Closure of claim?

gwen80

Hi

My Mum had a house fire earlier this year. We are still discovering items which haven't come back from the cleaners. My Mum says that shortly the insurance company will close the claim and we won't be able to claim for any items after that. It's quite difficult because who knows exactly what they have in their house? My Mum's house is fairly big and some of my stuff was there for her to store. I'm worried the insurance company will close the case and we'll discover things that are missing. Are they able to do that? Is there any way around it? I understand that in theory we could go on forever saying this is missing, that is missing, but it's very difficult when literally every item in a house has been taken to a cleaners and you have no record of any of it.

Thanks

Gwenx

lisyloo

Did the cleaners not make an itinerary of what they took?
Did you make no itinerary before they collected?

I have no experience of this, but it seems rather odd to me.
If they loose or steal your items, there is no record of it.
I would have expected an itinerary or a receipt and would not agree to them taking my entire household contents without a receipt for it all.

Have you spoken to the cleaners about a possible itinerary that they have?

dacouch

This case is a good example why we generally recommend that customers go around their home with a video camera and film what contents they have in each room and then keep the film at another home to avoid it being damaged in a fire. This then helps jog your memory and can help prove ownership of items to the Insurers after a big claim like a fire or theft where people tend to forget what contents they actually had.

I also recommend to customers that in a the event of a large claim that can take some time to settle that they keep a record of the monies they receive in and what they have actually claimed for and what is outstanding. What happens without this is people forget what they have and havn't claimed for. Also as they keep receiving largish payments they get carried away with buying new items and do not budget some of the items or builders costs.

I know I don't have to preach this to Lisyloo as she is already a great fan of documenting things and spread sheets. But to anyone else please spend a bit of time in documenting things as it can save so much time and money in the long run

gwen80

lisyloo wrote: »

Did the cleaners not make an itinerary of what they took?
Did you make no itinerary before they collected?

I have no experience of this, but it seems rather odd to me.
If they loose or steal your items, there is no record of it.
I would have expected an itinerary or a receipt and would not agree to them taking my entire household contents without a receipt for it all.

Have you spoken to the cleaners about a possible itinerary that they have?

The cleaners have given us a list of items which were 'beyond repair', but we are finding other items are missing. I don't know if they have a list of items they removed. I do know that every single item bar beds, sofa's and large pieces of furniture was removed. The house was otherwise completely emptied.

I didn't make an itinerary, no. It wasn't feasible. My Mum (whose house it is) was abroad and I live 75 miles away and had to go back to work. The insurers, loss assessors and cleaners told us it was imperative they were allowed in as soon as possible otherwise items may be irreparable, so we had no choice, but to let them in. I'll ask my Mum if they have a complete itinerary. It's very difficult as things seem to have gone to the cleaners and not come back.

gwen80

dacouch wrote: »

This case is a good example why we generally recommend that customers go around their home with a video camera and film what contents they have in each room and then keep the film at another home to avoid it being damaged in a fire. This then helps jog your memory and can help prove ownership of items to the Insurers after a big claim like a fire or theft where people tend to forget what contents they actually had.

I also recommend to customers that in a the event of a large claim that can take some time to settle that they keep a record of the monies they receive in and what they have actually claimed for and what is outstanding. What happens without this is people forget what they have and havn't claimed for. Also as they keep receiving largish payments they get carried away with buying new items and do not budget some of the items or builders costs.

I know I don't have to preach this to Lisyloo as she is already a great fan of documenting things and spread sheets. But to anyone else please spend a bit of time in documenting things as it can save so much time and money in the long run

Good idea, but my Mum has a lot of storage. A large loft, lots of built in cupboards and wardrobes where things are stored. It would be impossible to video all the items. So far, it's mainly clothes that have gone missing.

I wouldn't say we've forgotten the items that were in the house. I have a considerably smaller house than my Mum and if asked to list every item in it, there is no way I could.

We have got a record of all the claims we've made, so we are completely aware of what we have claimed for. My concern is we may discover more items missing after the claim has settled.

We certainly haven't been buying large items with any settlements so far. The building work is now complete. New carpets are arriving to replace the damaged ones, but my Mum certainly hasn't been out 'shopping' and 'spending up' with the money. It is to replace what has been damaged and therefore covered by insurance. No new tellys thanks, just trying the make the house back into the lovely home it was before the fire.

If anybody has any advice about if the insurers can just close a claim like this and what I might be able to do in the event further items are missing down the line, it'd be much appreciated.