Home Contents Insurance Claim - burst pipes

Lindy_Loo_3

Hi there

We (me, my husband and 26 month old baby) live in "rented" accommodation where we are licensee as opposed to tenants. It is a large semi-detached house.

3 weeks ago, our heating packed in and our housing maintenance department came out, condemned the boiler and removed the fuses so that the heating system could not be used (for obvious Health and Safety reasons). Given the sub zero tempertures, we moved out of the house and in with friends as we were advised this would be replaced asap, probably a couple of days.

The boiler was not replaced and 7 days after being condemnded, the pipes throughout the house froze and burst - as we were not living there at the time, we were not told about the leak until it started running down our neighbour's wall. When we got to the house it was literally raining indoors, everything we own has gotten soaked.

We were advised to begin a claim through our own contents insurance and duly did so (we have Asda Financial underwritten by Legal and General).

Crawford and Co are the intermediaries who in turn appointed Rainbow International to try and recover any items but now we are two weeks after the flood, no remedial work has been carried out and everything that was soaked has become damp and "smelly". In some cases, mould has appeared on furniture.

Rainbow have been and are appalled that nothing was done to try and help the situation, in their opinion, it would cost more to try and treat everything than replace it and I understand that they have submitted this in a report to the loss adjuster.

My questions are:

1. Where do we stand on insisting all of our clothes are dry cleaned or treated to ensure there are no damp or mould spores in the event that the insurance company won't replace them? My baby has a serious lung infection and I have asthma and don't wish to aggrivate it.

2. Are we obliged to accept vouchers to replace our contents - we are literally talking about the whole house? I'm a bit weary of this following the Zavvi incident (got vouchers for Christmas then couldn't use them!) and Empire Commercial going into administration (they supply L&G appliances and electrical goods).

3. Are the insurers allowed to offer below replacement costs figures if we ask for a cash settlement rather than use their suppliers?

4. Does anyone know what a "reasonable cost" of comparative alternative accomodation is? This is covered under our policy and given that we have no where to live, think that we need to address this part.

5. Is the loss adjustor completely independant or is their fee "performance related"?

I know that I should be asking the loss adjustor these but I can't seem to get a straight answer out of the advisor and I'd like to know where I stand before taking it further.

I'd be grateful for any advice you can offer.

Derby2

I'm sorry to hear about your trouble.

I am currently going through a similar situation. Our house was flooded on 30th October 2008 by a burst water main. Rainbow were appointed by Severn Trent, but we had to claim through our insurers. Rainbow have been fantastic throughout this, and have kept accurate records and kept good levels of communication between ourselves and our insurers. They itemised any goods which can be replaced, and have taken away all our other items to be repaired, cleaned and put into storage until the house is back in order.

However, our insurers (Royal Sun Alliance) have been very difficult to deal with. The have appointed a contractor, Multiassist, who have then appointed a building firm, Homestead to do the actual works. My partner and I have had to liase with all parties as information from inspections was not passed on and in my opinion has delayed the works. We have had to push to get works done and I suspect you will have to do the same. Homestead needed to come out several times to do work which would allow us to get 'dry' and due to the poor communication would often not have all the works on their schedule and so had to return time and again. Our appointed claims handler from RSA is very difficult to get hold of, and will only answer our questions with 'holding answers' of the 'I need to speak to someone' type. We have repeatedly requested a schedule of works to ensure everything is on there, but we have been fobbed off time and again.

So, I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge and experience to date.

1) I do not know about the clothes but I don't think it is an unreasonable request.

2) Generally you aren't obliged to have vouchers, but the cash settlement is often lower due to the insurers bulk buying vouchers. I too am wary about accepting vouchers as a lot of our damaged items are unique and will not be available from Argos or Focus who are the examples our insurers gave us of what vouchers we might get.

