Crawford and Co Loss Adjusters - Home Contents Claim in hand

Lindy_Loo_3

Dear All

I need a bit of additional advice . . . . can anyone confirm if Crawford and Co, Birmingham are a "fraudulent claims department?" It's a rather long story but basically I was looking for advice and read a thread that says they are.

We have a claim being looked at by them and I'd just like to know who I'm really dealing with . . . .

NB: I didn't mean "are they a real department" I meant do they investigate fraud? Sorry, should've been a bit clearer

Also

Quote:1
Originally Posted by geri1965
Birmingham is where Claims Alert are based, they are the first port of call for new claims before they are allocated to branches or home working ECAs (external claims advisors).

Birmingham were allocated the claim following a visit from the chap from Crawford's who came out and visited the property. . . . .

Someone has since said (not here) that the fact we changed our insurance one month before the accident and we weren't present in the property at the time of event that this would flag up the need for a fraud investigator. . . .

Rainbow have "written off" about 95% of our contents and we literally have nothing other than a few bits and bobs we salvaged ourselves.

I'm genuinely worried that we're being accused of fraud or something. . . am I worrying over nothing?

Hazzanet

No. I use them regularly for losses on large corporate claims. They're totally kosher.

Lindy_Loo_3

Thanks Hazzanet, I was really scared that we were under investigation for fraud or something . . . although I don't quite know how you fake burst pipes! Thanks again

sarahg1969

They will have a fraud department. But they also deal with ordinary claims. So nothing to worry about.

dacouch

They are one of a few National / International Loss Adjsuters most of the UK Insurers use to handle claims. They will have a department that will deal with fraudulant claims but that is normally later in a claim once they have gathered information and find the details suspicious.

Unfortunately some Loss Adjusters can come accross as if they are suspicious of you its the nature of their game. Their job is to gather all of the information and then get the claim settled at the correct amount. In doing this they sometimes sound like they suspect you. Its because they want to do their job properly by getting to the facts.

It should be fairly easy to get a burst pipe claim settled (They will not pay to repair the pipe but the subsequent damage the water has done).You may find the current weather delays your claim slightly but if your not happy have a chat with one of us on here and we will see if we can help.

Lindy_Loo_3

Thanks everyone, it's a lot more complicated than just a burst pipe unfortunately - went from being a burst pipe to mould and mildew damage after being left with no remedial works for 3 weeks . . . . I may need to come back to you guys for further guidance if things carry on like this. Thanks again

geri1965_2

Birmingham is where Claims Alert are based, they are the first port of call for new claims before they are allocated to branches or home working ECAs (external claims advisors).

Lindy_Loo_3

geri1965 wrote: »

Birmingham is where Claims Alert are based, they are the first port of call for new claims before they are allocated to branches or home working ECAs (external claims advisors).

Birmingham were allocated the claim following a visit from the chap from Crawford's who came out and visited the property. . . . .

Someone has since said (not here) that the fact we changed our insurance one month before the accident and we weren't present in the property at the time of event that this would flag up the need for a fraud investigator. . . .

Rainbow have "written off" about 95% of our contents and we literally have nothing other than a few bits and bobs we salvaged ourselves.

I'm genuinely worried that we're being accused of fraud or something. . . am I worrying over nothing?

dacouch

The fact you have changed your Insurance companies should not cause problems, if their had been a long gap between when you cancelled your last policy and took out the new policy it may cause them to do further checks to make sure the damage did not happen before you started with them. But if there is no gap or only a few days gap it should not be a problem.

The fact you were not in the property should not be a problem, the loss adjuster has no doubt asked you where you were etc. The fact you were not there is no doubt why there is so much damage because no one noticed the leak for a while. It is only normally a problem if you had left the home unoccupied for normally (With most companies) more then 30 CONSECUTIVE days.

What has probably caused a more thorough investigation by the Crawfords is just the fact your claim is for a fairly large amount of money so they want to ensure everything is correct. Imagine if it was your money being paid out, if it was for a large amount of money you would want to ensure everything was in order.

I hope this helps

P.S We will no doubt have you back on here when Crawfords start advising you they are giving you vouchers for certain companies to replace your contents as this normally upsets people. If you need advice on this have a chat with us again or you will find this questions has been raised a number of times already in the forum

Lindy_Loo_3

Thanks again, dacouch. I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing, I'm just upset that we've lost all out things - we've got a new house to move into but no stuff to put into it so it's probably me just being "hormonal".

dacouch

Which Insurance company are you with?