However unique the individual circumstances surrounding the claim are, there’s always an anxious insured party to consider. We’ve picked out two case studies highlighting how our highly experienced claims team support policyholders throughout, during what can be a stressful process, ensuring that a satisfactory outcome is reached for all parties as quickly as possible.
A change of plans
In July 2015 we were contacted by a solicitor acting for a purchaser, who submitted a fairly standard enquiry through our website ICON, for a Leasehold Restrictive Covenants policy, to cover alterations made to a first-floor flat. As the changes were over 12 months old, and there had been no contact with the local authority since, we were happy to issue the policy with a £212,000 limit for a premium of £127. Three years later, in 2018, the flat was then sold again, and the cover provided by the policy transferred to the new owner.
The first sign of a problem arose in May 2022, when the owner put the property on the market. The landlord saw the property listed on Rightmove, and noticed that the floorplan was ‘different’ to the original version. He and his solicitors claimed that the internal alterations constituted a breach of the lease. To legally rectify the situation, they stated that a deed of variation and retrospective consent would need to be agreed, quoting just under £4,500 for costs and assorted charges.
The policyholder was extremely concerned by this. They were unaware that any alterations had been made by a previous owner, as no issue had been raised during the sale in 2018. They had even negotiated a lease extension with the landlord in December 2021, with the new lease subsequently being registered with the ‘new’, current layout, without any concerns being raised. Our team also reviewed the agent’s particulars, as well as researching online to find earlier versions from previous sales to compare, but were not able to identify changes made to any of the floorplans available.
The benefit of experience
Based on our Claims team’s experience of similar disputes, they knew that there was no breach of covenant issue to defend, because of the existence of a new lease. However, instructing a firm to defend the case would only incur unnecessary costs and delays, without really changing the outcome for the insured, whose main concern was that the action would negatively impact, or even prevent, the sale of the flat. So instead, we took a practical approach, agreeing to the landlord’s proposed solution, but using our understanding of the legal position to negotiate a cost significantly lower than had been initially quoted. In the end, the policy paid out £1,470 to settle the claim, which included a new deed of variation. Our involvement from the start led to a swift resolution, and meant that the sale of the property was able to go through without any delays, leaving one less thing to worry about for a grateful policyholder.
Bringing the outside in
Our team was just as quick to help when a claim arose on a family home in Norfolk. In June 2021, as part of a purchase, we issued a policy to cover Lack of Planning and Building Regulations Consent for an extension that included a carport and garage which had been added to a detached property. As the works had been completed back in 2004, and there had been no communication with the local authority since, we were happy to provide cover and the policy was issued for £228.
Fast-forward a year, and we were contacted by a worried policyholder after they had been informed that their gas meter had to be moved. They had initially reported a gas leak, but when the local gas company came to fix it, they discovered that the carport had been built over the gas main, and that the gas meter was no longer on an exterior wall - both clear contraventions of Building Regulations.
Even though formal enforcement action had yet to be taken by the local authority, this was only a matter of time, and there seemed little point in waiting to resolve the matter. Our Claims team were happy to start dealing with the claim at this stage and pay the £1,000 to cover the cost of re-routing the gas inlet pipe and moving the meter. In terms of the claims payment, this was a modest figure, but the insured was seriously concerned about the safety aspects of remaining at the property and the cost of the works, and we were able to resolve what was a stressful situation for them, quickly and with the minimum of fuss and disruption.