If an insured property becomes permanently unoccupied, what steps do I need to take?

It is not our intention to provide indefinite cover for a permanently unoccupied property, therefore if it becomes permanently unoccupied please contact us on 0330 024 6884.

What should I do if the policyholder has gone into a nursing home, hospital or taking an extended holiday?

If the property becomes temporarily unoccupied the policy can remain in force; however, the policy cover will reduce once the unoccupied period specified in the policy wording has elapsed.

• AXA Extra - 30 Days
• AXA Advanced - 60 Days

The following covers and causes are excluded after the unoccupied period stated in the policy wording has elapsed:

• Escape of Water
• Escape of Oil
• Malicious people/Malicious damage
• Accidental damage
• Accidental loss
• Theft
• Mirrors and Glass
• Domestic heating oil
• Metered water
• Garden plants
• Temporary removal

If the property becomes permanently unoccupied please contact us on 0330 024 6884.

What happens if the policyholder has passed away?

When someone passes away their estate will go into probate until it is established who should inherit the property and all legal aspects relating to the estate are completed. During this time any financial issues relating to the estate are handled by the executor(s) of the estate.

The executors could be a family member or a solicitor. They will be able to deal with all issues relating to the insurance. Whilst the policy is in probate the title can be changed to “The Executors Of ………..”

Please ensure you comply with the DPA before changing any details or instructing us to do so.

If the property becomes temporarily unoccupied the policy can remain in force; however, the policy cover will reduce once the unoccupied period specified in the policy wording has elapsed.

• AXA Extra - 30 Days
• AXA Advanced - 60 Days

The following covers and causes are excluded after the unoccupied period stated in the policy wording has elapsed:

• Escape of Water
• Escape of Oil
• Malicious damage
• Accidental damage
• Accidental loss
• Theft
• Mirrors and Glass
• Domestic heating oil
• Metered water
• Garden plants
• Temporary removal

If the property becomes permanently unoccupied please contact us on 0330 024 6884.

What terms apply in between lets/tenants?

Buy to Let

It is a condition of the policy that if the private residence is not lived in for 7 consecutive days or more whilst untenanted, you must ensure that:

• the gas, electricity and water is turned off at the mains and the water or heating system is drained or
• the private residence is maintained at a temperature no less than 10 degrees Celsius and
• the premises are visited at least once every 7 days

If the private residence has been unoccupied (not lived in) for 60 or more consecutive days the following covers and causes are excluded:

• Escape of Water or frost damage
• Escape of oil
• Malicious people/Malicious Damage
• Accidental damage
• Accidental loss
• Theft
• Glass and sanitaryware
• Mirrors and glass
• Domestic heating oil
• Metered water

I need to back-date a policy, what information do I need to provide?

If you have issued cover which was not required by the insured due to automatically renewing in error, or a house move has fallen through, AXA will agree to back date the cancellation rather than treat as dual insurance. Dual insurance will only be considered where 2 policies have been in force because the insured purchased more than one policy in error. See Dual insurance faq below for more detail.

To enable us to review your request, please ensure you send us the necessary supporting documentation:

Please email us including the following information along with your supporting evidence:

• Policy Number
• Policyholder's Name
• Policyholder's Address
• Renewal date
• Effective date of cancellation
• Cancellation reason

When we receive your email we’ll contact you so you can process the backdated cancellation (subject to satisfactory information being provided).

To process a dual insurance request, what information do I need to provide?

Occurs when two or more policies have been in force for the same risk due to customer error. For example, a customer is unaware that they hold a policy with Direct Line and then purchased an additional policy with AXA. The policy was required and paid for, therefore both insurers are liable for claims. The cover must be like for like for dual insurance to be considered. AXA will consider a 50% refund of the premiums paid to us for the duplicated cover period, up to a maximum of three years, unless claims have been submitted on either policy.

What information do I need to provide in order to process a dual insurance request:

Download the dual insurance form, complete your broker details and External policy ref, and forward to the other insurance company for completion. Once completed, they/you should return to the following email address Brokerhelp.ins@axa-insurance.co.uk, with Dual insurance refund request typed in the subject line, where AXA will authorise the refund.

Where claims have been paid by AXA - There will be no refund of premium for the year that claim was made, for all other years claims will be considered in line with above.

Where claims paid under the other insurance - AXA will provide a 100% refund for the years where claims were paid on the other policy. For all other years, refunds will be provided in accordance with above.

How do I check the status of a claim?

Have you registered for eServe?

Yes - Login to eServe and track the claim.

No - Visit the eServe pages to learn about our online tracking tool, eServe and how to register.

What is the definition of general contents?

What is the definition of valuables?

AXA Extra

Jewellery (including costume jewellery), articles of or containing gold, silver or other precious metals, cameras (which includes video cameras, camcorders and digital cameras), binoculars, watches, furs, paintings and other works of art and collections of stamps, coins and medals.

For further information, visit the AXA Extra product page where you can download the policy wording.

AXA Advanced

Jewellery (including costume jewellery), watches, furs and fine art, antiques and collectables.

Individual items, collections and sets that have artistic or historical value, or are rare or unique including:

• Paintings, drawings, etchings, photographs, prints, manuscripts, sculptures, statues and other works of art
• Tapestries and rugs
• Stamps, coins and medals
• Articles of or containing gold, silver, or other precious metals or gemstones
• Collectable items made of china, glass or porcelain
• Other antique items including furniture, books, clocks and barometers
• Wine collections greater than £5,000 in value
• Guns

This does not include music collections or collections of books or other memorabilia that are not antique, historical, rare or unique or jewellery, watches or furs.

