House fire claim

gwen80

Hi

I wondered if anybody could help me. I'm trying to help my Mum. She had a house fire in January, which started in the electric shower. Whilst the fire damage wasn't terrible, the smoke damage has been phenomenal. She's been told that one of the TV's may be irreparable and says that the insurance company have said they'd give her 'some' money towards a new one. Now her policy has new for old cover, so shouldn't they be getting her a new TV??

The whole thing has been a complete nightmare. I've just read a post about the same insurers and loss adjustors (Norwich Union and Cunningham & Lindsay). They've both been awful with my Mum. She's only just back in her house after the fire in January and its been a nightmare. Along a similar vein as above they have said they would give her money towards new carpets in the hall and one of the bedrooms (they got really black after the fire brigade went in). Again, if its new for old, shouldn't they be sorting out new carpets for her of similar quality to those she had before?? Insurers - grrrrr.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Gwenx

mattymoo

Yes, they should. If the TV is beyond repair then it needs to be replaced with new, same with the carpets. There can be issues with carpets particularly where someone has the same carpet throughout several rooms. If one part is damaged but not the others, most insurers will only replace the damaged sections up to the doorway. Can cause problems with colour matching.

If the insurance policy was bought through a broker then your mum needs to enlist their help in dealing with the claim as this is part of their role. If direct, I'm afraid she is on her own (with you of course Gwen). First step would be to check the formal complaints procedure set out in the policy booklet .

gwen80

mattymoo wrote: »

Yes, they should. If the TV is beyond repair then it needs to be replaced with new, same with the carpets. There can be issues with carpets particularly where someone has the same carpet throughout several rooms. If one part is damaged but not the others, most insurers will only replace the damaged sections up to the doorway. Can cause problems with colour matching.

If the insurance policy was bought through a broker then your mum needs to enlist their help in dealing with the claim as this is part of their role. If direct, I'm afraid she is on her own (with you of course Gwen). First step would be to check the formal complaints procedure set out in the policy booklet .

Thankyou, that's brilliant Mattymoo. I felt like my Mum was being taken for a ride and it seems she is. I think she's so desperate to get things settled she'll agree to anything now though. They've worn her down, but I don't want her to end up out of pocket. Thankyou!!

gwen80

Sorry, another quick question. I think Mum thinks they are not giving her enough money to replace the carpets, but rather a 'settlement' because the carpets weren't new. But seriously, who has brand new carpets throughout their house?? They were very good quality and were in a good state and would have lasted many more years to come, so just to clarify they should be paying for new carpets of similar quality to those in the house?

Thankyou!

therightclaim

Gwen, I echo Mattymoo's comments and would add that the insurers can only make an adjustment for the carpet if they can demonstrate that they were in a poor state of repair, which you say they were not. Insurers usually have the option to replace the items through their own suppliers but if they elect to settle on a cash basis, that amount has to be based on the replacement cost and not a reduced value. The only exception is if there is underinsurance at a significant level.
It is also worth noting that the issue of matching items is that most insurers will only pay for the damaged items. If there is no natural threshold between the rooms (door bars/solid doors etc) then liability will be limited to that area. If there is no such threshold, then the carpet is regarded as one and no such limit should be applied. Some insurers will agree to contribute up to 50% of the undamaged matching areas. This is something you should ask for as it is rarely offered. I should add that there are some insurers who are giving incorrect directions to their adjusters and claims inspectors.
Kind regards

McKneff

She should get quotes for anything that she has lost. If the carpets were good quality then get quotes for good quality carpets, Tell her not to scrimp. She has paid for the insurance for probably years. without a claim.

The only thing she should be down on is the excess

dacouch

A fire claim is when an Insurer can really earn their money and demonstrate exactly what a good policy is for. Its a shame the loss adjusters are letting you down so badly.

One of my pet hates is loss adjusters who don't actually take the time to explain how everything will work and make sure the customer actually understands it. Things would be so much easier as this is one of the things that are causing your problems

I know the people at the top of NU would expect that your claim should go through quickly and fairly for both your mum and NU. Unfortunately this does not always happen, once Insurers actually get all of their processes to run efficiently it would be so much better for customers as it would actually be giving a service everyone in the industry could be rightly proud of.