Home Ins Claim

pilfpolf

Some low lifes smashed a leaded french door last week at our house. They were bespoke doors and less than a year old. The insurers have quoted £212 to repair (plus VAT) but our orignal installers have quoted £320 Plus VAT.

Our excess is £100 plus we would lose 5% of our no claims bonus.

We would prefer the original people to do the work as they have the lead design and would be able to match up the paint more easily.

Is there any way we could persuade our insurers to pay for the whole amount? It does seem unfair.

Thanks in advance.

dacouch

I'm guessing your with Axa / Swift Cover and / or it is Home Serve that have quoted to repair the items. Is this correct?

McKneff

Insurance wont pay the whole amount, they will deduct the £100 excess from your claim. They may go with the original installers if you push it.

Sorry, maybe not what you want to hear but next time you take out your insurance ask for a quote with no excess and a quote with £100 excess,there really isnt a great deal of difference for peace of minds sake.

pilfpolf

Yes Dacouch it is Homeserve.
I was wondering if it was worth getting a third quote?

McNeff, I think you are probably right.

dacouch

The reason I asked was I have seen quote a few claims like this. Homeserve have agreements with quite a few companies for these types of clams (And others). They normally have an agreement that they will try and repair the french door. If this does not work they will then arrange the replacement of them. So in some cases the Insurers end up paying much much more.

The cases I had before were fairly easy to sort out in the end as the quotes to replace from local companies was actually cheaper than Homeservers quote to repair (The local tradesman had noted that what Homeserve intended to do was a total bodge job),

What I would suggest with your case is discuss the intended repairs with the local tradesman you have. They may well point out flaws with the intended repairs which could mean you could go back to the Insurers and point this out. Plus you can advise them thas as the claim was for someone damaging your french doors you and your family want to ensure the doors are totally secure.

Your tradesman may also point out that the repair will not work, if this is the case you can also point out in addition to the above that as well as paying the repair costs they may also have to pay to replace the doors on top! If this does not work explain that you would be much happier using your local tradesman so will split the difference in costs between their quote and yours. It often works especially on low value claims like this.

Personally I would avoid using Homeserve if you can, I have seen a few problems with their work, one of the funniest was where a front door had been forced and the fram damaged. The "Stay" part of the frame that is built into the rest of the frame to give it security and strength they intended to repair by nailing some 2 by 2 timber on to the frame. This was from their carpenter and he was adamant it was the correct way to repair it even with two different carpenters advising him it was not

kozyavka

You have done the right thing. It's in your right