For further information, visit the AXA Advanced product page where you can download the policy wording.

What is the definition of personal possessions?

AXA Extra

Personal effects:

Clothes and items of a personal nature likely to be worn, used or carried. For example portable radios and TVs, handheld games consoles, MP3 players, mobile phones and sports equipment.

Valuables:

• Jewellery (including costume jewellery)
• Articles of or containing gold, silver or precious metals
• Cameras (which includes video cameras and camcorders and digital cameras)
• Binoculars
• Watches
• Furs
• Paintings and other works of art
• Collections of stamps, coins and medals

Money:

• Coins and banknotes in current use
• Cheques
• Postal orders
• Postage stamps which are not part of a collection
• Trading stamps
• Premium bonds
• Saving stamps or certificates
• Luncheon vouchers
• Record book or similar tokens
• Money orders
• Travel tickets including season tickets
• Petrol coupons
• Gift tokens
• Phonecards
• Pre-booked event and entertainment tickets
• Electronic money cards

This does not include credit card, cheque card or cash dispenser card liability.

For further information, visit the AXA Extra product page where you can download the policy wording.

AXA Advanced

All contents are covered worldwide.

Please see definitions of contents in your policy booklet to understand what is covered.

For further information, visit the AXA Advanced product page where you can download the policy wording.

What are the unspecified limits?

What are the specified limits?

My client has informed me their property is about to undergo structural alterations / extensions and renovations, what information do I need?

For MTA's and New Business we would like you to refer these instances and it would be helpful if you could establish the following information before contacting us:

Type of work being carried out;

• Cosmetic Works e.g. Fitting a new kitchen and/or bathroom / new windows etc…
• Minor Works e.g. Loft Conversions / New Porch</li
• Major Works e.g. Two or more storey's being extended</li

If the alteration means that the finished construction will no longer be acceptable to us (i.e. number of bedrooms/rooms/bathrooms or above sum insured limits) then cover will be DECLINED.

• Buildings sum insured must be adequate to cover the rebuild cost once work is completed
• Occupancy of property whilst work is being undertaken.

Once you have established the above information please contact us on 0330 024 6884.

My client has declared non-clerical business use at the risk address, what information do they need to give me?

For MTA's and New Business we would like you to refer to AXA and it would be helpful if you could establish the following information before contacting us:

• Type of business
• Where applicable, how many visitors go to the insured property each week - all visitors should be by appointment only
• Sum insured of all Business equipment and stock kept at the risk address
• Do any employees work at the property?
• Is specific business insurance held elsewhere?

Once you have established the above information please contact us on 0330 024 6884.

What is meant by gradual deterioration, wear and tear or gradual operating cause, and why is this not covered?

Damage caused gradually or by wear and tear or depreciation may also be referred to as a 'gradually operating cause' exclusion in Home policies, meaning customers will not be covered if they tried to make a claim for damage where the cause of the damage is proven to be due to these reasons. 

This can mean items which have suffered mechanical or electrical break-down or which have suffered inevitable failure due to general wear and tear from normal everyday use, will not be covered under our Home policies.

Customers may find that if the item is still under warranty, it might be covered for repair or replacement by the warranty insurer.

Our home insurance policies are designed to protect policyholders against the risk of things happening suddenly which you could not have expected such as fire, theft, flood and storm. Our Home policies are not designed to protect policyholders against losses that arise due to gradual deterioration or cover the cost of routine maintenance of your home or possessions. AXA, along with most other insurer's require home-owners to keep their property well -maintained and won't cover you for damage that happens gradually over a period of time or by wear and tear, which can be made worse by stormy weather.

Properties are designed to withstand damage by all but the most extreme weather conditions. Normal weather conditions should not cause damage to a well-maintained property and damage of this nature is not covered by our AXA policies.

We have provided some claims scenarios below to show you the types of claim covered and not covered when damage has happened gradually or due to wear and tear.

Incident and damage caused	Is the claim covered?
The insured made a claim for escape of water after discovering mould under their bath which had come through to the ceiling in the room below. When the bathroom and ceiling was inspected, the damage was due to failure of the sealant and grout around the bath. This had been happening over a period of time and not from a one -off escape of water incident.	No, the claim was declined due to gradual deterioration, as well as the policy containing an exclusion for loss or damage caused by the failure or lack of sealant and grout.
The insured made a claim for damage to their roof. When the roof was inspected the damage was due to nail corrosion over a period of time which caused the tiles to slip. Although the weather conditions at the time highlighted the problem, the roof had been deteriorating over several years.	No, the claim was declined due to gradual deterioration.
The insured made a claim for water damage to the spare bedroom their property after suddenly noticing water leaking down from the ceiling. The damage was found to have been caused by a problem with the heating tank, which had caused a pipe to leak slowly into the ceiling void which the insured had not been aware of.	Yes, although the water had been leaking slowly over a period of time, the insured had been unaware of the water building up in the floor void until they first noticed the presence of water coming from the ceiling, at which point the damage was reported straight away.

Get in touch today

There is so much more that you can discover about our policies, claims management and customer service. Our teams are on hand to answer any questions you may have, so find the one most suited to your query and let us know how we can help.