Cannot get house insurance

semiko388

The online forms won’t get you very far until you know why RIAS says you no longer meet the criteria. Ask them straight out whether they’ve actually refused you cover or just decided not to renew you under their current rules, and get it in writing if you can.

I’ve been with Safeguard for years and never had this sort of hassle with them. When I was sorting my home insurance, it was all pretty straightforward, and I could choose buildings, contents or both without paying for loads of stuff I didn’t need.

Get the RIAS situation cleared up first, then check what other insurers can offer you. At least you’ll know exactly what you need to declare instead of filling out form after form and getting stuck on the same question.

Bit late with this reply.
The tread is 19 months old

Was that MoreThan perchance as I was with them? I've had to find another insurer & it was a little difficult as I have past non progressive subsidence. Went with Acorn in the end via Compare the Market. . Less than half of what I used to pay with More than!

If this helps - my house insurer, been with them for about 14 years, recetly made a decision to stop providing house insurance, but continued with their other insurance offerings.

They did write to say that I shouldn’t declare that “I had been refused cover” - as that would be incorrect, it was simply that their company had stopped their offering.

Oops too early for writing without spelling errors, my apologies.

Try your bank for an insurance quote, you’ll probably have been with them for yrs p, fingers crossed you get a good quite and next time you contact your previous insurance company tell them that pi go and get stuffed you’ve got someone else revenge is sweet served cold 🤬🤬

Usually when an insurance company thinks you are a too high a risk they will simply quote an ultra high renewal cost, on a comparison site you can get a highest cost 10 times the lowest

There are other examples of customers being refused, if you have a Range Rover in London many insurers refuse cover because the theft rate is so high, that’s not a reflection on the individual it’s the area he lives. Many can’t get flood insurance because of the area.

The OP should get an explanation but that doesn’t change the fact that she still needs to declare that and it may affect the premium paid. The whole “refusal” situation needs clarifying.

But that doesn't address the issue that OP raised at the start.

She says:

I've filled in some online application forms for insurance but reach a dead end over the question about having been refused insurance in the past.

As I said above, insurers communicate through CUE and can see if someone has been refused cover. That doesn't mean to say another will refuse her if she speaks to someone but trying to arrange something online to get the best deals could hit a brick wall.

She needs to find out why she has been refused.

Just like car insurance, companies have preference for type of customer or type of property, area, etc etc. There are plenty of insurers on the comparison sites get other quotes.

I've had RIAS as a previous insurer and in fact had several different insurers over all these years. But insurance companies these days do have a tendency to overcharge existing consumers.

I've had to change insurer those times because the letter re insurance premium came through and had increased the price noticeably more than inflation. Cue for:
- sometimes I've rung them and said "That's too big an increase for inflation" and they've looked at it and reduced it.

But these days I tend to think "Blow them" and I go onto the www.moneysavingexpert.com website or similar and find the relevant section for bills and write in what my requirements are and get sent a list of quotes from different firms - from the cheapest to the dearest.

My usual modus operandii then is to look down that list in the email I've just had and check from the cheapest onwards up to the dearest and choose the first well-known name I come to and swop my insurance to them. So, for the last couple of years I've been with the Post Office.

So they may even have done you a favour being awkward like that - as chances are you'll find a cheaper insurance supplier than them.

Tuskanini

WHAT criteria did you no longer meet?

The PSs problem is that they wont tell her.

WHAT criteria did you no longer meet?

I would try using a site like Uswitch to look for another insurer. RIAS does not sound very good!

I had to change my insurance company when my late husband died because his half of the house was now in trust for my daughters. On speaking to the under writers they told me that Insurance companies can refuse you for all sorts of reasons. Crime figures rising, prospectuve flooding risk, and loads of other things and don't always tell you why.

I recently had a similar problem, where the current insurance provider declined to renew. When I asked them if I would have to declare this on applications to other insurers, they said no.

They said that the reference to being refused insurance really related to being refused due to false statements / declarations in the application.

I was subsequently able to obtain insurance from another provider.

I suggest that you go back to the original insurer and ask them to confirm that their declining to renew is not the same as being refused, and so you will not have to declare on other applications that you "have been refused insurance".

Good luck.

If all else fails …I used an ombudsman for a problem with fuel providers that they just wouldn’t accept was their fault and not mine but within a few emails from the ombudsman I receive £200 and an apology

Thank you for your responses. I did not know of CUE. I popped into Nationwide and have a face to face appointment booked so I'm feeling less anxious and more hopeful.

All of the above with regards to trying to resolve this with the insurers and follow a complaints process if that doesn't work but the latter takes a long time and you risk being left uninsured.

I would consider whether any of the obvious reasons for refusal apply e.g.

1. Are you in an area of flood risk?

2. Have you had any major bulding work done and failed to tell the insurers?

3. Have any homes nearby been subject to subsidence?

4. Is your house of non-standard construction?

Have you had any troublesome claims for matters not connected to the house?

Insurance providers routinely share information about policies and claims histories on a central database called CUE (the Claims and Underwriting Exchange). The database holds information on all your insurance records including home, car, travel, and personal injury policies.

Details of any past claims will stay on CUE for six years from when the claim was made, so other insurance providers can see if you’ve been refused cover so you need to get to the bottom of this to see if there is a valid reason for refusing cover.

If the insurance company does not gie a reason try complaining to trading standards or the Financial Ombudsman www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance

An Insurance Company is required by law to provide you with written details of why they have decided not to renew your policy. Quite how you make them do this if the y are reluctant I dont know but you do have that right.

Perhaps a good Insurance broker will know the way and then you will have the information to take to another provider.

Speak to an insurance broker. they should be able to sort this out.

I would ring them back and request an Underwriter calls you back to explain why they won’t renew.

It could be an error or some ruling of which you are unaware.

PS I cannot now access online my RIAS insurance documents and policy. Access is denied.