claiming from a floor company's insurance - how?

star1412

Hello

We had a wooden floor fitted a few months ago. We have just had a load of water come thru the ceiling and running down the walls. We called in a plumber and the cause of the leak is a nail (from when the floor was fitted) which went through the beading, through a 'box' and into pipes behind the box.

I believe there has been negligence on the part of the fitter (who is a sub contractor for the shop where we bought the wood). but he is not admitting liability.

I want to make a claim against the shop/company where I bought the wood. I paid this shop for the wood and installation - I didn;t have an agreement between me and their sub contractor.

Does anyone know how I can do this? I do I get their insurance details? Can they be forced to give me their insurance details? Can I claim off their insurance if they won;t admit liability (I'm hoping the insurance company will send out an independent assessor who will agree there was negligence). Do I claim off my insurance? (which incidentally covers accidental damage such as redecorating but not fixing the cause of the leak)

Any help/advice very gratefully received.

Star

dacouch

If you can prove the floor layer was negligent you have a case against them, however enforcing its not easy.

Did you pay the shop for the floor fitting included in the floor price or did you pay the fitter seperately.

star1412

thanks for the reply, We paid the shop for everything. Their price included supply and fitting of the wood.

Star.

geri1965_2

You can send a letter of claim to the shop, and they will have to pass it to their insurers (assuming they have Public Liability insurance) and they will deal with it, although they are likely to pass it on to the sub-contractor as he is the one who was negligent - I imagine the terms of his contract with them obliges him to indemnify them for any claims caused by his negligence.
Alternatively they may opt to deal with your claim in the first instance and then pursue him for anything they pay out.

On what basis is he denying liability? Are you dealing with him personally or through his insurers?

star1412

Thanks for the reply - very helpful. Basically the fitter did not check what was behind a boxed in area before he put nails through it, even though pipes were invisible going into the box area.

I am finding it difficult - I don't have the company's insurance details, and they are denying liability saying it's not their fault if there were pipes in the box area.

So, although I have asked them to pay for the damage and the repair, I am getting nowhere. I would like just to be able to go straight to their insurance company but they have not given me the details - plus I don't know if I can claim off their insurance even if I had the details.

What is a letter of claim, and are they legally obliged to pass it to their insurers?

Thanks

Star

Quentin

There is no compulsion for the shop to give you their insurance details - and no compulsion for them to have any public liability insurance either.

Make your claim in a letter to the company - send an estimate for the cost of the repairs and damages. It sounds like this is not going to be straightforward, and you may want to get some legal advice over this.

Crazy_Jamie

What is a letter of claim, and are they legally obliged to pass it to their insurers?

A letter of claim is a precursor to legal action, and is effectively seen as official notification of an impending claim. If you seek advice from a solicitor before you do anything else, a letter of claim will usually be the first thing that they send to the prospective Defendant. However, there's no reason why you cannot send one yourself. It should lay out a clear summary of the facts, the nature of your allegations, and the amount claimed. There is no legal requirement for them to show the letter to their insurers, but insurers often require as part of their policy terms that in order to be covered the details of any prospective claim must be passed to them within a certain amount of time. A standard paragraph relating to that would go as follows:

"Please confirm the identity of your insurers. Please note that the insurers will need to see this letter as soon as possible and it may affect your insurance cover and/or conduct of any subsequent proceedings if you do not send this letter to them."

Something like that would normally do the trick.

Out of interest how much is the damage worth that has been done by this? Quentin is right that this doesn't look like it will be straightforward, and legal advice might be something that you want to consider.

geri1965_2

Might be a worth a quick call to the shop, explain the situation and see what they say - some companies insist that all their subcontractors have public liability insurance (it can be a warranty on their own insurance that they do so) and they may well have checked it out and have details.

If they don't appear very interested, put it in writing.

Do you have any insurance of your own which will cover the damage in the first instance - you can then leave it to your insurers to pursue a claim for reimbursement of any money they pay out.

Failing that, as Quentin says you may want to seek some legal advice as things tend to happen a lot more quickly when a letter from a solicitor arrives as opposed to a letter from a disgruntled customer!

Clive_Woody

I would advise you give Consumer Direct a call for advice before embarking on the legal route.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Consumer Direct is the government-funded telephone and online service offering information and advice on consumer issues. Consumer Direct is funded by the Office of Fair Trading and delivered in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards Services.

We provide clear, practical, impartial advice to help you sort out problems and disagreements you may be having with suppliers of goods or services.

From overcharging to faulty goods or dodgy workmanship and from energy supply to postal problems, our advisers are ready to offer solutions for individual problems.

tru

It's down to the fitter. Go back to the shop and ask for the fitter's contact details, he should have public liability insurance. If he tries to blame the shop, he's lying. If you don't get anywhere, threaten him with Consumer Direct - that'll do the trick

Quentin

No.

The contract for the whole job was made with the shop. If they subcontracted, then that is between the shop and the subcontractor, and nothing to do with the customer.