Is the letter from the loss adjuster legally binding?

ozburt

In the letter from the loss adjuster it states:

As discussed, please forward a fully broken down quote from ‘company’ for the repairs. Upon receipt of this we will arrange a contribution towards the repair to pipework costs at 50% and pay the cost of reinstating the floor and trace & access in full.

And the loss adjuster also wrote:

Trace & access to date – Insurer will pay 100%
Renewal of pipework – Insurer will pay 50%
Reinstatement of floor – Insurer will pay 100%

This was printed off, signed and given to me on the day the loss adjuster visited. The builder also witnessed what was agreed.

I will have to pay £200 excess when the dehumidifier is installed as agreed.


I then received an email a week later after providing the quote as requested:

Further to our recent adjuster visit I can confirm that we have released a payment to you in respect of our liability for the repairs required in the sum of £x.

I note our adjuster has agreed £30.00 a day disturbance allowance, however, I have to apologise that we will be unable to make this payment to you under the terms of your policy.

Your policy covers alternative accommodation where required and I note that you have managed to secure accommodation with your friend. The disturbance allowance is designed to cover out of pocket expenses incurred by you whilst you are living with your friend and you can chose whether or not to use this money to purchase food or to give funds to your friend to pay for your stay.

Your policy will cover £50.00 per week in respect of this and we note that you will be out of the property for around 3 weeks therefore we are able to agree a payment of £150.00.


From the quote that was provided I would interpret the following as the pipework repair costs:

Central heating pipework:-Renew copper supplies = Item £ 540.00
Gas Supplies:- Renew copper supplies to ground floor in sub floor = Item £ 280.00
Radiator valves 6 number @ £ 20.00 per unit = Item£ 120.00
Copper pipework :- Insulate pipes = Item £ 168.40

Other sections are for screeding the floor, latexing the floor, removal & reinstallation of kitchen units – which I would deem as costs for trace & access, and making good.

I disagreed with their figure and asked them to provide me with a breakdown. Reading between the lines it looks like they have tried to charge me 100% for the renewal of the pipework and hoping that I won’t notice. I am still waiting for their reply.

I am also not happy with their offer of £50 a week for alternative accommodation. I have not agreed to this and they have gone back on their word which I have in writing. They seem prepared to put me up in a hotel (after I spoke with them on the phone) which will be more expensive for them – daft!

At the moment I am staying with a friend which means an extra 50 miles a day travelling to & from work – while I am aware that they don’t cover travel expenses but I did this safe in the knowledge that an agreement had been reached. Had I known that they would go back on their word I would have stayed at a hotel nearby.

What is your view on their most recent email? I have not heard back from them yet. My view is that the written letter is a legally binding document and they have to adhere to it.

What would be your advice and what would be your course of action?

InsideInsurance

Without having all the wordings of their correspondence, and potentially yours too, it is difficult to give a considered opinion. The 100% cover for Reinstatement for example COULD mean they will pay 100% of the quote or it could mean they accept 100% responsibility for it and so will pay the reasonable cost for it - ie no statement that the quote provided to date is actually reasonable.

These things are often full of caveats etc. As to sense of £30/ day -v- hotel costs, generally that's not their call to make, if the policy is nonsensical then they have to apply it as written (and possibly make suggestions back to the insurer)

ozburt

They have calculated the renewal of the pipework as 100% on my part despite agreement on contributing 50%.

According to the insurance policy the policy limit is Unlimited for alternative accommodation.