Aviva House insurance saga
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AvivaNightmare
Posts: 69 Forumite
I had an escape of water incident on the 10th August & phoned Aviva, they appointed their own adjuster & contractor. An asbestos testing company was sent out on the evening of the 10th to take an asbestos test, the contractor popped around & took photos but both the asbestos tester & contractor said that as there was no electric lighting / risk of asbestos / no access to the kitchen & because i had recently (only 3 days previous) been discharged from hospital following a severe asthma attack (i am a brittle asthmatic & this was my 2nd attack this year requiring hospital admission, on both occasions i was in for 6days) i needed alternative accommodation.
The next day Aviva office rang me & arranged alternative accommodation wanting me to share a twin room with my 25 yr old son, this was booked for 3 nights, i was advised on the monday that the test had returned negative & told to return home, no further update given re works, drying the property out, electrics etc, on my return i noticed that the ceiling varied in its construction in different places, i emailed photos to the contractors & asked they check all sections were tested, i was again advised to leave the property & not touch anything, later that afternoon around 6pm i was advised i needed to go back into alternative accommodation, this i had to find & book myself at 6:30pm later that night i realised that they had said it would be retested on the weds am & this was monday yet no arrangements had been made for the tuesday, i work in london i emailed their surveyor guy, who replied & said book it for 2 nights.on the wednesday i was advised someone would be coming to take a sample, and assess damage, make a report & advise on the works needed, i returned to the property a man came & took a sample but said thats all he was doing & the results would take a couple of days to return, i asked where am in staying tonight & he said i needed to contact Aviva again... i tried to email & ring to no avail, eventually i left & went to the holiday inn where i had previous stayed & sat in their reception foyer while waiting on some information, as i had no contact from their surveyor i contacted Aviva main number, they tried to then contact simon although they expressed surprise that the accommodation had not been booked for longer. eventually they rang back & told me another department would be ringing me - they did & they arranged the accomdation with the holiday inn, booking it for 2 weeks & a separate room for myself and my son. they also emailed me asking if i had any special requests re accommodation, i replied copying in their surveyor explaining i am registered disabled, am a brittle asthmatic & would require ground floor accommodation Surveyor replied with a curt email the next day saying, test results will be back by weds, negative or positive the ceiling will be removed by then so accommodation stops as its only supplied if no water or electricity. i replied & asked as the test results were not yet back & no assessment had been made as to whether the property needed dryers etc installed was he expecting all this to be carried out on monday? and if he needed access to the property monday he also needed to arrange that with me so i could take time off work
he replied until the test results were back no assessment could be made. he later emailed me & said the results were back & negative, & he could collect a key from me saturday. I have explained several times that i am a brittle asthmatic & so to be in a damp and dusty environment is detrimental to my health, i have googled the definition of 'uninhabitle' & not found anything, i did view on the ombudsman webs site that they take health & safety into consideration & not just inconvenience.
I would like to know if i can now appoint my own loss assessor to deal with the claim and assess damage, no work or assessment has been made only an asbestos test, he has completely ignore all my comments in my emails, i have no faith in their surveyor, also what is the situation re alternative accommodation as i cannot be in a home with damp and dust and live in situ while the repairs take place.
The next day Aviva office rang me & arranged alternative accommodation wanting me to share a twin room with my 25 yr old son, this was booked for 3 nights, i was advised on the monday that the test had returned negative & told to return home, no further update given re works, drying the property out, electrics etc, on my return i noticed that the ceiling varied in its construction in different places, i emailed photos to the contractors & asked they check all sections were tested, i was again advised to leave the property & not touch anything, later that afternoon around 6pm i was advised i needed to go back into alternative accommodation, this i had to find & book myself at 6:30pm later that night i realised that they had said it would be retested on the weds am & this was monday yet no arrangements had been made for the tuesday, i work in london i emailed their surveyor guy, who replied & said book it for 2 nights.on the wednesday i was advised someone would be coming to take a sample, and assess damage, make a report & advise on the works needed, i returned to the property a man came & took a sample but said thats all he was doing & the results would take a couple of days to return, i asked where am in staying tonight & he said i needed to contact Aviva again... i tried to email & ring to no avail, eventually i left & went to the holiday inn where i had previous stayed & sat in their reception foyer while waiting on some information, as i had no contact from their surveyor i contacted Aviva main number, they tried to then contact simon although they expressed surprise that the accommodation had not been booked for longer. eventually they rang back & told me another department would be ringing me - they did & they arranged the accomdation with the holiday inn, booking it for 2 weeks & a separate room for myself and my son. they also emailed me asking if i had any special requests re accommodation, i replied copying in their surveyor explaining i am registered disabled, am a brittle asthmatic & would require ground floor accommodation Surveyor replied with a curt email the next day saying, test results will be back by weds, negative or positive the ceiling will be removed by then so accommodation stops as its only supplied if no water or electricity. i replied & asked as the test results were not yet back & no assessment had been made as to whether the property needed dryers etc installed was he expecting all this to be carried out on monday? and if he needed access to the property monday he also needed to arrange that with me so i could take time off work
he replied until the test results were back no assessment could be made. he later emailed me & said the results were back & negative, & he could collect a key from me saturday. I have explained several times that i am a brittle asthmatic & so to be in a damp and dusty environment is detrimental to my health, i have googled the definition of 'uninhabitle' & not found anything, i did view on the ombudsman webs site that they take health & safety into consideration & not just inconvenience.
