Insurance claim after house fire

Jonno34

Hi,

I have just had a fairly catastrophic house fire which is going to take 12-18 months to repair, fairly extensive damage.
The house was insured at the value set by the surveyor some 18months ago as a demolish and reinstate value.

Meeting with the loss adjuster he dropped in the "underinsured" word which has put us in "Limbo", note he is not saying we are underinsured just that it is getting close, we are not talking contents just the re-build cost. It is my belief that as this is a domestic policy and we have used the services of a registered professional in the valuation we have done all that is required and even if the valuation is incorrect the onus is on the insurance company to reinstate the property as we have acted in good faith and we as laypersons could not be expected to dispute the reinstatement valuation.

Does anyone have any inside knowledge about this as we are now worried sick.

Thanks

PZH

First off - I hope that all involved are ok. What a traumitic thing to experience.

Jonno34 wrote: »

The house was insured at the value set by the surveyor some 18months ago as a demolish and reinstate value.

Meeting with the loss adjuster he dropped in the "underinsured" word which has put us in "Limbo", note he is not saying we are underinsured just that it is getting close, we are not talking contents just the re-build cost.

To be fair, house building costs do go up so the value should be reviewed annually. Having said that, 18 months isn't that long really.

Jonno34 wrote: »

It is my belief that as this is a domestic policy and we have used the services of a registered professional in the valuation we have done all that is required and even if the valuation is incorrect the onus is on the insurance company to reinstate the property as we have acted in good faith and we as laypersons could not be expected to dispute the reinstatement valuation.

This may depend on how far Underinsured it would be. Obviously, if you told the insurance company that the house cost to rebuild was £100,00 and the actual cost came to £200,000 then they may dispute it ?

Jonno34 wrote: »

Does anyone have any inside knowledge about this as we are now worried sick.

Maybe this thread would be better on the Insurance Board

I wouldn't try to worry about it too much, it sounds like the loss adjuster was just stating a fact and not policy. And in any case, like you say, he didn't actually say it was underinsured.

Hope it all works out for you.

squeaky

Hi,

Yep, I think the best place for your query is the Insurance Board, so I will move this thread across for you.

In the sticky posts at the top of the thread listing is a "Useful Links" post. In that there's a House Rebuilding Calculator which might help you work out just how close you are (or aren't) to the dreaded underinsured point.


Good luck

lisyloo

Ideally it should be reviewed annually.
But if you have a professional figure from 18 months ago (and I don't believe inflation in building materials has been massive) then you are on very solid ground IMO and you have something to back up your case should you need to argue it.

Easy to say I know, but I think you should stop worrying.
If you are "close" then that's absolutely fine, you declared it correctly.
These guysare paid to minimise the claim, so I would try not to worry and remember you ahve a professional figure that was relatively up to date to back you up.

Quentin

Hopefully you'll never experience anything like this again in your lifetime. But the adjuster is used to dealing with policyholders in your situation.

Because this is such a major incident, you should consider using your own assessor to make sure you do get the best you can out of your insurer over this.

alistair.long

Hi sorry to hear about the house fire.

You need to do the following. Call the surveyar out again and get him to value your house, and he even be nice enough to do it free or when you get paid. This will help to see if the figure of the insurance is correct. He/she may also help you if you show the documents from the insurance that say it's underinsured.

Call the insurance company and find out how much you were insured for, and also if you still have your certificate it should say somewere on it. The word you are looking for with your insurance is the "indemity".

Many people are under insured because nowadays technology is expensive. consoles, tv's dvd players, blue ray players, laptops, mp3 players, mobiles etc...
Other expensive items include sofa's fridges, washing machines, clothes, suits, shoes etc...

So they may be saying that your content cover is not adicute. so you need to get all the itemised figures and ask for a interim payment if you want to get a hotel or something.

What I am getting at is that you may be insured to some extent if not all so you need to know how much you can get. So you may not get the full amount of the house but will get some if not most, rather then nothing which is your currant situation.

gregd_3

Most insurance companies have a buffer zone where even if you are under insured they will not penalise you (usually 15%-20%).

If you are under insured and below the buffer but are able to send them proof of how you arrived at the sum insured ie based on a surveyors report I would like to think that they would look favourably on this.

You can use the following website to help work out if you are adequate.

http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/

dacouch

gregd wrote: »

You can use the following website to help work out if you are adequate.

http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/

I assume the loss adjuster has done a rough calculation using the RICS figures which as we all know is not an exact science. If a qualified surveyor had assessed the rebuild sum insured 18 months ago (They normally include an over estimation of circa 10% to 15% and the policy renewal included building cost inflation then the OP should hopefully be adequately insured assuming they have not added to the building eg fitted kitchens, wardrobes, extensions or conservatories etc.

Jonno, I have personally had a large fire at my home, it pays to treat it as a large business transaction. Keep a thorough record of everything.

I would suggest that you keep accurate records eg spread sheet of what money you have received and what it is for. It can come as a major shock if you assume you have more money coming and you have actually received it (You can often receive numerous large cheques over a long period). I would also recommend buying a full page diary, keep a note of all relevant dates, money received, when particular building works start / are proposed to start. A summary of conversations with relevant parties (Especially the loss adjuster) and what was promised.

Which Insurer are you with ?

FlameCloud

I would second that. Several large insurers I deal with on a day to day basis do not have strong enough wording if a policy holder contested a deduction/repudiation based on an incorrect sum insured. What also happens alot is that the property is actually insured with the insurer for its rebuilding cost, but because of the way the systems work a value must be put in. This means that when the adjuster looks at it (most likely the morning of the visit) he will see a figure that maybe slightly low and it is only when he goes back to the insurer that they actually find out the true sum insured.

As Dacouch mentions, the timeframe you have to do a visit means any buildings var will never be as accurate as a suveyors (the normal though process would be something like - about 6m by 12m, times 2 floors, call it £1400 a square meter and we'll see what we get). If it would be a serious issue, they would normally instruct their own surveyor to have a look at it.

dacouch

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/4/exceeding-the-sum.htm

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/4/exceeding-sum-case-studies.htm

FlameCloud

I'm suprised at some of those ones- particulary 4/18. Thats basic case law- Brown vs Royal - how did no one at the insurers pick up on that? They need to do some exams!