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Alternative accommodation who pays

Our buildings insurance is with Zurich and the contents are insured with Aviva. My understanding is that both companies should pay jointly for the alternative accommodation that we will need while we are unable to stay in our home. (We had a fire).

Am I right?

The Aviva Policy includes alternative accommodation but on the phone they said it was down to Zurich and this is before they've seen the property.

Comments

  • I would say its your building insurance and not contents who should pay
  • I had this with water damage to a wooden floor. I won the argument that the floor warping was a danger and that it was the contents insurance which should pay. Their argument was that carpets were contents but a wooden floor was buildings. That is tosh as a floating floor is akin to a carpet and is temporary.

    I told them to pay or be sued and to claim from the buildings insurers if they so wanted.

    The lesson learned was to make sure that you use the same insurer. That way, you make sure that you avoid this problem because the two companies cannot blame each other or both fob you off.
  • The FOS have ruled on laminate flooring before and they released an article about it.

    Essentially, the FOS view is that the insurers should simply agree to pay half each if there is a dispute over whether something is buildings or contents, as to do anything else would be petty bickering in the eyes of the policyholder and do nothing to enhance the image of the industry.

    Here's the article: Link

    The last paragraph is the important bit.

    You can use the same principle for alternative accommodation too, but the insurers should really be doing this for themselves.
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  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    This is an example of why it is best to have building and contents with the same Insurer.

    You will probably find other examples as the claim progresses and if it's not arguements over who pays what it can also be problems when each Insurer works at different speeds.

    It would be best to avoid using Aviva's preferred contractors who are Asprea as they are really really poor.

    As you have a large claim that will take a while to settle it would be best for you to buy a large diary and keep a record of all conversations and what was agreed to be done for what date etc. It's also worth keeping a spread sheet of what payments you have received and what is outstanding so you know exactly where you are
  • dacouch wrote: »
    This is an example of why it is best to have building and contents with the same Insurer.

    You will probably find other examples as the claim progresses and if it's not arguements over who pays what it can also be problems when each Insurer works at different speeds.

    It would be best to avoid using Aviva's preferred contractors who are Asprea as they are really really poor.

    As you have a large claim that will take a while to settle it would be best for you to buy a large diary and keep a record of all conversations and what was agreed to be done for what date etc. It's also worth keeping a spread sheet of what payments you have received and what is outstanding so you know exactly where you are

    Thank you for your useful suggestions. Zurich seem to be much better organised than Aviva. Aviva have already said that they think the accommodation should be handled by Zurich even before the loss adjuster comes down and despite provisions in the policy for this.

    I am keeping a record of the information made but an excel sheet is an excellent idea. We had no choice over the buildings insurer (leaseholder) but next time, I will ensure that we have insurance with only one company.

    Thanks to MSE, I knew the contractors for Aviva are poor so only Zurich contractors (or other contractors that we use) will do any work on the property.

    Thank you to everyone for your useful advice. This is a bit overwhelming but hopefully I can sort this out for my family.
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I've had a major fire and also work in the industry so understand how stressful it is.

    Keeping a proper record of everything will make things much easier.

    You will have relatively large amounts of money coming in so keeping records of what it actually was for so you know what is outstanding and so you can budget your purchases will help. Keeping records of who said what and what they have promised also helps as it means you can chase people up if things are late or should you need to make a complaint you have an accurate record of who said what and when.

    Judging by the companies your with I assume your with a broker, if so a major claim is when a broker earns their money so don't be afraid to use them to help you out. give you advice etc. Brokers like dealing with unusual claims as it stretches them and is also an excellent way of cementing a good relationship with their customer (They also hope you'll tell everyone you know how great they are!)
  • freeasabird
    freeasabird Posts: 197 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    dacouch wrote: »
    I've had a major fire and also work in the industry so understand how stressful it is.

    Keeping a proper record of everything will make things much easier.

    You will have relatively large amounts of money coming in so keeping records of what it actually was for so you know what is outstanding and so you can budget your purchases will help. Keeping records of who said what and what they have promised also helps as it means you can chase people up if things are late or should you need to make a complaint you have an accurate record of who said what and when.

    Judging by the companies your with I assume your with a broker, if so a major claim is when a broker earns their money so don't be afraid to use them to help you out. give you advice etc. Brokers like dealing with unusual claims as it stretches them and is also an excellent way of cementing a good relationship with their customer (They also hope you'll tell everyone you know how great they are!)


    Hello dacouch,

    Unfortunately I'm not with a broker but I'll remember this next time I get insurance. Thank you.
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