with a satelite and are happy that the house looks in perfect condition". They are now renewing his insurance.

It's very strange but he's sorted for now at least!

heroics

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

Update:

He contacted their complaints department and said he would be contacting the ombudsman, this was then followed up with a call from the underwriters (Royal and Sun Alliance). They said they "looked at his roof with a satelite and are happy that the house looks in perfect condition". They are now renewing his insurance.

It's very strange but he's sorted for now at least!

Satellite? Google earth probably 😂
At least it's sorted now.

Fred Swanson

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syntheticjunk

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Probably one of these services:
https://www.digitalglobe.com/