Beware of house insurance with Liberty Insurance, my policy comes up for renewal shortly and they wrote to me sayint they have changed their terms and conditions. Normally I wouldn't read these letters but I did on this occasion and its quite a surprise;
Here is the new term that I noticed;
"How we settle claims (building section)
If we have agreed to pay your claim and the total amount to be paid under this section is more than €3,000, we may keep up to 30% of the payment until the reinstatement work is complete. We will consider the work as complete when we have received and checked the final invoices and, if necessary, carried out a final inspection of the work. The inspection may be carried out by us or a representative we appoint.
Once we have settled your claim (less any amount we have kept back), we will agree a date that the reinstatement work should be completed by and the invoices sent to us. If you have not claimed the amount we have kept back after six weeks from the date we settled your claim, we will write to you to remind you of the unclaimed amount and our requirements to release the payment. If you need us to extend the agreed date, you should contact us to let us know. If we do not hear from you before the agreed date, we may close your claim."
My understanding of this is, that during the hassle and stress of getting reinstatement work done, the insurer will deliberately hold back 30% (how is the household supposed to fund that shortfall?) and only when the work is complete will they examine the paperwork and then pay out at their leisure.
I for one won't be renewing with Liberty and will shop around for better cover.
Here is the new term that I noticed;
"How we settle claims (building section)
If we have agreed to pay your claim and the total amount to be paid under this section is more than €3,000, we may keep up to 30% of the payment until the reinstatement work is complete. We will consider the work as complete when we have received and checked the final invoices and, if necessary, carried out a final inspection of the work. The inspection may be carried out by us or a representative we appoint.
Once we have settled your claim (less any amount we have kept back), we will agree a date that the reinstatement work should be completed by and the invoices sent to us. If you have not claimed the amount we have kept back after six weeks from the date we settled your claim, we will write to you to remind you of the unclaimed amount and our requirements to release the payment. If you need us to extend the agreed date, you should contact us to let us know. If we do not hear from you before the agreed date, we may close your claim."
My understanding of this is, that during the hassle and stress of getting reinstatement work done, the insurer will deliberately hold back 30% (how is the household supposed to fund that shortfall?) and only when the work is complete will they examine the paperwork and then pay out at their leisure.
I for one won't be renewing with Liberty and will shop around for better cover.