HOME iNSURANCE CLAIM. DEPRESSED AND UPSET. Plz advice!

Wol2

Hi abhiman

There are really two ways a claim such as yours can proceed - with people ("insurers nominated agents") who treat it as just another job paid for by the insurance company...or people who take seriously the fact that you are a CLIENT and ensure all the correct procedures take place and don;t cut corners. (oh boy - every nominated "agent" the insurers appointed - from the drying out team to the acommodation people...they all "cut corners" to my detriment - i.e. they got paid for doing stuff by the insurers that somehow I ended up having to do....). Luckily I chose my surveyor.....

Bottom line is - the refurbishment should not proceed until the property is dry ...and it is the surveyors job to ensure this hence why they get final sign off.

Therefore, if he is a real buildings surveyor with a capital S (please check the letters after his name...or at least ask him for a business card cos they should be on there.....) then a written confirmation that he has taken moisture readings and is "signing off" that the place is dry should be good enough...provided your contract with him makes him responsible for the progress/overseeing of the works. ......


However you might want to attend when he does this and make sure he measures where the worst of the water was if he doesn;t know this already......and if you are ground floor flooded and have a sub-floor void, measurements should be taken from the concrete slab beneath the floor boards and also, depending upon how long the property was exposed to water - up the walls to a certain distance that the surveyor will specify.


Sorry I'm coming over as being a bit of a cynic.........but I have only learned all this through my own and my near neighbours' experiences and mistakes .....10 of us got flooded in one go in July 07 ....and I wouldn;t wish on anyone else the situation I find myself in now 19 months later...and it would have been a lot lot worse if I hadn't had a Chartered surveyor who was also an Arbitrator....

Please keep posting - and if you want to Pm me with your email address I'm very happy to send you the contracts I signed with my surveyor and builders and comment on any you are being asked to sign.....plus any other help I can give as your claim progresses....


xx