Problems with Rentguard Insurance

[mehstg]

Can anyone recommend a good company offering landlord's insurance?
I have had 2 claims with Rentguard in the past 3 years for damage to the roof on 2 different properties due to bad weather but on both occasions they
threw my claim out citing the damage was due to wear and tear and with the last claim they did not even send anyone around. This has left me with 2 rather large bills and I've lost all confidence with Rentguard and their loss adjusters.
As a landlord living abroad I thought having suitable landlords insurance would give me piece of mind and meet any such occurances but it's been the opposite. Has anyone experienced similar problems and what advice can you give as I think Rentguard will do anything they can to avoid meeting claims and it appears very easy for them to blame wear and tear?

[Paul]

A number of points come to mind here. Are you saying that the claims were not wear and tear? If so, what were the causes.

Rentguard are the brokers. The insurers I think you will find are Axa and it is them who would have repudiated the claims.

[mehstg]

Yes I think it was AXA. The first claim was because of a dislodged tile that allowed water to get in and damage the ceiling of the property. They asked for a date and cause of damage but it was impossible to pinpoint an exact date as the tenants did not report it until damp was appearing. The probable cause being storm/weather damage but the insurers are very clever as their claim forms state that claims must be submitted no later than 30 days from the date of loss/damage so I had to put down the date it was reported to me and of course they checked the weather records for that particular date and there were no storms reported. So they decided it must be wear and tear!!
The second claim was for a felt roof that was letting in water but without even coming round to assess they assumed it was wear and tear and threw the claim out!
Is this normal practice with insurers as I believe I had genuine grounds to have both claims met and was very disappointed with the outcome especially as Iam paying large premiums to boot?
What would you advise and is there anyone I can dispute the matter with?
Thanks for any info!

[Paul]

Have you spoken to Rentguard or Axa about the possibility of the date being wrong? If you explain your problem living abroad, I am sure they will look at it again. The 30 days condition is to keep the cost of a claim down because if nothing is done for say 2 months, the repair costs could increase.

With flat roofs, there is always a difficulty trying to prove any damage was caused by a particular storm. I know from experience that they tend to deteriorate and no insurer will pay for that.

[mehstg]

Hi Paul

With the 1st claim I did explain the situation to the loss adjuster at the time but they weren't very sympathetic to my plight. With the recent claim for the flat roof some internal damage was caused which is still awaiting repair but they would not even cover this which makes me think why bother with insurance at all especially if there are judging things without coming around to assess the damage.
I would like to take the matter further and would like to know if are there any associations or ombudsman who look into complaints of this nature as I don't think I'll get anywhere with the insurance company?
Thanks for your help!

[SteveP]

This has left me with 2 rather large bills and I've lost all confidence with Rentguard and their loss adjusters.

Insurance companies are in the business of making profit. Loss adjusters are merely the insurance companies agents, in the main (although not entirely) they are there to see that the insurer pays out as little as possible.

The question you must ask yourself is whether the damage really was fair wear and tear or not. If you are confident it was not then employ a chartered building surveyor to help you make and pursue your claim. If succesfuk most (but do check yours) policies will allow you to claim the cost of professional advice.

Insurance complaints are dealt with by the Financial Services Authority now, see here http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

If you do use a surveyor he should also be regulated either by the FSA or RICS.

[Editor]

As a property owner you need to be able yourself to distiguish between property repair work (wear & tear) and specific damage.
If you can point to a specific incident - such as a severe storm on a particular day, then you may have a valid claim.
However, a slipped tile or leak on a flat roof is just par for the course with property - it happens all the time and you have to repair it.
We just had a tenant report that a tile slipped and crashed into a skylight window causing a leak when it rained. When I inspect the roof a slate has slipped from the ridge - which appeared to need re-pointing - all the way down the roof and onto the skylight on the first floor extension.
I don't intend to claim because I see this as maintenance work. The fact that the slate also broke the skylight is down to the roof needing repairs, even though it was probably caused by a high wind. But we don't know when. The tenant only reported it a week or two later when it rained heavily.
I think its very unfair of you to damage a company's reputation like that when you obviously have not grasped the basics of property management yourself.
Make claims when they are genuine - don't epect your insurance company to maintain your properties - and you will get along with them much better.

