Home insurance claim

SHEILA54

Hi

How long should it take to sort out a claim?

We had a burst pipe at the start of November, which was traced and repaired after 1 week. Since then we have been trying to get the claim sorted.

I had to find my own accommodation for my family, which is not the best as it is so cold, so that they can get on with drying out. The property agents could not find anything. We moved out last Friday but are still waiting to hear that the work is going ahead, despite recommendation from the drying agents that the kitchen needed ripping out to dry the walls, back at the end of November.

If I don't phone it is unlikely that anyone phones me and the whole matter has caused my grandaughter to have health problems due to the damp in the house and my daughter to get an ulcer due to the stress. My GP says that she will write to the insurance company but would this help?

If anyone can advise me on this then I would be grateful.

Thanks

dogbot

The delay appears to have been caused by your delay finding alternative accomodation not by the insurer though?

How long the drying out will take will depend on the building, weather, how much water got out, how many machines they put etc. It can take a long time.

The dryers will have other jobs on so it will take time to get someone in and things moving. If it has been nearly 2 weeks i would get onto your insurer/loss adjuster and as why it is taking so long.

Best to have a chat to the LA about the course the claim will now take.

SHEILA54

Hi

The delay is due to nobody doing what they say they will. The drying company put in a report in November and again in early December but the builder did not get it and the loss adjuster said that he did not, although the drying company proved that they had been sent by email.
Then the loss adjuster did not check the work schedule and the builder put in a schedule that was based on information before the drying companies recommendations. I picked this up and informed them and so a new schedule had to be done as there is a lot more that needs doing. This was submitted early last week due to them leaving it for several weeks and nobody chasing it up.

The case was passed to a different loss adjuster who is more local but the information sent was incomplete, with the old schedule, so I had to update them. The property company could only look on the internet and could not find anything so the previous loss adjuster told me to go out and look and this place was what I found, but it is very cold and costing a fortune to heat.

This just goes on and on and we were told that the builders would rip out the kitchen for drying on Monday but the schedule of works has not been approved and, although they have been told to do it, they want to see how much to remove and whether a new kitchen is to be installed. I have new for old cover and the base units are water damaged (blown), as is most of the downstairs floor and some walls, but there is still some question over this.

The loss adjuster has now said that they will employ a surveyor to oversee but the bottom line is nothing is happening and nobody does or tells me anything unless I contact them. I have tried to contact the loss adjuster but he is not available.

My son is an underwriter and is so disgusted that he wants me to log everything and submit a complaint.

My family has suffered a lot because of this and I just want to know if it is normal for these things to happen?

dogbot

Ok, thanks for all the details that certainly clears things up. As you say, it sounds like the no one has done what they said they would do. If they are appointing someone to project manage that is hopefully a good thing but worth keeping an eye yourself as you are doing.

It does sound like you have had poor service and more should be expected. At the end of the day, your insurer appointed all of these people directly or indirectly and are responsible for them. That said they might have the best agreements and audits in the world but there are unfortunalty always times when suppliers slip up. On a big EOW claim like this, things get complicated and some LA's are better than others about dealing with them - e.g. a friend has a claim going on at the moment and her LA brought the wrong type of damp meter!

You are not entitled to a full replacement kitchen if only the base is damaged - matching sets and suits are usualy exlcluded, though some policies do cover - so they builders will want to know exactly what they are doing because if not, they will end up paying for their mistake!

Who is the insurer? (This can help people on the board give better advice. One or two companies have representatives on here who might be able to help directly.)

I am also an underwriter, and I think your son is absolutly correct. Tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, sit down and type up the above in date order, a bullet point for each date. This can form the basis of any complaint letter. Keep it short and factual at each stage, leave any opinion/emotion out of these bullet points.

Then call and find out what the position is - has someone been appointed and has the schedule been completed and sent to the builders to start work? If no, then it is time to complain direct to the insurer - phone initialy and back up in writing. If something is moving, then good; make a note of the call and what was said - hopefully things will get moving.

You should get any additional heating costs back as part of the claim under alternative accomodation.

SHEILA54

Thanks for your advice. I was told that the costs for the driers at home would be covered but not here. It is costing me twice as much as at home as it is poorly insulated so it would be good if I could recooperate some of the costs but that is what I have been told.

The insurance company is Aviva but the claim is under the Norwich Union policy that ran out at the end of the year.

The builder has told me that he thinks that they will be unable to match the wood facias, side panels etc. with the existing wall units and I think that the wall units may have to be removed for replastering and redecorating but I am not sure. I question it as I do not want a mismatched kitchen. I know that it won't be taken into account but the property agents had been told to look for a 6 month let as they could not get one for 3 months and I went around every agent within a 5 mile radius to get one, saving them money, so it would be nice to get some recompense.