Buildings Insurance

A vacant property exclusion does not apply where damage originates from another part of the building and the excluded property had regular occupancy for maintenance purposes within 30 days of the loss.

A commercial policyholder has a duty under the Insurance Act 2015 to make a fair presentation of risk to their insurer, with ultimate responsibility lying with the policyholder even when using a broker as agent.

An insurer may cash settle a claim at their chosen supplier's cost, but must ensure the quoted work is comparable and reasonably priced.

Insurers must handle claims fairly and not unreasonably decline claims; at renewal, significant changes to cover must be clearly communicated to policyholders.

An NHBC Buildmark warranty claim for damage caused by below-ground drainage defects is only covered if the policyholder is legally responsible for that drainage section.

An insurer's liability under a buildings insurance policy is limited to the sum insured for structures on the property, and ground stabilisation works undertaken to prevent future damage do not extend the insurer's obligation beyond the pol

An insurer may apply proportionate claim settlement under the Insurance Act 2015 where a commercial customer fails to make a fair presentation of risk at renewal by providing materially inaccurate declared values.

An insurer cannot cash settle a buildings insurance claim for reinstatement works while those works are ongoing without properly warning the policyholder and ensuring they have had fair opportunity to address any issues.

Physical damage to a housing unit under a building warranty includes when a component of the drainage system is not functioning as designed, regardless of whether additional consequential damage has occurred.

Insurance claims for damage must result from a sudden, fortuitous event to be covered; damage from latent defects or gradual deterioration falls outside coverage.

An insurer cannot rely on a policy term to vary premium mid-term for a pre-inception claim incident without applying the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 requirements.

A broker selling buildings insurance on an advised basis must provide clear, fair and not misleading information about the sum insured and rebuild costs to ensure the policy is suitable for the customer's needs.

An insurer must fairly assess and cover all costs reasonably necessary to reinstate property to its pre-loss condition following an insured peril, excluding pre-existing defects or improvements.

Following ABI guidance, an insurer should offer continuous subsidence cover at renewal after handling a subsidence claim, though it may adjust premiums and excesses in line with its underwriting criteria applied consistently to all customer

An insurer that handles a subsidence claim should offer continuous buildings insurance including subsidence cover to the policyholder, in line with ABI guidance on good industry practice.

A defect must be notified to the insurer within the policy period for a claim to be valid; notification can occur through submission of detailed engineering evidence identifying the specific defect.

A structural defects warranty covers defects within the demised property (housing unit) as defined in the policy, and the common-parts excess does not apply to works that fall within the leaseholder's demised property rather than common par

A structural defects warranty covers demised property defects within the Housing Unit as defined in the policy, and a common-parts excess does not apply to defects within the leaseholder's demised property.

A structural warranty claim for water ingress damage to balconies falls within the demised property coverage, not common parts, and the insurer's errors in requiring JCT contracts and imposing wrong excesses constitute actionable failings w

A business must handle insurance claims with reasonable care and provide fair compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by poor claims handling, though compensation should be limited to losses actually suffered and supported by evi

An insurer must provide persuasive evidence that the dominant cause of damage is excluded (wear and tear) rather than the accepted insured peril (subsidence) when evidence shows damage is consistent with the insured event.

An insurer is not obligated to provide cover for items or structures not included in the original plans submitted at quotation or not explicitly specified in the policy certificate.

An insurer's liability under a building warranty is limited to the work specified in the resolution report, and does not extend to rectifying defects that have not yet caused physical damage.

An insurer may fairly decline a claim for subsidence damage to a boundary wall where the policy term excludes such damage unless the main house is also damaged by the same cause.

Under the Insurance Act 2015, a consumer must make a fair presentation of the risk; failure to do so is a qualifying breach entitling the insurer to avoid the policy.

An insurer may reasonably request validation information when discrepancies in property details emerge during a claim, and such validation checks do not constitute avoidable delay if conducted within a reasonable timeframe.

An insurer may fairly decline a claim if the evidence demonstrates that damage was caused by an underlying defect rather than an insured peril, even if the insured peril coincided with the damage.

Trace and access cover under a home insurance policy only applies when a leak causes damage to the building; if no damage occurred, the cover does not apply regardless of investigation costs incurred.