Gale of complaint

10:00am Wednesday 30th January 2013 in Letters By Reader's letter

DUE TO strong winds on Sunday, two ridge tiles were blown off.

So I contacted my insurer Legal & General to make my first claim ever on building insurance.

To my dismay and bemusement, I was refused because I was informed that the wind has to be 47mph to qualify for a claim and L&G checked with the Met Office to inform me that unfortunately the wind was only 44mph in York.

What a surprise, we’re down to wind speeds now in order to make a valid claim.

Will this lead to people claiming for flooding mean that the water has to reach a certain level in one’s property before the insurers will pay out?

Words fail me.

Mrs C Carnegie-Smith, York.

Comments(8)

Mulgrave says...
10:20am Wed 30 Jan 13

To add insult to injury, they will keep this on file as a 'claim' even though it has been turned down.

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Firedrake says...
11:57am Wed 30 Jan 13

Is it actually worth claiming for two tiles? Mind you, given what builders charge nowadays ...

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ColdAsChristmas says...
1:02pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Beware, insurers look for any slight issue to up your premium.
There are plenty of roofers that will make good your roof for less than £100, when the wind subsides of course.
Through your insurers, the charge goes up X5 or more. One reason for high premiums.
For this type of damage the excess makes it not worth claiming anyway but as said, the insurers will now see you as a higher risk, even though you have not benefited.

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Viper_7 says...
4:29pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Daft measurement really as well, as the wind speed is not constant all over the area, and it will also likely accelerate as it travels over the apex.
Guess they have to use a specific point to take their measurements from though.

Shouldn't matter what the wind speed was- they should send out an assessor to check that the roof is in a good state of repair, and pay out if that's the case.
They will then cry "act of God"
Insurance polices have that many clauses in, it's really not worth claiming unless it's significance and you know for a certainty they will pay up.

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Silver says...
8:11pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Travel insurance from companies like Thompson where they force you to pay for it or you can't book a holiday with them is exactly the same. I spent £99.47 on mosquito bites on my partner and couldn't claim anything back because it was £100 and over but without taking the paperwork with me how was I to know? I should have asked them to charge me for some chewing gum as well to take the bill over the figure.

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akaroa says...
12:15am Thu 31 Jan 13

Building insurance unless in a high risk situation is a waste of money. The amount spent on premiums over the years would probably pay for any minor, even major structual damage, etc with pounds to spare. How many insurance companys offer no claims rebates?

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Magicman! says...
3:24am Thu 31 Jan 13

It goes to show what a state this country is in when you'd rather pay to fix the problem yourself than have the company you are paying out £1000's each year to pay you your own money back to fix the problem....

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capt spaulding says...
9:19am Fri 1 Feb 13

I blame James Alexander.

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