More Than Buildings Insurance Claim

Alfie04

We live in a 2 storey building made up of 2 flats. We live in the upstairs flat.

Over the last 2 weeks or so everytime we fill the bath, the bath has been dropping an inch or so. The sealing between the bath and the tiles has broken away.

I called a local firm to come out and he originally said it was the legs of the bath hadn't been set correctly and we arranged for him to come today to do the work as we both agreed he would need to take a section of the internal wall behind the taps of the bath to get into the particular leg of the bath to set it up correctly.

He came today and cut into the wall as agreed and he has found that it wasn't the leg of the bath as he first thought, but we actually have a leak from a pipe to the taps. The water has soaked the floorboards under the bath and even more worryingly the main beam under the floor boards. The beam and floorboards are crumbling around the area of the leak only but making the bath drop an inch or so when it is full.

He has repaired the pipe to stop the leak, however advised me to contact my insurance company first because it will be classed as an escape of water. He has said that the whole beam and floorboards will need to be replaced. Meaning that the bath will need to come out. The tiles around the bath on the walls and the floor will need to be taken up too. He said it will be expensive and could run to a few thousand pound!! Money we couldn't afford.

Having never made a claim on home insurance before but being very worried I contacted More Than (Our Buildings Insurer) to explain and make a claim.

They firstly explained that they would not pay for the repair of the pipe. I have since paid for the repair of the pipe myself.

They then tried to say that I would not be covered for the rotten floorboards or beam as I'm not covered for rot. I had to get quite forceful in the end and explain that the builder has said the damage has been caused by the escape of water from the leak. The builder showed me where the boards were soaking. The legs at the other end of the bath don't drop anywhere near as much because he says its not been affected by the leak.

In the end More Than have given me a claims number and I have to get a report from the local building firm (Which he is in the process of doing for me) and email it to More Than along with pictures of the damage.

I'm very worried now, especially with having a 20 month old baby, that were going to be left with an un-safe floor, worried that we cant use the bath or even the shower and that More Than will try and get out of paying the bill by saying we are not covered and we will be left with a huge bill that we can't afford to get repaired.

Ive checked the policy and we are covered for the damage that the water has caused. After reading plenty of reviews too they seem to get poor ratings.

Can anyone offer any advice of words of wisdom to help us out with this?

huckster

Success of the claim very much depends on the report into the damage. Insurance policies tend not to cover rot and do not cover damage that has been caused gradually over a period of time. Of course you did not know that there was a leak, because this was hidden. The report needs to give an indication as to roughly how long the leak has been going on for, the location of the leak being hidden and that the home owner could not have been aware of a leak from a tap, because there were no outward signs visable to them.

Alfie04

Well the report has gone off to More Than and this is what the builder has put

I was called out to the property to fix a bath that appeared to be sinking when you got into it. I cut out an access panel in the partition wall and I came across a leaking pipe that had rotted the floor, floor joists and partition wall. It had also affected the plaster on the external wall and this was soaking wet. I have fixed the leaking pipe but in my professional opinion the bathroom suite will need to be removed and the floor and joists needs to be replaced along with the partition wall. The plaster on the external wall needs to be taken back to the brick work to allow this to dry out before it is re-plastered. A new suite will then be fitted and the walls re-tiled.

bingbong1978

Alfie04 wrote: »

Well the report has gone off to More Than and this is what the builder has put

Is it actually rot ie wet rot or is this just the builders terminology to describe the damage??

I used to handle More Than claims and they are quite fussy about picking up rot claims even when it is due to an escape of water.

It would have helped if the builder had described the floor boards/joists as just damaged and not rotten because in insurance this can mean something that is excluded by the policy when in fact its just words used to describe the type of damage.

Alfie04

bingbong1978 wrote: »

Is it actually rot ie wet rot or is this just the builders terminology to describe the damage??

I used to handle More Than claims and they are quite fussy about picking up rot claims even when it is due to an escape of water.

It would have helped if the builder had described the floor boards/joists as just damaged and not rotten because in insurance this can mean something that is excluded by the policy when in fact its just words used to describe the type of damage.

I spoke to the builder before and he has said it is caused by the leaking pipe as the floorboards and beams are dry at the other end of the bath. The problems are just where the leak has happened.

bingbong1978

Alfie04 wrote: »

I spoke to the builder before and he has said it is caused by the leaking pipe as the floorboards and beams are dry at the other end of the bath. The problems are just where the leak has happened.

I grasp what you are saying about the floorboards being damaged due to the water etc but what is important is whether the damage is actually rot or just water damage.

Dry or wet rot is a fungus and is totally different to just water damage.

Alfie04

Im just the average man who wouldnt have a clue but the builder has said the damage has been caused by the leaking pipe

bingbong1978

Alfie04 wrote: »

Im just the average man who wouldnt have a clue but the builder has said the damage has been caused by the leaking pipe

Well if it was wet rot then it would require specialist treatment and i doubt it is wet rot because that normally would develop over a long time. If its just run of the mill water damage then your insurers should pay. Ask your builder for confirmation as this could make a big difference to whether the claim is accepted or not.

You have said that you live upstairs, was your neighbour downstairs not affected by the leak?? If it was a long term leak i would expect it to have affected them

Alfie04

With regards to my neighbour, she has never said anything or mentioned anything about it.

The builder we got in was a recommendation by the said neighbour as the local firm had just gutted her bathroom and baiscally put a new bathroom in for her inculding re-furbing the ceiling as he plastered it. He said that when he did the bathroom downstairs there was no damage at all downstairs.

bingbong1978

Alfie04 wrote: »

With regards to my neighbour, she has never said anything or mentioned anything about it.

The builder we got in was a recommendation by the said neighbour as the local firm had just gutted her bathroom and baiscally put a new bathroom in for her inculding re-furbing the ceiling as he plastered it. He said that when he did the bathroom downstairs there was no damage at all downstairs.

I take it you must live in an old stone built house then and the water has probably soaked into the ash deafening below otherwise i would have expected your neighbour to have been affected by the leak.

Get clarification from your builder if it is actually rot and if not tell your Insurer. If it was rot then your insurance co would know that specialist treatment would be required to eradicate and if there is no such treatment required then its a straight forward escape of water claim and should be covered.

huckster

Alfie, Bingbong is giving very good advice. Insurance companies can react to what they are told. They need to see the words water damaged and not rot. If rot is mentioned, this could cause unnecessary hassle.