House re-insurance. Regardless of the size of the claim do the insurers have a legal duty to renew the policy?

Unfortunately insurance companies are under no obligation to re-insure, and if there has been a large claim, or several small ones, they tend to think your a high risk. The only thing you can do is to shop around, and explain your plight - if you try to hide the truth you could find yourself paying for insurance but not being able to make a claim because of "non-disclosure". Best of luck.

If in UK. Insurers have no obligation to offer renewal but bearing in mind your mothers history with the firm they seem to have treated her unfairly and this is where you could appeal. They should have put this in writing though as a consumer and given a minimum of 21 days notice. As they have not done this and breached FSA (Financial Services Authority) rules you could have grounds to appeal. You need to formally complain to the broker/insurer and use the terms: "Treating Customers Fairly" and the Financial Services Authority rules offering all consumers 21 days notice. Consumer is the correct term for a client with home insurance so use the term. You should address your letter to the Complaints Manager as this should be an independent person. You also need to advise them they need to extend your cover with notice as they have virtually left you uninsurable. Finally if they still refuse to budge and they really shouldn't as they have not treated your mother fairly then Bureau Insurance are known to take people with an "adverse" history and may help you. Hope this helps