accidental damage claim refused - advice please

lois621836

Hi, I recently made a claim for a broken tile in my kitchen floor, in a nut shell hubby opened the fridge and a large jar of mayo fell out and cracked one of the tiles. I put in a claim, after getting quotes it seems the whole floor and under floor heating would need to be replaced.

The claim has been refused on the grounds that we had previously cracked another tile and because of this we have 'suffered no further financial loss'

The first cracked tile was just a hairline crack which now after a couple of years looks far worse than it did at the time as dirt has now got into the crack, also its at the side of the room. I thought I was being a good customer by not claiming! Now it seems I am being penalised for this. The second tile (the jar of mayo one)has a lump out of the tile and a crack right through which grates and moves when you step on it, its also on a main walk through.

Obviously Im going to appeal against this decision just wondered if anyone had any advice.

Seems very harsh that I am being penalised for not making a previous minor claim, maybe the lesson here is claim for everything!!!! Personally Ive never claimed before.......



Thanks
Lois

DaisyFlower

TBH I can see your insurers point of view. One tile is damaged yet you need a whole new underfloor heating system on top of a new floor!!

If you were quite happy with one tile damaged (sounds like wear and tear rather than actual damage) then you can see their point that you are now claiming because you can yet the floor was perfectly acceptable before with a tile damaged.

nobblyned

The fact that you are claiming for an entire floor, and underfloor heating on the basis of a single cracked tile will have rung alarm bells no doubt.

Can you get a second opinion on the tile? Sounds fishy that the single tile cannot be replaced.

lois621836

As i said the first crack was a hairline crack (a metal bin dropped on in while taking out the bin bag) and hardly noticable, the floor is only about 5 years old. I am claiming because the damage from the dropped jar is a proper 'break' in the tile. I thought that it might be possible to repair just the one tile but apparently it isnt hence the whole thing needs replacing. Isnt that what accidental insurance damage is for?

lois621836

I was asked to get 2 independent quotes which I did and both said the same. Its quite a new kitchen if I could have replaced the tile I wouldnt have even botherd making a claim. Dont know what to do now really the cost of getting it fixed is about £3K :-(

markelock

I always thought tiles could be replaced on an individual basis. did the quotes know it was on the insurance?

Smi1er

markelock wrote: »

I always thought tiles could be replaced on an individual basis.

They can be, but tiles tend to be in production for a short period of time and I wouldn't expect to find a tile a year after I bought the main tiles yet alone 5!

But why doesn't the OP have spare tiles? We have several areas tiled in our home and for each area I hold several spare tiles just in case of accidents like this.

lois621836

We dont have any spares, but I will make sure we do next time!! Apparently the whole floor needs replacing because they cant take the tile up without damaging the underfloor heating.

SandC

I'm sorry that you have this big problem but quite glad that you have posted this as it would never have occurred to me to ask the question about what happens if one of the tiles is broken. It still seems a bit daft to me to have to replace the whole flooring but then you've had two experts tell you that so....

Can you do a repair job, ie. filler and paint? It's never going to look spot on but unless you want to spend £3000.....

OshayAway

I think I would be inclined to push a bit harder they might just be trying it on. What if it happens again? how many tiles would you have to break in order to claim?

I can see both sides but worth a bit more effort I'd say. Have they just explained this over the phone? If so ring them back and ask them to state in writing why they wont honour the claim and at the same time ask for their complaints proceedure. You never know, it certainly can't hurt!