Why Might My Contents Insurance Claim Be Refused?

There are a number of reasons why an insurance company will not pay you for something that you believe is covered. Usually it will be because the item or incident isn't covered in the policy, or you have fallen foul of one of the exclusion clauses in the policy.

Items or incidents that aren't covered can be a variety of things depending on the exact terms of your policy and what you bought. If you have standard home contest insurance without an extension to cover personal possessions, then your computer, for example, is covered for theft from the house, but if it's stolen while you are on a train, then you won't be covered and the insurance company will refuse to pay out.

A fairly standard example of an exclusion cause for home contents insurance is that you must lock all the doors and windows of your house when you leave it. So if something is stolen while you are out shopping and the insurance company find out that you had accidentally left he door open when you left, then they won't pay out.

There is a third reason why insurance companies don't pay up, and that's because they don't believe you. They may not believe that an item was damaged while at home, or they may not believe that you actually owned an item that you have reported stolen. So it's important to keep receipts and details of your possessions and get witness to anything that happens.