Home maintenance insurance refusing claim.

[itz_baseline]

I will try and keep this as short as possible.

14 months ago I took our some home maintenance insurance which covers central heating repairs in case of breakdown. Where it’s not possible to repair the boiler they would replace the boiler.

Fast forward to 3 weeks ago and we had a breakdown so called them out. Then engineer arrived and deemed it uneconomical to repair and said it needed to replaced. They sent their report to the insurance company and so far so good.

Today arrives an email saying that as I’m a landlord, it means they don’t cover boiler replacements. Now, I’m not a landlord, and at no point have I been a landlord.....and at no point did I ask for anything other than a personal policy when I took it out. However (and this is where I have egg on my face) I checked the policy documentation and sure enough I was listed on the policy as a landlord.

I asked for a recording of the original call where I ask for a landlord policy....they said they won’t have one as it’s too old.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and at the time I should have checked the the policy I asked to be taken out was keyed properly....but I didn’t. Now this thread isn’t about what I knob I am for not checking the documentation sent through, I’m well aware of what a knob I’ve been

My question is, what next? Do I just suck it up and move on? Or given I can prove I’m not a landlord and under no circumstances would I have taken a landlord policy out, that the error is theirs for keying the wrong policy and I should pursue this?

We live and learn. Thoughts?

[V8RX7]

What does the Landlord cover terms say about boiler repairs - ie can you force them to repair it

Or you could argue it was mis sold and ask for your premiums back

[Pica-Pica]

Normally when you take out a policy, you get a copy (post or email), and are asked to read through, check and report any errors.

[syl]

Complain until you have exhausted their complaints policy and then escalate to the ombudsman.

If you’ve never been a landlord then I think that on the balance of probability they are likely to side with you that the insurer has made a mistake if the policy was taken out over the phone (as opposed to you filling something in online).

Edited by syl on Tuesday 13th October 20:57

[itz_baseline]

V8RX7 said:

What does the Landlord cover terms say about boiler repairs - ie can you force them to repair it

Or you could argue it was mis sold and ask for your premiums back

It says that boiler repairs are covered but not boiler replacement. As their engineer report says it’s uneconomical to repair, they won’t pursue repairing it, which I understand their position on the not repairing.

[itz_baseline]

Pica-Pica said:

Normally when you take out a policy, you get a copy (post or email), and are asked to read through, check and report any errors.

Got a copy emailed to me. It didn’t ask me to explicitly confirm that the policy was correct, but think it was assumed I would tell them if the policy was wrong. Which I didn’t......but you know what assumed does.

[itz_baseline]

syl said:

Complain until you have exhausted their complaints policy and then escalate to the ombudsman.

If you’ve never been a landlord then I think that on the balance of probability they are likely to side with you that the insurer has made a mistake if the policy was taken out over the phone (as opposed to you filling something in online).

Edited by syl on Tuesday 13th October 20:57

Sooooooo, this is what I want to do. But given that I’ve had no heating and hot water for 3 weeks (their overall customer service is terrible and the fact it’s taken 3 weeks to get to the point of them telling me to ‘do one’ really speaks volumes) means I simply can’t continue to play their games and exhaust their complaints policy and then move on to the ombudsman. It’ll be winter before I get it sorted.

My line of thinking is get it all replaced (possibly using the engineer they sent....he’s an everyday plumber who is contracted to them, not their actual plumber and seems a genuine person) and then fight it in small claims court if people think I have a leg to stand on.

I have a wife and 3 kids and can’t continue to send them to my mums for showers and run electric heaters to warm the house.....and this company knows this which is why they ain’t budging and are happy for it to be drawn out.

Note to self.....read every document in future to confirm I got the policy I asked and paid for.

[martinbiz]

I would be very surprised if you have not paid them more for a Landlord policy than a normal domestic one, perhaps you should try approaching them with that in mind, If you had paid less then I could see their point, it just smacks of them trying to worm their way out of paying on a technicality which was actually their fault in the first place. I would assume this phone call was less than a year ago when you took out the policy and would expect them to still have a record of the conversation, so that also smells fishy. I would make yourself a nuisance

[Pica-Pica]

itz_baseline said:

syl said:

Complain until you have exhausted their complaints policy and then escalate to the ombudsman.

If you’ve never been a landlord then I think that on the balance of probability they are likely to side with you that the insurer has made a mistake if the policy was taken out over the phone (as opposed to you filling something in online).

Edited by syl on Tuesday 13th October 20:57

Sooooooo, this is what I want to do. But given that I’ve had no heating and hot water for 3 weeks (their overall customer service is terrible and the fact it’s taken 3 weeks to get to the point of them telling me to ‘do one’ really speaks volumes) means I simply can’t continue to play their games and exhaust their complaints policy and then move on to the ombudsman. It’ll be winter before I get it sorted.

My line of thinking is get it all replaced (possibly using the engineer they sent....he’s an everyday plumber who is contracted to them, not their actual plumber and seems a genuine person) and then fight it in small claims court if people think I have a leg to stand on.

I have a wife and 3 kids and can’t continue to send them to my mums for showers and run electric heaters to warm the house.....and this company knows this which is why they ain’t budging and are happy for it to be drawn out.

