Should an Insurance Claim on BTL affect my House Insurance?

Hi Paul

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Yes very annoying for you. Differing companies may ask different questions. I now lump all my BTLs together in one policy but when they were on numerous separate policies one company when asked this specific question said they were only interested in previous claims on the risk property and not any other properties I owned . But they all may not be as generous as this

From a risk perspective if 50% of your BTL`s have had a claim in 2 years I can see why you are seen as a risk to them. It doesnt bode well for the future for them tbh . Over the years I have taken the hit and absorbed several insured costs myself so to keep my history looking not too bad.

But I don`t claim to understand the intricate inside workings of insurers so someone hopefully will come on and expand on an answer to your question

Hi Jonathan, thanks for responding so quickly.
I should just clarify that I have held the 4 BTL's for 20 years now and only had the two claims. When coupled with no claims on my main home for 14 years I wouldn't consider myself a high risk! Surely that equates to 94 years of insurance with just 2 claims??!!
Also in response to how generous or otherwise any insurance company is, my experience is that every insurance company will ask if I have had any claims in the last 5 years.
You, and I and any sane person will know that this should only relate to the property at risk, but I would not wish for the house insurance on my main home to be declared void in event of a claim due to not declaring claims on my BTL's in the past.
Surely this is something almost every landlord has encountered.. when applying to insure your own home do you disclose any claims on any other properties that you own?

You absolutely must disclose any claims when asked, because if you don't you will find yourself without insurance when you need it most.

It also very much depends on the type of claims you have made eg water damage from poor maintenance that could have been prevented will put you at higher risk than something unforeseen.

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "07/05/2014 - 18:26":

Hi Neil, I agree that all claims on any property should be disclosed but why should the type of claim on a BTL effect the insurance on my own home?
If there was a claim on a BTL which was due to poor maintenance this should bear no relevance to my own home insurance surely?
Anyway in my case I was never offered the opportunity to explain the claims or the amounts it was just a case of the computer says No as I said I had 2 claims in the last 5 years. There was no differential between these being BTL's and no recognition of 14 years of unblemished home and contents insurance history on my home.
I should add, I did resolve the matter by going through an insurance broker and explaining my circumstances. They told me is has no bearing and won't affect my own home insurance.
However if I want to visit the comparison websites for my own home insurance when it's next due for renewal I'd like to know what I should declare as websites just ask for claims history and again I will find myself without the opportunity of explaining my circumstances and being declined insurance or being loaded if I mention two claims.
Hopefully an insurance industry expert can clarify for us if the questions regarding past claims are supposed to relate to the at risk property or every property you own wherever it is, and regardless of how many.
Thank you for your comment.

Nei Patterson is right. Meanwhile Google Jelf - after a £100,000 fire my then insurance company (Alan Boswell - who provided no support or help whatsoever during an incredibly stressful refurbishment year)) doubled my premium after 20 years of no claims - Jelf brought it back to where it should have been. As a rule of thumb seek new quotes at every renewal date and remind your current insurer that you are doing so - at least you will have the satisfaction of having someone wake up temporarily at the other end to go over their renewal quote. It really is worth it.

You must always disclose previous claims. If you do not the insurers may repudiate any claim. These days insurers have many different ways of finding out about previous claims.
The advent of computer quotes means, if you do not fit the system, it will not quote.
Find yourself a professional broker locally, who will be there to hold your hand in the event of a claim.
A good broker will speak to the underwriter and explain the situation. Many of my clients have suffered claims on their business but it does not effect their personal insurance.

After 2 fires at the same property in the space of a week no insurance company would touch us except a specialist one (through Alan Boswell). Although I have to pay high premiums for that property none of my others were effected when I disclosed it.

If asked the question you have to disclose any insurance claims, however, I feel that there should be a line drawn between business and private affairs. I say this because in my previous employment I was involved in work that resulted in frequent unavoidable insurance claims and due to this there was an official agreement that business and private matters were not generally disclosed together. Your property rentals are a business so you could argue the same point.

I have used Alan Boswell Insurance for the past 5 years or so and unlike Neil Gammie's experience I have been very satisfied, possibly lucky and found them very helpful. This is to the extent that somebody high-up in the company took on a claim on my behalf because the underwriter turned it down and he physically went to the underwriters head office (in the same locality) and over a period of many months successfully argued my case resulting in a pay-out.

Unfortunately Mark, as I pointed out to you last year I did try the Landlords Buying Group Insurers but they couldn't match Alan Boswell's quote let alone beat it so I assume they now stand by their claim?

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Weedon" at "07/05/2014 - 20:15":

Mark Weedon - you've hit the nail on the head.
As you say, if you don't fit the box, the computer won't quote.
I would agree with your comments and it would seem the best way of being entirely truthful but not penalised for being so is to find a decent, local broker where individual circumstances can be catered for.
This will however mean no more cuddly meerkats though : )