[Steve RGA]

I'm writing from Rentguard, and Paul is correct in that we are not involved in the claims decision making process at all. However, we do sometimes have some influence with the underwriters/insurers (e.g. AXA) on claims and I would be more than happy to look into your particular case, if you think it will be of benefit.

Obviously I can't make any promises and the decision will depend on the detail on your specific circumstances, but I am more than happy to do what I can.

If you would like me to try, please feel free to contact me at steve.jones@rentguard.co.uk.

Steve Jones
Rentguard

[rs1969]

Avoid Rentguard if possible. They look like a bunch of cowboys.

I had a quote from their website and the next day received a call from their sales person saying he can lower the premium to match other quotes I may have had. This looks like an act of desperation to me.

Further, I sent an email to their support team mentioned on their website and it did not get delivered! Another email to their info team has got no replies so far after 2 weeks. Imagine if you had to report a claim or discuss something about your policy and there was no response.

So, if you value your house and are prepared to pay a little bit more premium go for a known insurer. I eventually took the policy through Direct Line Landlord's insurance and only had to pay £30 pound more than Rentguard for the annual premium. Their customer service is superior and you deal with them directly.

Avoid Rentguard at all costs.

[ashburnham]

Speaking from another broker's point of view, you cannot blame RentGuard for the claim being repudiated as this was the insurance companies decision. RG can only take their word for it but if you feel this is an incorrect decision then contact RG and explain the situation and they should help. It appears Steve from RG is offering help in a previous post.

What you must keep in mind though is that it is very unlikely that a storm will damage a roof. In terms of a flat roof, I can't see how anything less than a hurricane could damage it meaning pretty much any incident is due to wear and tear. Tiles can come of in general high winds but normally these would have to be recorded above a certain speed to be deemed as "able" to damage your roof. If damage was caused under the threshold speed then your roof was quite simply not in a good enough condition and once again the "wear and tear" phrase comes out.

Reading your case, I think you maybe need to talk to the insurer or RG about the date of the 1st claim and explain it was the date discovered by your tenant and that the incident occurred sometime before. This should mean that a loss adjuster would then have to visit to investigate the damage. You would have to accept their investigation results but and if you really feel that it was definitely due to a storm then seek legal advice or contact the Financial Ombudsman.

Several claims of this sort are repudiated by insurers and being a broker we are used to receiving the blame but what is misunderstood is that brokers don't make the decision and the insurance company who has made the decision is "usually" right.

[Steve RGA]

Naturally I am disappointed to read that a potential customer did not received the service that they were expecting. We have a good reputation for providing a first class service and gain much business through word of mouth. While we work incredibly hard to ensure that all of our customers receive the best service we can offer, I cannot claim that we are infallible.

I would therefore like to request that you call me confidentially on 0800 783 1626 and would welcome your constructive criticisms which will help us ensure that we can improve upon the service that you have experienced.

As a product provider that offers one main product I cannot advise you as to which other products may better fit your requirements; however I would strongly recommend that you carefully check the terms and conditions of any policy you purchase. For example, does your policy cover subsidence, employers liability, terrorism and/or accidental damage? Does it cater for different tenancy types and what are the unoccupied restrictions? What levels of public liability and loss of rent is being provided? There are of course many other benefits and exclusions that you should carefully compare.

You may find it worthwhile contacting your local independent broker who should be well placed to provide you with comprehensive advice on what product best fits with your requirements and what the associated costs are.

Once again I would welcome your comments and would appreciate you contacting me at your earliest convenience.

