The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has released new figures which reveal that just 79 per cent of home insurance claims have been successful.
This is considerably lower than the 99 per cent of car insurance claims and 87 per cent of travel insurance claims that succeeded.
These findings are from payout data from 2013 and 2014, which looked at the most common claims made. 6.9 million insurance cases, handled by 19 insurers, were looked at in the research. Car insurance cases made up 4.3 million of those, home insurance made up 1.8 million, and keywordtravel insurance made up 800,000 cases.
The average payout for home insurance was £2,520, and an insurers’ group said that wear and tear, and also damage due to poor maintenance, were key reasons that a number of claims were rejected. A leak caused by a faulty roof, for example, which had been left to get worse, would be likely to be a reason for rejection, whereas if there had been a storm, it is unlikely the claim would be rejected (if the right insurance policy was in place).
“Contrary to popular belief, insurers want to pay honest claims. It helps nobody when customers have bought the wrong product or have not disclosed important information,” said Huw Evans, Director General of the ABI.
“Buying insurance should never just be about getting the cheapest price in the quickest time possible, it should be about ensuring you have the right product for your hour of need,” he continued.
The average payout for travel insurance claims was £884, whilst for car insurance it was £2,160.