I would like to know if i can now appoint my own loss assessor to deal with the claim and assess damage, no work or assessment has been made only an asbestos test, he has completely ignore all my comments in my emails, i have no faith in their surveyor, also what is the situation re alternative accommodation as i cannot be in a home with damp and dust and live in situ while the repairs take place.
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Comments
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AvivaNightmare wrote: »I had an escape of water incident on the 10th August & phoned Aviva, they appointed their own adjuster & contractor. An asbestos testing company was sent out on the evening of the 10th to take an asbestos test, the contractor popped around & took photos but both the asbestos tester & contractor said that as there was no electric lighting / risk of asbestos / no access to the kitchen & because i had recently (only 3 days previous) been discharged from hospital following a severe asthma attack (i am a brittle asthmatic & this was my 2nd attack this year requiring hospital admission, on both occasions i was in for 6days) i needed alternative accommodation.
The next day Aviva office rang me & arranged alternative accommodation wanting me to share a twin room with my 25 yr old son, this was booked for 3 nights, i was advised on the monday that the test had returned negative & told to return home, no further update given re works, drying the property out, electrics etc, on my return i noticed that the ceiling varied in its construction in different places, i emailed photos to the contractors & asked they check all sections were tested, i was again advised to leave the property & not touch anything, later that afternoon around 6pm i was advised i needed to go back into alternative accommodation, this i had to find & book myself at 6:30pm later that night i realised that they had said it would be retested on the weds am & this was monday yet no arrangements had been made for the tuesday, i work in london i emailed their surveyor guy, who replied & said book it for 2 nights.on the wednesday i was advised someone would be coming to take a sample, and assess damage, make a report & advise on the works needed, i returned to the property a man came & took a sample but said thats all he was doing & the results would take a couple of days to return, i asked where am in staying tonight & he said i needed to contact Aviva again... i tried to email & ring to no avail, eventually i left & went to the holiday inn where i had previous stayed & sat in their reception foyer while waiting on some information, as i had no contact from their surveyor i contacted Aviva main number, they tried to then contact simon although they expressed surprise that the accommodation had not been booked for longer. eventually they rang back & told me another department would be ringing me - they did & they arranged the accomdation with the holiday inn, booking it for 2 weeks & a separate room for myself and my son. they also emailed me asking if i had any special requests re accommodation, i replied copying in their surveyor explaining i am registered disabled, am a brittle asthmatic & would require ground floor accommodation Surveyor replied with a curt email the next day saying, test results will be back by weds, negative or positive the ceiling will be removed by then so accommodation stops as its only supplied if no water or electricity. i replied & asked as the test results were not yet back & no assessment had been made as to whether the property needed dryers etc installed was he expecting all this to be carried out on monday? and if he needed access to the property monday he also needed to arrange that with me so i could take time off work
he replied until the test results were back no assessment could be made. he later emailed me & said the results were back & negative, & he could collect a key from me saturday. I have explained several times that i am a brittle asthmatic & so to be in a damp and dusty environment is detrimental to my health, i have googled the definition of 'uninhabitle' & not found anything, i did view on the ombudsman webs site that they take health & safety into consideration & not just inconvenience.
I would like to know if i can now appoint my own loss assessor to deal with the claim and assess damage, no work or assessment has been made only an asbestos test, he has completely ignore all my comments in my emails, i have no faith in their surveyor, also what is the situation re alternative accommodation as i cannot be in a home with damp and dust and live in situ while the repairs take place.
