About Declined Claims Finance

Declined Claims Finance was created to make it easier for UK property owners to understand what options may exist when a home insurance claim does not go as expected.

Insurance claims can become complicated when the insurer disputes the cause, applies an exclusion, offers less than the expected repair cost or declines the claim entirely. The language used in decision letters is often technical, and it is not always obvious which question is actually being decided.

Our initial focus is providing clear, accessible information about these situations, written in plain English for homeowners and landlords rather than for insurance professionals.

What we do at the moment

• Publish guides on declined claims, water damage, storm and roof damage, subsidence, wear and tear, and settlement disagreements.
• Research what UK property owners are actually struggling with, through our Tell Us What Happened form.
• Use what we learn to decide which information to publish next.

What we do not do

• We do not provide insurance, lending or regulated claims-management services.
• We do not give legal or financial advice.
• We do not arrange repairs or act for you in a claim.

Why we are in a research phase

Declined Claims Finance is at an early stage. Rather than assuming we know which problems matter most, we are publishing information and listening to what UK property owners tell us about their own claims — where the process broke down, what they could not find answers to, and what they wish they had understood earlier.

That is why the site is information-only at this point. The research shapes what we write next and helps us avoid publishing generic material that does not reflect what people actually run into.

How we create our guides

Our guides are written in plain English and are intended to explain how home insurance claims are generally handled in the UK, the terminology insurers use, and the questions that tend to decide an outcome. They describe general practice, not the circumstances of any individual claim.

• We start from the real questions UK property owners are searching for when a claim goes wrong.
• We review publicly available UK information on the topic before writing.
• We explain insurance and repair terminology — sudden and gradual damage, causation, scope of works, underinsurance — in plain English, rather than telling readers what their own policy says.
• We link to authoritative external sources, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Financial Conduct Authority, Citizens Advice or the Met Office, where they are directly relevant.
• We keep content general rather than advising on an individual claim, and we avoid absolute statements about cover, because outcomes depend on the policy wording, the evidence and the circumstances.
• We review and update pages as the site develops and as we learn more from the situations people share with us.
• We do not accept payment from insurers, loss assessors, contractors or lenders to feature them, and we do not recommend individual firms.

Our editorial policy sets out in more detail where our information comes from, how it is reviewed and the limits of what we publish.

Where a decision matters, readers should check their own policy documents and, where appropriate, take advice from a suitably qualified or regulated professional.

How the service may develop

We are developing the service carefully and may introduce additional services in the future. Any change of that kind would be described clearly on this website, along with whatever information is appropriate for the service concerned.