Steve Jones
Director
Rentguard

[JackSeng]

We have just had the same thing. Do not use Rentguard!!

A wall blew down in the storms in November, They sent out a loss adjustor today who was very rude and basically called my wife a liar. I think his name was Hartigan. So it took them 3 months to say they werent going to pay.

They said it was "wear and tear". He and the complaints team said if the wall was over 40-50 years old it was probably wear and tear so they wont pay out. So if my house (which is older than the wall) falls down in a storm, whats that called!!

What a bunch of shysters. We are in the process of cancelling our insurances and moving them elsewhere.

BTW before any posters say we should know how insurance works, my wife used to sell home insurance for 15 years!!

I am so angry, I have had to add more. It took about 10 calls to finally get them out to the property.

Regards

[JackSeng]

Can I also say to Steve from Ashburnam

I understand you guys are the brokers, but if there is a problem with an insurance company then surely you should stop selling their insurance.

Regards

[Steve RGA]

It is regretful that your recent experiences have left you feeling so unhappy. We do demand the highest quality of service for our customers and although it is no excuse, I understand that all underwriters and loss adjusters have been extremely stretched through the last winter due to the large floods in November and excessive snow falls through December and January. I also however believe that there is no excuse for rudeness and for what it’s worth your comments will formally be raised with the underwriters we use.

In any event, you are clearly very dissatisfied with the assessment made by the loss adjuster, and with your wife's experience you are probably aware that you still have other options open to you.

There is a formal complaints procedure which the underwriters insist on following, which may be worth seeing through. In short, the first step is to make your complaint in writing, detailing your grievance to the underwriter who will log your complaint and deal with it within prescribed guidelines. Depending upon the underwriter’s response you can then decide if you want to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS will take a completely independent view of the claim and will give a ruling that the underwriter will have to comply with.

I hope this is helpful and please let us know if we can be of any further assistance. As per my previous posts please feel free to contact me directly.

Steve Jones
Director
Rentguard

[ashburnham]

Can I also say to Steve from Ashburnam

I understand you guys are the brokers, but if there is a problem with an insurance company then surely you should stop selling their insurance.

Regards

I very much agree with you. We spend a lot of time, effort and money monitoring the insurance companies we deal with. If there was a problem with the way an insurer was treating our customers then we would definitely stop using them.

As Steve at Rentguard has pointed out in the previous post, there are further steps you can take. By making a complaint in the appropriate way you are not only giving yourself a chance of having the loss adjusters decision changed but also bringing this problem to the attention of the appropriate people.

Insurance companies (and in fact all types of companies) need people to make official complaints so that investigations can take place to see where the problem is and do something about it. If you just cancel your insurance and go elsewhere, the problem may continue to happen and we may end up having someone else on here in a few months time posting the same thing again.

[lattod]

This was in addition to the lady saying she was going to take payment automatically from my card without my authorisation !!

The direct debit form was completed and they managed to mess up the payments 3 times at the start of policy (I had no idea there was even a problem with the d/d as NO COMMUNICATION from them for MONTHS!)

Because I wouldn't agree to their outrageous terms of paying for the insurance (because of their mistake, they then wanted over £500 each month to make up for it), they today cancelled it at 5.30 as I disagreed with the way in which they have handled the case - meaning my entire portfolio of houses is without Buildings Insurance tonight. Of course, they provided no warning that they were going to do this, just waited until the end of the day to cancel it in order to "teach me a lesson" - seriously folks, would a professional company do this?

[property mongrel]

[quote=lattod;252690]this was in addition to the lady saying she was going to take payment automatically from my card without my authorisation !!

