Home insurance claim rejected? What to do next

A rejection letter is the insurer's opening position, not the final word. Buildings insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service hit a 10-year high in 2024/25, with 7,321 of them, and a declined claim was the single most common reason people complained (Financial Ombudsman Service). A large share of the people who pushed back won. This guide walks through why home insurance claims get rejected, what evidence actually overturns each reason, and how to escalate when the insurer will not move.

First, get the rejection in writing

Before you argue with anyone, pin down what you are arguing against. Ask the insurer, in writing, for:

• the decision and the specific policy wording relied on (the exclusion or condition, quoted, with the section reference),
• whether this is their final position on the claim or an initial assessment,
• a copy of any loss adjuster's or surveyor's report they relied on. You can request the personal data in it under UK GDPR if they resist; our guide to the loss adjuster's visit covers how.

Insurers sometimes reject claims by phone with a vague "that's wear and tear, not covered". A written reason with policy wording forces precision, and imprecise rejections are exactly the ones that collapse under a complaint.

If you struggle to match the quoted wording to what your policy actually says, with schedules, definitions and exclusions scattered across 60 pages, you can upload your policy to Roci and it will map what is covered, excluded and conditional for your specific claim.

The six rejection reasons, and what each really means

Wear and tear and gradual damage

The most common rejection in home insurance, and the most beatable. Home insurance covers one-off events, such as storm, escape of water, fire or theft, not deterioration. The dispute is almost always about which one your damage is. The insurer has to do more than assert "gradual": once you show an insured event occurred, they carry the burden of proving the exclusion applies (Financial Ombudsman Service on gradual damage). Storm rejections have their own well-worn battleground, the ombudsman's three-question storm test, covered in detail in how to fight a wear and tear rejection.

Underinsurance

If your buildings sum insured is £200,000 but rebuilding would cost £400,000, the insurer may apply "average", paying only a proportion, or, in serious cases, treat the policy as invalid. But the ombudsman looks hard at what you were actually asked when you bought the policy (Financial Ombudsman Service on underinsurance). If the question was unclear, or the sum was an insurer-provided estimate, or a comparison site defaulted it, a proportionate settlement under CIDRA (below) is often the worst you should accept, and full payment is sometimes right.

Non-disclosure under CIDRA 2012

Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, you only had to take reasonable care answering the questions you were actually asked. If you got something wrong:

• Deliberate or reckless misrepresentation: the insurer can void the policy and keep the premium.
• Careless misrepresentation: the remedy must be proportionate. If they would still have insured you at a higher premium, they pay the claim scaled down by the premium proportion, not nothing.

An insurer voiding a policy for an innocent or careless slip on a question you were never clearly asked is one of the strongest complaint cases you can have.

Poor maintenance or neglect

Policies require you to keep the home in good repair. But a maintenance breach only entitles the insurer to reject if it is connected to the loss. Ten years of moss on the roof does not defeat a claim for a burst pipe in the kitchen. Ask precisely which maintenance failure they say caused this specific damage.

Excluded peril and proximate cause

Sometimes the cause genuinely is not covered: subsidence excluded, flood excluded in a high-risk area. Check two things: the policy's definition of the peril (storm definitions vary widely) and the proximate cause, the dominant, effective cause of the damage. If an insured peril is the dominant cause and an excluded factor is incidental, the claim should generally be paid.

Late notification

"You should have told us sooner" only sticks if the delay genuinely prejudiced the insurer, with evidence lost or damage made worse. The ombudsman routinely rejects late-notification declines where the insurer can point to no real prejudice.

Match the evidence to the reason

Generic "gather evidence" advice is useless. Match it:

A £150–£300 independent trade report is often the single highest-leverage purchase in a disputed claim. It converts your assertion into expert evidence the insurer and the ombudsman must engage with.

Escalate: the formal complaint

If the insurer will not reconsider, raise a formal complaint: the word "complaint" has legal force. FCA rules give the insurer eight weeks to resolve it with a final response letter. Structure it around the policy wording and your evidence, not the frustration. Our guide to complaining to your insurer includes what to cite, including CIDRA 2012 and the connection-to-loss point, and what a final response letter must contain.

Escalate: the Financial Ombudsman Service

The ombudsman is free, independent, and you do not need a solicitor or a claims firm. Declined claims made up 41% of buildings insurance complaint reasons in 2024/25, and the service upheld around 41% of buildings complaints in 2023/24, rising to 57% where the complaint was about claim delays (Financial Ombudsman Service). If they uphold, they can order the insurer to pay the claim with interest, and compensation for distress and inconvenience on top.

What the process involves, what they can award and how long it takes: taking your complaint to the ombudsman. What your realistic chances are, by complaint type: ombudsman success rates explained.

Should you pay someone to fight it?

Loss assessors will run a rejected claim for you, typically for around 10% of the settlement. That is worthwhile in some large or complex claims, poor value in many others, and never neutral advice when the person telling you that you need one earns the fee. Understand who the professionals in a claim actually work for and whether you need a loss assessor at all before signing anything.

If the dispute is about the amount rather than the principle, where they accept the claim but the offer is thin, see challenging a low settlement offer and cash settlement versus repair. If they simply will not progress it, see your rights when a claim drags on.

The aftermath: renewals and your claims record

Whether or not the insurer paid a penny, the incident is now on the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) database, and it will follow you to renewal questions for years. What is recorded, what you must declare, and how to correct a wrong entry: does a rejected claim count as a claim?

The short version

Get the reason in writing. Work out which of the six rejection patterns you are in. Buy the expert report that answers it. Complain formally, in the insurer's own policy language. Give the ombudsman plenty of notice and refer promptly. The system only works for people who push back, and the numbers say pushing back works.