I need some advice

naughtyjo

I am having problems with my house insurance loss adjuster.
I feel she is been really unreasonable and to be honest pretty patronising.
I had an escape of water which resulted in half of my kitchen units been damaged. (damage limitation done by plumber) If I hadn't have acted as quickly as I did all the units would have been damaged!
Anyway my problems are as follows
They will only pay for the damaged units despite the fact you can no longer get the same units I have. You cant get the same work top either. So basically they are saying tough !!!!!! you have to have half one style and the other side another style. I can sort of get it but had I left the water they would have had to do it all. I think they should contribute something towards me getting the whole kitchen replaced. Its only been in 4 years.
It is 6 weeks since the flood and today they sent in the builders to rip out the cupboards and ceiling. They turned up without a job card and were asking me what needed doing? I could have had a field day but told them to get instructions from their office. after doing it they said oh sorry love we cant clean up our hoovers broke so basically left the house in a complete mess. The adjuster wants then to do the work but after today they can go away and I want my own builder to do it. Can I demand that my own builder does the work?
They are refusing to lift the tiles in my kitchen siting that they are not damp. Taking a reading 6 weeks later seems bizarre and what shes saying is that my adhesive and grout is waterproof and if there is bacteria under them it will die because its not damp. If I lift the tiles in a few years and there is a problem I would just need to get someone in to disinfect? Surely they should do it?
She still 6 week on has not given me her telephone number and only deals with me via email which means messing around waiting for answers all the time.
I was supposed to go into other accomodation as I have 2 kids and no cooking facilities etc and the house is a tip downstairs. I decided to stay at home as my kids are at school and I need to be close to my mum as shes disabled. This is saving them £600/week for a hotel which they would have paid. Surely if I'm been reasonable and saving them cash they should treat me reasonably?
My boyfriend says I am too soft and I need to complain more but I am not like that.
Please anyone can you advise me what to do?
thanks:eek:

iamana1ias

naughtyjo wrote: »

I am having problems with my house insurance loss adjuster.
I feel she is been really unreasonable and to be honest pretty patronising.
I had an escape of water which resulted in half of my kitchen units been damaged. (damage limitation done by plumber) If I hadn't have acted as quickly as I did all the units would have been damaged!
Anyway my problems are as follows
They will only pay for the damaged units despite the fact you can no longer get the same units I have. You cant get the same work top either. So basically they are saying tough !!!!!! you have to have half one style and the other side another style. I can sort of get it but had I left the water they would have had to do it all. I think they should contribute something towards me getting the whole kitchen replaced. Its only been in 4 years.

This is standard with most insurers. They only cover the affected bits. You can always pay for the other half of the kitchen to be replaced. It would be the same if you damaged one chair of a dining set, or one sofa in a three piece suite. They just don't replace the entire set.

naughtyjo wrote: »

It is 6 weeks since the flood and today they sent in the builders to rip out the cupboards and ceiling. They turned up without a job card and were asking me what needed doing? I could have had a field day but told them to get instructions from their office. after doing it they said oh sorry love we cant clean up our hoovers broke so basically left the house in a complete mess. The adjuster wants then to do the work but after today they can go away and I want my own builder to do it. Can I demand that my own builder does the work?

Probably, and they'll give you a cash settlement. It may not be enough to fully pay your builder to do the work though.

naughtyjo wrote: »

They are refusing to lift the tiles in my kitchen siting that they are not damp. Taking a reading 6 weeks later seems bizarre and what shes saying is that my adhesive and grout is waterproof and if there is bacteria under them it will die because its not damp. If I lift the tiles in a few years and there is a problem I would just need to get someone in to disinfect? Surely they should do it?

If, in years to come you find it is a problem (and you can prove it's related to this incident) you'll be able to claim from them. Her explanation sounds reasonable to me. With the number of burst pipes there have been this winter I daresay she has a fair bit of experience when it comes to tiled floors and water damage.

naughtyjo wrote: »

She still 6 week on has not given me her telephone number and only deals with me via email which means messing around waiting for answers all the time.


I was supposed to go into other accomodation as I have 2 kids and no cooking facilities etc and the house is a tip downstairs. I decided to stay at home as my kids are at school and I need to be close to my mum as shes disabled. This is saving them £600/week for a hotel which they would have paid. Surely if I'm been reasonable and saving them cash they should treat me reasonably?

Doesn't work like that. Hotel accommodation is part of the contract. Replacing undamaged units and floors isn't.

naughtyjo wrote: »

My boyfriend says I am too soft and I need to complain more but I am not like that.
Please anyone can you advise me what to do?
thanks:eek:

I'd say you need to read your policy docs more and understand how the insurance you're paying for works.

theJudge

Hi there, naughtyjo. Being at the cash settlement stage with the insurer now, I can concur with most of what iamana1ias says.

1. The insurance company will indemnify i.e. restore to original condition any items that were damaged by the water, but they won't cover any undamaged items.

2. In my case, the insurance company tried to foist a cowboy builder on to me, which I rejected so as to prevent the situation that you unfortunately find yourself in now. i.e. you've had the stuff stripped out but have noted that the builder is substandard. The insurer then told me that my only choice was to employ my own builder.

3. Unfortunately, although you have the right to use your own builder, in order to get a cash settlement, you'll need to get 3 quotes (takes time) and the insurer will drag out any cash settlement agreement for as long as possible, in the hope that you abandon your claim. In my case, the insurer hid the fact that the loss adjuster had created a scope of works, so I also had to create a specification of works and bill of materials myself. For the cash settlement, the insurer will start the bidding using the lowest of the 3 quotes (so long as the quotes are reasonable). The bit in brackets they'd probably query if your quotes were all above the loss adjuster's estimate (that they'll only disclose if you issue a data protection request). Unfortunately, I think you'd be better off in this situation to allow the substandard builder to complete the work.

