My elderly parents bought a property and acquired buildings insurance through Home Protect in July 2013. On a claim process in December that year, Home Protect stated that the previous owners had created claim for subsidence in 2008 which another insurer had declined from a report from your loss adjuster that confirmed there wasn’t any subsidence damage.
Home Protect placed an endorsement on my own parents’ policy excluding subsidence, landslip and heave. They were told a structural engineer’s report would be needed for the endorsement to generally be removed. In May, my father was told that this policy had been cancelled while he hadn’t decided an extra premium of 400. I thought this was apparently due to the fact he not reported subsidence issues when seeking the plan.
The fact there isn’t any subsidence issues and then he was not aware any previous claim, counted for free. AM, London
Avantia, parent company of Home Protect, evasively blames “a breakdown in clear communication from us”. It’s apologised, reinstated the insurance plan and waived any additional premium and congratulates itself on “responding to your parents’ needs”, it required media intervention.
?This article was amended on 20 November making it clear that any claim for subsidence appeared in 2008 to a different one insurer, not Home Protect and further amended on 3 December 2014 to correct a experience of a loss adjuster’s report.