please explain why houses are still 1 July 2008 at 11:21PM in Flood & Storms Help & Information 3 replies 2.4K views

Deals_2

suffering after the uk floods. why are people's houses not done yet? is it an insurance issue? not enough builders? thanks in advance.

woodbutcher_2

Can't speak for your area but the main problem round here is that the insurance company would only let you use their aproved contractors and quite frankly they couldn't cope.They also had no affinity with the local area as they were "have tools,will travel" types used to going wherever they were sent.Standards of workmanship were very patchy and some bordering on shocking.These guys were having a field day,earning a fortune,staying in digs and going out on the raz most nights,turning up for work late and hungover.

By the time the insurance companies learned the error of their ways and let local contractors in on the work,most hours were spent putting a lot of very shoddy work right,just adding to the backlog.

Quite frankly,it's a shambles.Some folk are still living in caravans over a year later.There wasn't that much damage here(lincolnshire coast) but over in Hull,some areas are still in a state.

Hawthorn

Also to add to that (I'm in the Hull area) many people made a delayed claim simply because they didn't realise they were flooded too. Quite a few folks I know, are only just starting to realise this.
For the majority of people, the flood waters came up under the houses - for those houses, it didn't always rise above the floor level, so they were unaware of it at the time and thought they'd escaped. Now of course, they are showing signs of damp and rotten timber, so it's not over yet by a long chalk.

shed_head_2

I am in the Hull area, the builders who stripped out my house did a terrible job and I think caused more damage than the flood. They broke my fire, baths room suite, back door and window, patio door, and chissled through radiator pipes. My house was ina sorry state. I didnt get my drying out cert till january of this year. I got a large local firm involved at that point. They finally came to do the quote in MArch. started work in May after they got the go ahead from the insurance co. Here we are almost in August and I am still waiting. They have done an amazing amount of work on my house. Progress seems to be so slow though with contractors not doing as they were supposed to do. Lack of co ordination on the site managers part. e.g. plasteres in before they first fix plumbing and electrics were correct. They tell me I wil get my house back at the end of august so watch this space.