4. The insurer has a duty to treat customers fairly and deal with claims promptly. That said, it's up to the FSA/FOS to ensure that the insurer complies with this, and they've not proven themselves up to now as being that keen on the consumer protection part of their roles. As you can see the insurance industry is about as crooked as you can get yet the FSA sits back and sees no evil.

5. The insurer does have to ensure that the work that the substandard builder does is of a suitable quality. If you've got pictures of the kitchen prior to the claim occurring, this will help you ensure that this happens.

6. The insurer does have to pay for alternative accomodation but just make sure that this is achievable i.e. they don't give you a phone number where nobody picks up.

7. Other known scams that insurance companies do are to insist that your kitchen needs drying, and then put in a drying company who'll leave their equipment running for weeks/months so as to inconvenience you as much as possible in order to persuade you to drop your claim. In this situation, you are able to claim for utility bill consumption at least. In your case, it seems that you're lucky in so much as the loss assessor has said the area is dry.

dacouch

theJudge wrote: »

Hi there, naughtyjo. Being at the cash settlement stage with the insurer now, I can concur with most of what iamana1ias says.

1. The insurance company will indemnify i.e. restore to original condition any items that were damaged by the water, but they won't cover any undamaged items.

If you push the Insurer they will contribute 50% of the cost of the undamaged kitchen units. This is set out by the Ombdsman

5. The insurer does have to ensure that the work that the substandard builder does is of a suitable quality. If you've got pictures of the kitchen prior to the claim occurring, this will help you ensure that this happens.

providing you use a builder recommended by the Insurer. In most cases if you chose your own builder, the insurer is not responsible for substandard work



7. Other known scams that insurance companies do are to insist that your kitchen needs drying, and then put in a drying company who'll leave their equipment running for weeks/months so as to inconvenience you as much as possible in order to persuade you to drop your claim. In this situation, you are able to claim for utility bill consumption at least. In your case, it seems that you're lucky in so much as the loss assessor has said the area is dry.

If there has been a lot of water in say a kitchen, it is important that the kitchen is thoroughly dried out. If this is not done, damp will remain in the room and will cause further damage. Drying out a room (Which includes the walls and floor) normally takes many weeks / months

McKneff

You could always save a bit by using the same worktops, which i presume werent damaged.

mikey72

iamana1ias wrote: »

Doesn't work like that. Hotel accommodation is part of the contract. Replacing undamaged units and floors isn't.



I'd say you need to read your policy docs more and understand how the insurance you're paying for works.

If the house isn't habitable, they're rehouse you, and pay for the hotel.
If you stay with a relative, they'll make a nominal payment usually.
If you choose to stay at your house, they may agree to cover the cost of a takeway if you have no cooking facilities.

(I wouldn't rely on her "experience" to give you the best advice though, at most I'd rely on her experience of not paying unless she has to)

dacouch

mikey72 wrote: »

If the house isn't habitable, they're rehouse you, and pay for the hotel.
If you stay with a relative, they'll make a nominal payment usually.
If you choose to stay at your house, they may agree to cover the cost of a takeway if you have no cooking facilities.

(I wouldn't rely on her "experience" to give you the best advice though, at most I'd rely on her experience of not paying unless she has to)

I think what she meant (I could be wrong) was that if you chose to stay in the damaged house that they will not normally pay you the money they have saved on not paying for a hotel / alternative rented accomadation. It is worth asking the Loss Adjuster to make an small allowance for you staying in the damaged house to take into account inconvenience. There is no guarantee they will agree to it but on occassions will agree a nominal daily allowance.

mikey72

dacouch wrote: »

I think what she meant (I could be wrong) was that if you chose to stay in the damaged house that they will not normally pay you the money they have saved on not paying for a hotel / alternative rented accomadation. It is worth asking the Loss Adjuster to make an small allowance for you staying in the damaged house to take into account inconvenience. There is no guarantee they will agree to it but on occassions will agree a nominal daily allowance.

That's what I thought as well. Doesn't sound like this loss adjuster is the best of the bunch though.

naughtyjo

Thanks everyone for their comments. I will look into the ombudsmen thing about 50% towards undamaged units been replaced.
At the end of the day I am reasonable and accept the tile thing etc its just sole destroying that I saved for my new kitchen and had it done 4 years ago and its ruined. I am more than prepared to put money towards the cost I'm not demanding they replace it all if its not damaged. I just find it really annoying when you get snotty messages saying tough one have an odd kitchen. I for my own reasons could not live with a mix matched kitchen. Whats more annoying is that she will not give me her phone number!
They are to provide me with a scope of works from their builder and I am glad I can request their costings under the data protection act. My builder is really reasonable so I cant see he would charge more than a national firm.
Would I make the Data Protection request to the loss adjuster or the insurers?
Does anyone have a link to the ombudsmen stuff regarding the 50%?
Thank you for your advise

naughtyjo

McKneff wrote: »

You could always save a bit by using the same worktops, which i presume werent damaged.

The backboard that matches the worktop has been disposed of due to it warping so even if I reuse the worktop I cant get the backboard. Cosmetics I know but thats how it was and how I feel it should be replaced to. Worse case scenario is I remove the other backboard then get it tiled but it still leaves me paying out more

dacouch

There are plenty of Loss Adjusters who will happily give you a copy of the scope of works without needing to do a SAR. Ask your LA if you can have a copy so that you can get quotations on the same basis. The LA on my major claim was more than happy to give me a copy of the scope of works.

Have a read of the following Obudsmans cases.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/58/58-home_insurance.htm 58/5 Note the 50% contribution towards the undamaged units

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/10/oct-houshold-disasters.htm Read the text on Matching sets and pairs and following cases