Home insurance fraud?

[Damppatch]

I’m posting this under a new name due to the nature of the situation and it because of the new user restrictions it may not be in the right section.

I know of a person who is potentially committing a rather large (upwards of £200k) insurance claim that is almost certainly fraudulent.

The claim is for their parents house that because flood damaged due to frozen and then subsequently burst pipes in a recent cold spell. Sadly there is only one parent who is in care due to a degenerative that has left them unable to communicate. This has left their children in charge of the of the house (but they do not have power of attorney) and sadly due to neglect it has ended up in this state it is now.

They had logged the house with the council as being empty so as they could get the free/reduced council rates but they did not change the home insurance. At first the insurance company dismissed the claim but they have escalated it several times claiming that because of the parents medical problems they weren’t able to change the insurance but they did change the council tax (the insurance company is unaware that this has been done).

The question is, should this be reported? I know the old saying ‘snitches get stitches’ but they stand to make upwards of £250k extra because of this claim when the time does come to sell the house.

The people in question are hardly squeaky clean, honest types due to various money theft/money hiding scams they have got going on.

[aaron-j9c9a]

It’s none of your business tbh, it’s not affecting you in any sort of way, is it?

If you want to be a jobsworth then report it, if not then mind your own.

They’ve tried to claim and have been unsuccessful, if the insurance company suspect anything untoward then they will do their own investigation.

What do you gain from reporting them? I’ve never understood things like this unless it affects you personally

[aaron-j9c9a]

It’s none of your business tbh, it’s not affecting you in any sort of way, is it?

If you want to be a jobsworth then report it, if not then mind your own.

They’ve tried to claim and have been unsuccessful, if the insurance company suspect anything untoward then they will do their own investigation.

What do you gain from reporting them? I’ve never understood things like this unless it affects you personally

[Bobtherallyfan]

aaron-j9c9a said:

It’s none of your business tbh, it’s not affecting you in any sort of way, is it?

If you want to be a jobsworth then report it, if not then mind your own.

They’ve tried to claim and have been unsuccessful, if the insurance company suspect anything untoward then they will do their own investigation.

What do you gain from reporting them? I’ve never understood things like this unless it affects you personally

It does affect the OP and the rest of us because we have to pay increased insurance premiums to cover it.

[2 GKC]

Your post suggests that the insurer knows it was empty, so where is the fraud?

[fourstardan]

OP are you sure its not YOU committing this fraud? You seem to know a lot about it from the inside!

I thought burst pipes/escape of water claims needed you to be living in the property with evidence.

A loss adjuster would spot this and go out and this would go down the legal route.

As stated, fraudulent claims cost businesses and more importantly us lots of money.

[Damppatch]

2 GKC said:

Your post suggests that the insurer knows it was empty, so where is the fraud?

The insurance does know the property was/is empty hence first refusing to pay out. It has now been argued that because of Covid and the parents lack of ability to communicate that it was impossible for them to change the home insurance to empty house insurance.

Strangely the children were able to talk to the council to change the council tax to get it for free and the insurance company are in aware of this.

This is the issue.

[Damppatch]

fourstardan said:

OP are you sure its not YOU committing this fraud? You seem to know a lot about it from the inside!

I thought burst pipes/escape of water claims needed you to be living in the property with evidence.

A loss adjuster would spot this and go out and this would go down the legal route.

As stated, fraudulent claims cost businesses and more importantly us lots of money.

I can assure you that it isn’t me! Because of circumstances I know a lot about the situation, so do a few other people and we’re all in agreement that it’s bang out of order.

As it was the house was in need of a good modernisation so they have effectively got this done for free, there was not a single inch of the house that wasn’t ruined. Pre flood to post remedial work is another £100k, post flood damage to post remedial work must be £200k+.

[Driver101]

How would you know that the insurance company are unaware that the council tax had been changed?

I'm sure the recent cold weather doesn't interfere with being unable to report things due to covid.

The insurance company will know what to look out for. They will pick up on things that aren't right. You seem overly bitter, jealous and desperate to stop this claim for someone you are close to. There has to be more to this story.

[anonymous-user]

Damppatch said:

2 GKC said:

Your post suggests that the insurer knows it was empty, so where is the fraud?

The insurance does know the property was/is empty hence first refusing to pay out. It has now been argued that because of Covid and the parents lack of ability to communicate that it was impossible for them to change the home insurance to empty house insurance.

Strangely the children were able to talk to the council to change the council tax to get it for free and the insurance company are in aware of this.

This is the issue.

The issue is the technicality around policy wording (how long the property can be left empty) rather than any falsification of the facts regarding damage? If so, what is the nature of your grudge against the neighbour and why embark on a vendetta?

You seem to have an unusually high level of knowledge of the facts (most people wouldn’t have a clue what someone else had done with their council tax or “argued” with an insurance company) regarding an issue entirely unrelated to you so perhaps there is more to this than you are letting on?

[stinkyspanner]

Why don't you mind your own business? Or are you trying to be best mates with the insurance company?

[Sheepshanks]

Damppatch said:

2 GKC said:

Your post suggests that the insurer knows it was empty, so where is the fraud?

The insurance does know the property was/is empty hence first refusing to pay out. It has now been argued that because of Covid and the parents lack of ability to communicate that it was impossible for them to change the home insurance to empty house insurance.

Strangely the children were able to talk to the council to change the council tax to get it for free and the insurance company are in aware of this.

This is the issue.

I think that’s stretching the definition of fraud.

[dingg]

If you need to use a throw away log in here to post, you know its a stty thing you've considered to do.

Eta

Or are you just April fooling us

Well done if so :-)

Edited by dingg on Sunday 2nd April 10:40

Edited by dingg on Sunday 2nd April 10:41

[h0bbsy]

I didn't think empty house nil rated council tax was a thing any more?

[Terminator X]

Reported? None of your business surely.

TX.

[PositronicRay]

When my MIL was terminally ill, she came to live with us for EOL care. A social worker popped round and filled in a claim form for a bewildering amount of allowances, which we took. Not once did I even consider telling the ins Co we had an extra adult at the dwelling, or her house was now empty.

I don't feel like a crook.

[clio007]

How sad. Shopping your own friend or family in.

I assume your a friend, as you wouldn't know that much detail without being close to the person or actually knowing somebody close to them

Don't be a jobs worth. Let the company who earn millions do they own work and work out if it's fraud or not

[timeism0ney]

I don’t see any fraud in what you describe. Fraud is a deliberate act of deception. Old people not doing their paperwork correctly does not constitute fraud. Like others I don’t understand why it bothers you so much that you feel compelled to do something about it, very odd.

[coetzeeh]

Bobtherallyfan said:

aaron-j9c9a said:

It’s none of your business tbh, it’s not affecting you in any sort of way, is it?

If you want to be a jobsworth then report it, if not then mind your own.

They’ve tried to claim and have been unsuccessful, if the insurance company suspect anything untoward then they will do their own investigation.

What do you gain from reporting them? I’ve never understood things like this unless it affects you personally

It does affect the OP and the rest of us because we have to pay increased insurance premiums to cover it.

This. Any fraud should be reported.

[Zoon]

So they didn't cause a flood on purpose?
If so it's clutching at straws and not what I'd classify as fraud.
Insurance companies make money by not paying fraudulent claims, I can assure you if anything untoward has happened it will be found.