Advice please More Than being a nightmare

sjpsam

Hi hope you can help

I had to claim against my insurance as the mortar line had failed and water leaked through the roof into the master bedroom, I called more than and explained what had happened and that i was also in the process of having the roof replaced due to the damage,
I was told i need a letter from the roofer to confirm that the damage was caused due to the mortar line failure, I sent this into them and they told me that i was covered for the damage and to go ahead and get estimates.

I got the estimates and sent them in, I was then told that it was slightly more than what they are authorised in the office to settle on and that they would be sending out an assessor to look at the damage.
I called this this evening as it's been afew days and i haven't heard from them, to now be told that a loss adjuster has looked at the file and that they are declining the claim as they believe the damage was caused over a period of time and not in 1 incident, they have twisted what the roofer wrote in his report he said that the weather conditions over a period of time had damaged the mortar line and the damage occured when it failed and the rain got in....... they are saying that the damage happened over a period of time, which isn't the case.

I have argued with them and the will not back down..... even after telling me i was covered in the first instance after having the letter from the roofer !! and told me to go ahead and get quotes as i was covered !! now they are saying they don't have it on their records that it was approved, only that they asked me to get quotes. I was told "i am please to tell you mrs ********* that the claim had been apprived and this is something that you are covered for and we need you to go ahead and now get quotations....

I have just told them i want copies of the telephone recordings and conversations that i have had with them since i made the claim, because i was told that i was covered....
Where do i stand??? can they do this ???

huckster

Sorry, but from what you have described this would appear to a maintenance issue and not something you can claim for.

I just think the first person you spoke to made a mistake and you will have to raise a complaint about the handling of the claim from the outset. They may arrange for a loss adjuster to visit you to look at the damage, to check for definate that this is general wear and tear i.e. not storm damage.

Oscar_The_Grouch

I disagree in part with Huckster.

The weathering of the mortar is not insured - this is clearly gradual and is something that no insurance policy will cover. Insurance is for single "events" rather than to cover maintenance.

The part that is covered will be the internal decorations. If you have a sudden inrush of water caused by a downpour, this can quite easily cause the damage you mention to your master bedroom.

Don't waste your time asking for the phone calls. An insurer will only be required to meet the costs if they gave you permission to do the repairs having told you they would cover it and then refuse to pay it.

Tell More Than that you want a final decision letter off them in writing. Tell them that you want this matter treated as an official complaint and that it is your intention to pass the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Go ahead and get the repairs done at the lowest quote you have if you want to - the insurers have declined the claim and it is reasonable for you to proceed. When you get the final response from More Than, get in touch with the FOS. Here's some information that will help:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org/consumer/complaints.htm

sjpsam

the mortar line was a our problem to sort, but the damage once the mortar line went and it rained and it ran through and damaged the ceiling and 2 walls in the bedroom, was not, the internal decoration is what i claimed for when the roof leaked, nothing else. We paid for the roof to be replaced

thanks oscar, at the moment we can not afford to pay someone to do it, we've just used all our savings to pay for the roof to be replaced :0(

dacouch

Do you have accidental damage cover

sjpsam

yes i do have that cover

Update! had a phone call this afternoon from the complaints department to say that i am covered and that the claim had been approved when the letter came into them from the roofer and they can't understand why i was told that i was no longer covered but it is an error and that they will personally be dealing with from there office !!