Hi,
I'm very sorry to read of the issues that have occurred and would like to help if I can. Can I please ask you to email me at social@aviva.co.uk and include for security purposes your
Full name
Date of birth
Post code
Policy number
I can then liaise with our claims complaints team and will ask them to contact you directly to discuss your options and hopefully resolve this. Can I also ask you attach your MSE username to your email so I can associate your email with this post.
Hopefully we can get everything back on track for you soon.
Kind regrads
Dave
Aviva Social Media Team0 -
I'll be honest - I've read this twice now and am struggling to get my head around your post.
You advise that you've had 2 weeks in a hotel paid for by your insurer, but then say you're staying in your property which you believe to be uninhabitable?
If you wish to make a complaint, a well-worded letter or email to the insurer (unlike the above) titled "formal complaint" should elicit a response within 40 working days, otherwise you have the option to escalate free of charge. I'm struggling to grasp your complaint, however, from the post above.0 -
Bibble,
Having just spent a week in intensive care followed by this saga and so posted in a rush and while stressed, I apologise if you feel my saga is not correctly formed enough for you to grasp,
i said the accident happened on the 10th, so as its the 19th it would not be two weeks in a hotel so far.
I did not say i am now in my property, I clearly stated i am still in the hotel and the surveyor feels the property although not yet viewed, assessed for damage or damp, will be fit enough for me to move back into on Wednesday, prior to the ceiling being replaced, and i feel due to my health issues it will not be suitable as it may trigger another asthma attack so soon after my last severe attack which resulted in the hospital admission.
I have previously represented myself against the secretary of state on two occasions and won, so please if you have nothing constructive to say apart from patronising and insulting comments say nothing.0 -
Hi Dave,
I am meeting the surveyor tomorrow am to give him the keys to enable an assessment of damage and the ceiling to be removed PM, he has advised that the dryer tech will be there tuesday am to assess damp damage.
I am presuming if damp is ok they will then install the ceiling over the next week.
He had wanted alternative accommodation to cease once the ceiling is removed.
He states that alternative accommodation is only provided if there is no access to cooking or washing facilities, my issue is having just come out of hospital on the 7th August after my 2nd severe asthma attack of this year, that to be in the house while, dryers if needed are being used, or while the ceiling is being replaced and painted the paint fumes and dust etc is detrimental to my health and so from a health and safety point of view feel alternative accommodation should continue until the ceiling is replaced fully and decorative damage made good.
i am a severe asthmatic and use a nebuliser daily to assist with my breathing and take high levels of medications, I am concerned about my health which is paramount.
Can you advise on Aviva's opinion on alternative accommodation under these circumstances.0 -
AvivaNightmare wrote: »Bibble,
Having just spent a week in intensive care followed by this saga and so posted in a rush and while stressed, I apologise if you feel my saga is not correctly formed enough for you to grasp,
i said the accident happened on the 10th, so as its the 19th it would not be two weeks in a hotel so far.
I did not say i am now in my property, I clearly stated i am still in the hotel and the surveyor feels the property although not yet viewed, assessed for damage or damp, will be fit enough for me to move back into on Wednesday, prior to the ceiling being replaced, and i feel due to my health issues it will not be suitable as it may trigger another asthma attack so soon after my last severe attack which resulted in the hospital admission.
I have previously represented myself against the secretary of state on two occasions and won, so please if you have nothing constructive to say apart from patronising and insulting comments say nothing.
The original post was not clear at all, however this does clarify your situation a tad. Based on the original post, I feel I've offered the most help possible (i.e, some advice on how to go about making a complaint) and you've also had the Aviva rep post in this forum straight away - a private message to him should speed things up for you.
A quick look in their policy wording advises -
"When we refer to ‘reasonable accommodation expenses’ in this section this means that we will pay for alternative accommodation taking all of!the circumstances of your claim into account, including your needs, the length of time for which accommodation is needed and alternative (and comparable costs of) accommodation available locally. We are happy to discuss and can offer help in finding accommodation."
[https://www.aviva.co.uk/static/library/pdfs/home/NHDHG6080.pdf]
If taking in to account your needs, I would have thought your request should be honoured upon evidence of your condition from a doctor which shouldn't be hard to obtain. Does Aviva / Aviva's contractor have an ETA for when all works should be completed, so they know how long you'd be in alternative accommodation for?0 -
AvivaNightmare wrote: »Hi Dave,
I am meeting the surveyor tomorrow am to give him the keys to enable an assessment of damage and the ceiling to be removed PM, he has advised that the dryer tech will be there tuesday am to assess damp damage.