The direct debit form was completed and they managed to mess up the payments 3 times at the start of policy (i had no idea there was even a problem with the d/d as no communication from them for months!) what exactly was the problem with the dd? Why did you not notice that there was a problem with your finances earlier?

because i wouldn't agree to their outrageous terms of paying for the insurance what were the outrageous terms exactly? (because of their mistake, they then wanted over £500 each month to make up for it), they today cancelled it at 5.30 as i disagreed with the way in which they have handled the case What did you disagree with, what did they suggest or propose? - meaning my entire portfolio of houses is without buildings insurance tonight. Maybe you could have gone along with their terms and suggestions to maintain cover, noting that you were doing so under protest, and sorted out the problems over the next few days? Of course, they provided no warning that they were going to do this, just waited until the end of the day to cancel it in order to "teach me a lesson" Are you saying that the first discussion about the problems that you were having with the Insurance Company led to them arbitrarily cancelling your policy if you did not immediately comply with their demands? There was no other discusssion between you and them about this? - seriously folks, would a professional company do this?

Therefore, if a tenants property falls over do to wind (!) then im personally responsible. If it is not maintained adequately, I can see how you would be responsible, yes.What a disgraceful insurance company rentguard is - tomorrow a letter to the md and also to the insurance ombudsman (fsa).

[property mongrel]

[QUOTE=rs1969;92974]Avoid Rentguard if possible. They look like a bunch of cowboys.

I had a quote from their website and the next day received a call from their sales person saying he can lower the premium to match other quotes I may have had. This looks like an act of desperation to me. I have heard of other companies doing this, I think they refer to it as price matching. John Lewis do it, they must be desperate as well then.Further, I sent an email to their support team mentioned on their website and it did not get delivered! I have had this problem as well with companies, the reason is given in the "send failure" message. I got around the problem by making a telephone call. Another email to their info team has got no replies so far after 2 weeks. Imagine if you had to report a claim or discuss something about your policy and there was no response. Do they have an emergency number, have you tried that to justify your imagination?So, if you value your house and are prepared to pay a little bit more premium go for a known insurer. I eventually took the policy through Direct Line Landlord's insurance and only had to pay £30 pound more than Rentguard for the annual premium. Their customer service is superior and you deal with them directly.

[lattod]

So ...

in the end I paid the policy off in full and will NOT be renewing with them when the time is due.

Incidentally, I was promised an email that morning from a 'Director' at Leaseguard (whose signature file is 'Business Development Manager' - so not a director then?)...

... anyway, that didn't arrive until 6.45pm early evening that day - so at least I got one I suppose, albeit very late and beyond the expectation that had been set, which seems to be a recurring theme with this company.

I do believe you shouldn't need to wait to make a claim to see how good an insurance company is, if they can't do the basics properly, then that gets my vote not to use them again.

[Steve RGA]

Dear lattod
I am naturally disappointed that, having dealt with you matter personally and having made every effort I could to satisfy your requirements you are still aggrieved that we didn't provide you with the service you were looking for. I think it would be unprofessional of me to enter into the detail of your case in an open forum, but believe I have an obligation to at least respond to your comments in a general way.

I accept that we made mistakes on the direct debit set up, but that we also subsequently did all we reasonably could to try to retain you as a satisfied customer. It is after all in our commercial interests to do so and I refer you to my emails in October 2010. It would be completely unthinkable for us to cancel a policy without notice and without us doing all we can to retain a customer. We are sometimes forced into a position where we have no other option but to cancel cover, but we have a clear procedure on how this is done. We are now a heavily regulated industry and we follow the rules and guidelines set out by the Financial Services Authority. Failure to do so would lead to sanctions against our business.

We have over 100,000 customers and we believe we will live and die by the service we offer. Whenever we have a complaint that escalates, a director will take ownership of the complaint and while they may not always be able to respond personally, they will carry this responsibility until the best possible solution for all is reached. We aren’t perfect and we do make mistakes. We do however always do all we can to rectify them and to keep our customers happy.

Steve Jones
Director
Rentguard

[jeffrey]

Well, at least you had the guts to post an explanation; thank you for that.

[Fred Fluffy]

Rentguard have been messing up the direct debits for years and do not seem to have learnt any lessons yet!