BEWARE - INSURANCE WITH CHURCHILL

I  think you will find this for most insurance companies if the house is left unoccupied for more than 3 months try https://www.homeprotect.co.uk/# 

Jan, its not more than 3months at a time, its the 3 months in a full year that I was more surprised at especially with vehicle insurance! I think most people think its a 90 days in 1 go. If they find out you,ve been away longer with a previous holiday then that could have disasterous consequences. And today with Brexit approaching and passports being checked there's every chance insurance companies will get that information. Surely some holiday home owners have discovered companies that allow longer unoccupancy terms or do I assume nobody cares about the small print. Churchill rep said they count 9 months as residency.

Regards

Pauline.

Insurance contracts are predicated on 'utmost faith' which in plain English means that policy holders are duty bound to inform the insurer of any change in circumstances which could possibly alter the risk they based the premium on. Such changes are not for the insured to pick and choose from so in practice ANY change from what you told an insurer at the inception of a policy should be declared for them to decide whether it's material to their risk or not. 

I'll assume from Churchill's response that you did not inform them that you would be spending long periods out of the country because had you done so then you wouldn't be facing this problem.

If they are now cancelling your policy or imposing special or additional terms to it then I'm afraid you've probably already gained your black mark. 

Nearly all insurers ask a standard question along the lines of "have you ever been declined insurance or had a policy withdrawn or had special terms imposed" to which your only honest answer now has to be yes and unfortunately when you contact other insurers and answer yes to that question then you're likely find that that to be the end of the conversation - which itself constitutes another refusal - and so it compounds.

I'm afraid your quest for an alternate insurer - never mind one which will acquiesce to your requirements - just became fraught with difficulty and will undoubtedly prove costly. 

Bit out of touch now but to potentially add to your problem there is something called continuous insurance in the UK which means to keep a car without insurance then you have no choice but to park it on private property and SORN it.

Finally, this is NOT in the least bit Churchill's fault so it's not fair to be calling them out on it. 

Thanks for your reply Movingon, but I have had no insurance cancelled or rejected by Churchill so will not have to divulge it and that came from the underwriters themselves!!. They thanked me for investigating thoroughly their policy would meet my needs and as I was renewing my policy they would just let it lapse on expiry. I was not informed of this 9 months criteria last year despite telling the agent of my plans and the agent this time had to involve the underwriters as she too was not aware of it either until I asked. I am not condemming Churchill as you have assumed, in fact they have been diligent to ensure my policy would be qualified to accept. I have thankfully found a home policy which allows me upto 180 days of unoccupancy but not a vehicle company as yet. I am aware of the Sorn process but would have preferred to avoid it.

Regards

Pauline.

As far as the car insurance problem goes why not place another driver onto the Policy, I.e. member of the family not out of the country and then surely they will be the person looking after and driving it whilst you are away, wont they 😉.

LeckyLes

Thanks Les, if only I could, only family member nearby is son who,s disabled and cant drive. Have sorted home insurance with 90days consecutive unoccupancy (didnt state number of times per year) but now phoning car companies instead of internet.

Regards

Pauline.

Ahh ok Pauline , I do understand .

Well done all the same on sorting the 90 day unnoccupancy Home cover .. As a matter of interest , Can you say who that was with please, in PM will do if you would rather not state on the open forum.

Best of luck with the car insurance part and phoning them is,  I agree, more likely to bear fruit, 

LeckyLes.

My wife and I have Residency in Spain.

We got around this problem by insuring our UK home as a holiday home (from memory, the broker was A-Plus). Naturally, the costs increased.

We insured our UK car in Spain via Liberty Seguros. This policy provided international coverage without time limits. Our UK no-claims discount was honoured and the costs were comparable with UK costs. 

Thanks Kelvin but as non residents with cars only for Uk use we would prefer Uk insurance for easier communications. I do have a spanish car insured with Liberty. Your Uk home would correctly be a holiday home as you have Spanish residency just as our spanish house is insured with Towergate as a holiday home. Do you still have your Uk home as a Spanish resident and do you pay imputed non resident tax then on that property? We would become residents but our Uk home is not ready for selling yet and couldnt risk giving 40yrs of profit at 20% to Spanish taxman.

Regards

Pauline.