3) We have been able to live in our house (albeit on one floor) so have been told only the cost directly incurred will be covered e.g. laundry costs etc. However, the loss adjuster who is working for STW has advised us that many insurers cover the cost of alternative accommodation and it is calculated on a per person/per day basis. I think this may be around £50. I'm not sure how it works when you are actually in alternative accommodation.

5) From what I have researched, a Loss Adjuster works on behalf of a company and their aim is to minimise the loss. A Loss Assessor can be appointed by yourselves and are independent. Loss Adjusters can vary with how they deal with a claim.

My advise is to be prepared to drive forward all the works and to co-ordinate parties. It isn't what the consumer role should be, but it is the only way we have managed to do it. Keep accurate records of phonecalls, photos, e-mails and any correspondance. We still find it difficult to get a simple answer and this is 12 weeks later.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but be prepared to be in for the long haul. Our house has only just be signed off 'dry' and the remedial works don't look to be starting soon.

Lindy_Loo_3

Thanks Derby2, and sorry to hear you're in the same situation.

There's been a bit more of a development:

We're staying with friends at the moment as we didn't have anywhere else to go. . . . our Landlord has offered us an unfurnished property to move into but obviously we have no furniture or appliances etc.

I spoke to the loss adjuster about the alternative accommodation allowance and was told that this was covered under the Building Insurance and therefore not applicable . . . he actually said, "but you're staying with friends so you don't need it" - I'm sorry but we're staying with friends because we have no other choice! It clearly states in our policy that we're covered for this expense but the advisor was rather dismissive and I'm a bit weary of arguing the point . . .any advice??

FlameCloud

Crawco are being a tad cheeky here

As you point out you are covered for AA under your own poliucy, so I would really push this with them. If they feel that strongly about it, they can seek a contribution from the building insurers afterwards.

With regards to fees, they aren't really performance rated. Most adjusters- and I know crawfords aren't any different, are on a fixed fee per banding of claims cost, so for example between £5,000 and £10,000 they will get x, between £10,001 and £15,000 it will be x+1. So, in most cases, it is more beneficial to the adjusters the higher the claim cost is

Vouchers- Yes, you should be denied the cash for the items- as you say it can be difficult to use them. However, cash for things like TV's will attract a deduction because the insurance company wont pay the full retail value of the TV in the first place.

Lindy_Loo_3

Thanks for that Flamecloud, it helps to hear confirmation and I'll take it up with Crawco, will no doubt be back if it all goes belly up again. Many thanks once more to Derby2 and Flamecloud

geri1965_2

Is there any reason why you can't just wash your clothes? Mould will generally just wash out.

Assess_Saw

Get a public loss assessor to help you there will be one in your area Crawfords are loss adjusters they are totally beholden to the insurance company they work for, for their existence and will work in their principals interests not the claimants

olly300

geri1965 wrote: »

Is there any reason why you can't just wash your clothes? Mould will generally just wash out.

They live in temporary accommodation.

Using a laundrette is more expensive then doing it at home.

Lindy_Loo_3

geri1965 wrote: »

Is there any reason why you can't just wash your clothes? Mould will generally just wash out.

Hi there,

Just a quick note, I'm not being extra fussy or anything but mould spores don't just wash out .. .. .. the reason I was asking for the clothing to be dry cleaned is because my daughter has a lung infection and I'm sure you can appreciate we'd rather not introduce any unncessary allergins into her environment.

Thanks.

Oh and thanks to Assess Saw, I'll be looking up a loss assessor should things not improve. Thanks to everyone for their comments and advice. Kind regards, Lindy

geri1965_2

Assess_Saw wrote: »

Get a public loss assessor to help you there will be one in your area Crawfords are loss adjusters they are totally beholden to the insurance company they work for, for their existence and will work in their principals interests not the claimants

How do loss assessors make their money?

FlameCloud

The policy holder pays them. They say they will off set this by getting an increased claim cost, but I wouldnt always believe them!

Still, they do have their place on some (not all) claims.