I am presuming if damp is ok they will then install the ceiling over the next week.
He had wanted alternative accommodation to cease once the ceiling is removed.
He states that alternative accommodation is only provided if there is no access to cooking or washing facilities, my issue is having just come out of hospital on the 7th August after my 2nd severe asthma attack of this year, that to be in the house while, dryers if needed are being used, or while the ceiling is being replaced and painted the paint fumes and dust etc is detrimental to my health and so from a health and safety point of view feel alternative accommodation should continue until the ceiling is replaced fully and decorative damage made good.
i am a severe asthmatic and use a nebuliser daily to assist with my breathing and take high levels of medications, I am concerned about my health which is paramount.
Can you advise on Aviva's opinion on alternative accommodation under these circumstances.
Hi,
I'm not a claims handler and am unable to comment on your claim, but if you send me the details requested in my last message, I will do all I can to arrange for the team to contact and update you.
I'm sorry I can't give you more direct detail than that.
Dave
Aviva Social Media Team0 -
Hi Blibble,
I met him this am, his plan is
Monday remove ceiling
Tuesday dryer tech to assess moisture level
Wednesday accommodation ceases
He will install plastic sheeting to the kitchen and dust extractors while ceiling is being replaced and walls painted.
He offered a 'kitchen pod' installed on a shared drive outside or food allowance.
He will not entertain extending alternative accommodation at all, I have offered to get confirmation from my GP or chest consultant he has not even acknowledge that offer.
I had said in an email I was thinking of getting a loss assessor - he told me verbally that this would cost me money,it was not covered by the insurance company and his decision is final anyway re damage and costs and my premiums would increase if I used one ......
I had noted two cracks on the walls he brushed theses aside and I got the impression theses would just be filled and painted over.
To be honest they are coming over as a complete bunch of cowboys!!
He emailed me on his return and outlined the above commenting again that accommodation ceases Wednesday ' as agreed' I have emailed back and said I do not and never have agreed that alternative accommodation should cease as I do not agree that the house is fit to return with regards to my asthma.
I do not have a time scale of how long the replacing the ceiling and redecorating the kitchen will take, he did not check the bathroom for any damage.
Surely the offer of a kitchen pod or food vouchers completely negates his claim that alternative accommodation is only paid if there's no access to the kitchen?0 -
Uninhabitable will refer to you not having either no cooking facilities, no toilet facilities or no hot water. The property merely being damp and dusty isn't enough to warrant alternative accommodation.
A few insurers now offer kitchen pods, as they're cheaper than alternative accommodation, and mean you will still have cooking facilities and not need to go into the damp kitchen.
However, it's likely that if you log a formal complaint - as advised above - you'll likely be given accommodation (only a hotel is likely tho) for the period of time the property remains damp. From experience the drying process usually only takes 1-4 weeks.
In terms of you obtaining a loss assessor. A loss assessor is someone appointed and employed by you - they either work on a fixed fee basis, or charge a % of your claim cost. From my experience they're expensive, and cause more delays in claims (especially the ones working on a % basis).0 -
It isn't just damp and dusty I will not have a ceiling while they replace it and it's a big kitchen ceiling 25ft x 18ft
Sorry being a severe asthmatic two weeks post high care admission there's no way damp and dusty is going to be any good for me plus paint fumes while they paint the ceiling and walls, it might be 'merely damp and dusty' but as a severe brittle asthmatic damp and dusty is life threatening to me and hence why I am concerned for my health.
Using a loss assessor who has their own contractors does not incur any costs from research I have carried out.
I have a feeling he is going to say damp levels are fine he was intimating it when we met.
Having sheets up and a pod doesn't stop paint fumes or dust moving around in the air.0 -
As I said, uninhabitable refers to you either having no cooking facilities, or toilet facilities or hot water. You will have no cooking facilities, and the insurers are dealing with this by offering a pod. Therefore the property is not uninhabitable.
HOWEVER, as I also said, if you register a complaint (as other users have also advised) they should then look at your individual circumstances IE your health, and put you in temporary accommodation for a while until the property is no longer damp and dusty, and thus won't affect your asthma.
You have to remember the insures are only obliged to offer what is covered as per the wordings in the policy booklet. People forget this sometimes and think insurance will cover anything and everything.
On a side note, they don't just 'decide' the damp levels are fine, he will have to check the damp levels and once within certain limits, this suggests the property is dry enough, and he will issue a drying certificate. (Which will need to be seen by the contractors before any reinstatement works would be carried out anyway).0
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