underinsured... can i claim off someone else

ikklevic

quick question

the upstairs flat to ours had a fire. Our flat was subsequently badly smoke damaged.. contents ruined. big clean up operation the works...
realised that that i'm only insured unto 35k... it looks like it could run into more than that... can I claim the excess off my neighbours?

dacouch

It depends on what caused the fire, do you know the cause ?

How much do you estimate your contents to be worth at new prices.

Are you aware that some items would be classed as buildings eg fitted appliances, fitted kitchens / bathrooms / fitted wardrobes etc

ikklevic

apparently it was faulty wiring... the flat downstairs was let. the landlord got an odd job man in... I pay building insurance with service charge, they've taken care of painting decorating all fixtures etc.. it's everything else that smoke has ruined... also the cost of cleaning, pat testing storage dry cleaning all eats away at the costs... without seeing the claims assessors breakdown i reckon i' could be at least 10k short...

dacouch

For you to be able to claim from your neighboor, you would need to prove that they were negligent, this in effect is that the event could "reasonably" been avoided.

You probably have free legal advice with your home insurance (The number will be in your policy booklet) for the cost of a normal phone call. It could be worth giving them a ring as the circumstances sound a bit complicated.

Note that the legal advice lines will not give you advise about sueing your own insurer and also note that should you go to a normal solicitor they will often tell you that you have a good case as you have to pay their fees whether you win or lose so bear this in mind if you seek the advice of a solicitor about taking action.

I would suggest at this stage you perform a full check of your contents being as comprehensive as possible and working the new cost of replacing all of your contents. This will help you when the loss adjuster tells you how much they think you are underinsured by.

Depending on which insurer you are with they may not replace clothing and linen at new prices eg they deduct an amount for wear and tear. If this is the case obviously your calculation for these items would not need to be on the new value.

Either check with your insurer or tell us who your with and we can tell you if they pay clothing and linen on new for old or wear and tear.

Are you aware that the insurers will deduct the percentage you are under insured by from your total claim ?

ikklevic

thats useful info.. we're with nationwide / Churchill... we've been told that linen/ bedlinen won't be replaced at full cost, but they've said nothing about clothing or coverings, rugs, curtains. trying to get a comprehensive breakdown from loss adjusters CL but they are proving elusive at best.

dacouch

The current policy wording says the following items are not settled at new for old so you can make an allowance for wear and tear.

clothing, towels, bed or table linen or pedal cycles

They changed their policy last year so check your own policy to make sure it was not changed, look under the contents section and the sub section titled "Settling Claims"