Note to self.....read every document in future to confirm I got the policy I asked and paid for.

Yes. Get it replaced/repaired. That is both the sensible thing, and also what you are expected to do do under any policy - not let the situation (house fabric etc) worsen. Perhaps arrange that, then check if that accords with any obligation in the policy. Then tell the insurance company that you are doing that for comfort and safety, then register a complaint with them (if you feel that is so).

Having said that, if a boiler has failed beyond economic repair - is that an insurance issue?

[itz_baseline]

martinbiz said:

I would be very surprised if you have not paid them more for a Landlord policy than a normal domestic one, perhaps you should try approaching them with that in mind, If you had paid less then I could see their point, it just smacks of them trying to worm their way out of paying on a technicality which was actually their fault in the first place. I would assume this phone call was less than a year ago when you took out the policy and would expect them to still have a record of the conversation, so that also smells fishy. I would make yourself a nuisance

Policy cost was the same, but as I’m now seeing the landlord policy covers less which is probably why the same.

Also, it was 14 months ago...I’ve recently renewed with them so they claim have no recording of the original call. I certainly have been a nuisance to them, but in these covid times no one wants to speak to me and want correspondence done via mails...which take a long time to respond to and fits into their fishy agenda of me having to bite the bullet at some point and get some heating into the house before the nights get really cold.

[itz_baseline]

Pica-Pica said:

Yes. Get it replaced/repaired. That is both the sensible thing, and also what you are expected to do do under any policy - not let the situation (house fabric etc) worsen. Perhaps arrange that, then check if that accords with any obligation in the policy. Then tell the insurance company that you are doing that for comfort and safety, then register a complaint with them (if you feel that is so).

Having said that, if a boiler has failed beyond economic repair - is that an insurance issue?

Good advice, I think I need to get it replaced. And yes, as the insurance I took out was to repair the boiler, or in the event it can’t be repaired to replace the boiler, it certainly is an insurance issue....unless of course they keyed the wrong policy in which case they are saying it isn’t an insurance issue. Doh.

[irc]

What age is the boiler? 15 years old suck it up. 3 years old complain.

[kestral]

itz_baseline said:

It says that boiler repairs are covered but not boiler replacement. As their engineer report says it’s uneconomical to repair, they won’t pursue repairing it, which I understand their position on the not repairing.

That makes no sense. The term 'uneconomical' only exists becuase it is cheaper to replace.

If so just repair the boiler at what ever it costs and they have to pay it.

It is there own terms and conditions that prevent a new boiler being fitted at less cost than it would cost to repair!

It makes no sense.

[anonymous-user]

kestral said:

That makes no sense. The term 'uneconomical' only exists becuase it is cheaper to replace.

If so just repair the boiler at what ever it costs and they have to pay it.

It is there own terms and conditions that prevent a new boiler being fitted at less cost than it would cost to repair!

It makes no sense.

Boilers often cannot be repaired once they get over 10-15 years old.

My boiler is now classed as ‘reduced parts’ which means the manufacturer has stopped making most of the parts for it, so if it breaks, it will likely be unrepairable.

[itz_baseline]

irc said:

What age is the boiler? 15 years old suck it up. 3 years old complain.

7 year old boiler

[itz_baseline]

Lord Marylebone said:

Boilers often cannot be repaired once they get over 10-15 years old.

My boiler is now classed as ‘reduced parts’ which means the manufacturer has stopped making most of the parts for it, so if it breaks, it will likely be unrepairable.

Yeah pretty much this. It’s only 7 years old seems to fall into this category by the looks of it. The engineer isn’t associated with the insurance company, but he was like ‘I’m pretty sure this isn’t repairable’.

[kestral]

itz_baseline said:

7 year old boiler

Then just get it repaired and send them the bill.

They have said they will indemnify you to the cost of repair. It's their problem if they would sooner you repair it at a greater cost than it would cost to replace it.

There is no law that if it costs more to repair something than to replace it, that it has to be replaced.

[BertBert]

kestral said:

Then just get it repaired and send them the bill.

They have said they will indemnify you to the cost of repair. It's their problem if they would sooner you repair it at a greater cost than it would cost to replace it.

There is no law that if it costs more to repair something than to replace it, that it has to be replaced.

But it'll be in the policy won't it? They will have thought of that.
Bert

[Nickyboy]

itz_baseline said:

Yeah pretty much this. It’s only 7 years old seems to fall into this category by the looks of it. The engineer isn’t associated with the insurance company, but he was like ‘I’m pretty sure this isn’t repairable’.

It depends on the repair company, British Gas will only order parts from one supplier, if they can't get parts from their supplier they'll condemn the boiler whereas Bob the heating engineer will get the parts from wherever he can.

[itz_baseline]

kestral said:

Then just get it repaired and send them the bill.

They have said they will indemnify you to the cost of repair. It's their problem if they would sooner you repair it at a greater cost than it would cost to replace it.

There is no law that if it costs more to repair something than to replace it, that it has to be replaced.

But repaired by who? The engineer who came out to look at it said they wouldn’t be able to repair it.

Do I get another engineer at my cost who may say the same thing? Then where do I stand? All the while I have no heating in my house