Llloyds TSB has turned down an insurance claim from a customer whose home was damaged by the recent torrential rain because it did not consider the storm to be “severe” enough.

Insurers have so far attracted plaudits for the way they have dealt with claims arising from this summer’s appalling weather, having housed tens of thousands of customers in temporary accommodation following last month’s floods.

However, the Lloyds case will raise fears that some insurers will try to wriggle out of bad-weather claims on technicalities.

Jane Nottage, who is The Sunday Times Formula 1 correspondent, suffered water damage to her home when heavy rain hit parts of London on July 20 and 28.

Nottage, who lives in Putney, southwest London, has buildings and contents insurance with Lloyds, but when she rang to put in a claim, it was turned down point blank by the buildings division on the grounds that there was no evidence of severe weather – despite the storms being front-page news.

She said: “I was told that Lloyds wouldn’t even send an assessor out because the Met Office had no reports of any severe weather in my area. I couldn’t believe it.

“Exactly the same thing had happened to some of my neighbours, yet their insurers were accepting claims.”

However, when she rang the contents division to claim for damage to her artwork, she got a completely different story. “I was told that I could make a claim because, according to the Met Office, 27mm of rain had fallen in my area on that day. The person I spoke to said they had 400 live claims for that period. That made me even more angry about the buildings division – it’s as if the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing.” Lloyds TSB said that while it underwrites its own buildings insurance, another company, Sterling, underwrites its contents policies and the two firms have different parameters when evaluating claims.

While the contents department was only interested in the volume of rain that fell, the buildings division was looking at several other factors, including wind speed.

After The Sunday Times Money section got involved, the bank accepted there had been a period of torrential rain that affected Putney, and its buildings insurance department has agreed to send out a loss adjuster to assess the damage.

However, the bank still maintains there was no evidence of a severe storm that day based on the other factors it looks at, raising fears that other policyholders could be turned down on a technicality.

All buildings and contents policies should cover storm damage. However, you are not normally covered for damage resulting from maintenance issues, such as a roof in a poor state of repair.

Jane Milne at the Association of British Insurers said: “Household insurance covers all risks and that includes abnormal weather conditions.

“It doesn’t matter whether you have been affected by wind, heavy rain, a storm or even a hurricane, you are covered.

“Insurers often use information from the Met Office to track storms because it helps them identify which postcodes they are likely to get claims from.

“However, if you are a victim of a particularly localised event, it may not have been picked up by the Met Office.”

The other problem is that there is no standard definition of “abnormal” or “severe” weather, leading to cases such as Nottage’s.

If you find yourself in the same situation and your insurer initially turns down your claim, do not give up. Any evidence – maybe an article from a local paper or photographs – may help your case.

If a formal complaint fails, try the Financial Ombudsman Service (www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk).

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