Burst Pipe... HELP! Insurance or NOT!

diddydiner

dont know if this would help...i had a leak inthe kitchen all over the laminate they asked me to get a quote which i did, for a builder to take up and remove all laminate then to lay down and replace it again. they paid me without no questions asked didnt even come out.. just tell them that the leak caused all the tiles to become loose perhaps, and that they could of very well fell off and cracked the bath..... usually you be sweet to acceser they usually ok

dementedhousewife

diddydiner wrote: »

dont know if this would help...i had a leak inthe kitchen all over the laminate they asked me to get a quote which i did, for a builder to take up and remove all laminate then to lay down and replace it again. they paid me without no questions asked didnt even come out.. just tell them that the leak caused all the tiles to become loose perhaps, and that they could of very well fell off and cracked the bath..... usually you be sweet to acceser they usually ok

Thank you for you reply.... Nice to get some good responses..
Im worried im going to end up with a big bill

nadine12

Hi
Just thought I would try to give you a little advice having gone through our insurance company after a flood in September. Circumstances were a little bit different as it was a flood after very heavy rain. The insurance company appointed a loss adjuster to assess the damage who asked me at the beginning whether I would like to arrange the repairs myself or for them to do it - the stupidest thing I ever did was ask them to arrange it!! We have been six months living with my parents and are now asking for compensation (I posted on here back last week!). we had to have a drying company in (not sure if you will? depends on the extent of the water damage) which obviously they had to arrange, but one thing I will say is you will get things done quicker if you get quotes yourself - at least you will be in charge of who does the work and when it gets done (providing they give you the go ahead once they receive the quote). Also, if you feel the house is inhabitable with the children when the work is done, stamp your feet until they sort out alternative accomodation! We have spent months living between my parents and our own house, which was dirty, dusty and with bare concrete floors (at the time of the flood my babies were 2 1/2 and 9 months!) It was an absolute nightmare and we have found out now they should have put us up somewhere else. they originally said as there was no loss of eating/sleeping or bathing facilities we were not entitled!! As I said the work is still not finished in our house and you don't need that kind of stress when you are pregnant. Hope this helps and you get things sorted out ok!

dacouch

Good advice Nadine12, I think anyone in the industry (Apart from a lot of the loss adjusters and the Insurance claims handlers) will advise you not to use an Insurance Companies Tradesmen as its well known there will normally be problems.

Use a good local builder who you know can handle the job properly and has a good reputation. Their quote will invariably be cheaper than the Insurance Companies tradesmen anyway.

Out of professional curiosity Nadine which Insurance Company were you with

Thomas_Crown

Deleted By T.C.

LCK73

Hi

god it is stressful isn't it. I'm with NFU and had a suspected burst pipe just before Xmas as my lovely floor tiles were lifting up.
I called NFU to report problem and they said get quote from builder and send it to us. I did just that and the builder put a proviso with the quote that it was a reasonable estimate given he didn't know what he would find once he lifted tiles. NFU agreed the quote and said go ahead get work done. Brill I thought how efficient. Work has now been done and it was infact a burst water pipe the was leaking water into and under the tiles. The cold was causing it to freeze, shatter and spread so once the builder took up the tiles he realised he would have to screed the whole floor. This work wasn't included in the quote but obviously was in the final invoice. I sent final invoice to NFU ( some £300 more than the quote) and low and behold I now need to suffer the visit of a loss adjuster who will no doubt try and limit NFU's loss (isn't that what these people do!). Why didn't NFU say this might happen and why didn't the loss adjuster come out when work was getting done to inspect damage in situ. How the hell they expect to inspect the damage when the place has now been retiled, I have no idea as the pipe is now buried again and has new tiles on top of it. I just don't understand and feel agreived that I have to take time off work to let them in etc.

Grrrr....

Lisa

dementedhousewife

Yes these Ins Co are defo pains.... My builder has now become so unrealiable im still waiting for a quote...
Ins Co are quick to get your money each mth... and are ok increasing it and lowering what is covered but when you need them... they seem to have lack of interest!

FlameCloud

dacouch wrote: »

Good advice Nadine12, I think anyone in the industry (Apart from a lot of the loss adjusters and the Insurance claims handlers) will advise you not to use an Insurance Companies Tradesmen as its well known there will normally be problems.

Use a good local builder who you know can handle the job properly and has a good reputation. Their quote will invariably be cheaper than the Insurance Companies tradesmen anyway.

Out of professional curiosity Nadine which Insurance Company were you with

I wouldnt. I absolutly hate being told I have to use contractor networks, as it adds another level of complexity and another thing to go wrong. Cash it out, and you dont have any worries!

nadine12

Hi dacouch, the insurance company is Allianz, who I have to say, what little contact I have had with them has been fine - it is the loss adjuster, Cunningham Lindsey that is the problem. I am waiting on Allianz to get back to me at the moment with regards to my complaint and I have asked for compensation. with regards to our house, we are still not back in it! Decorators are still messing around, been waiting on wallpaper for last two weeks apparently! After six months I have lost all interest now fee like it will never get done!!

dacouch

Nadine Allianz (Cornhill) are a good company, they have the odd hiccup but companies in all walks of life do. They will log your complaint and each time a customer complains about a loss adjuster it is taken notice of. When the tender is up lots of complaints against Cunninghams will affect their decision.

The people at the top of Insurance Companies and the vast majority of their staff do genuinly want to do a good job for their customers so they will be concerned about the problems you have had. If you have not already done so send a copy of your complaint to the Chief Executive of Allianz so they are away of the problem, the address is probably at the back of your policy under "How to make a complaint".

I hope everything gets sorted out for you