Shower Tray Claim refused

thefair1973

Hi There, I hope someone can offer some advice here. We bought a house around 18 months ago that had been extended to include a downstairs bathroom. This has a 1600x800 resin shower tray which has develped a large 30cm crack from one edge, directly under where people normally stand. This in turn has caused water to seep through under the flooring in to the utility room and therefore soaked the floor base.

I logged a claim with AXA for accidental damage to get the shower tray and floor base replaced. Their designated inspector came today and verbally agreed that it was acidental damage and went over the quotes I'd received from local tradesman to remove & replace the tray. However, he's since called and said the insurance company are refusing to cover it under accidental damage as there was no evidence of a trauma to the tray and that it's just down to wear and tear. All 3 tradesman I had round to quote for the replacement have said it's a result of a lack of support under the tray and that's obviously why it's cracked and not down to wear & tear - that's just them trying to get out of paying up.

I find it very hard to believe that a resin tray can just crack like that without an underlying cause and it certainly cant be down to wear & tear. I just wondered if anyone can offer advice on how to pursue this with AXA and get them to reverse their decision.

Thanks

InsideInsurance

From what you are describing it isnt accidental damage but faulty workmanship when it was installed if they are saying it is supposed to have been supported and it wasnt.

Accidental damage would have been you dropping something on it that cracked it, tripping and "stamping" on the tray cracking it etc.

rs65

thefair1973 wrote: »

All 3 tradesman I had round to quote for the replacement have said it's a result of a lack of support under the tray and that's obviously why it's cracked and not down to wear & tear - that's just them trying to get out of paying up.

That sounds like a workmanship issue during installation. Poor workmanship is generally not covered.

[Deleted User]

If your claim has been refused then there is little that you can do.

You may decide that you want to "appeal" or "complain" or failing those options "complain to the FOS".

Anyway from the information that you have given there is little that you can do now, if you are looking to claim accidental damage then it must be that.

If the fault is caused by a faulty unit or faulty fitting then this is not the reason, the reason would be faulty fitting. What would be accidental about the fact it was not fitted correctly.

What needed to happen to ensure the claim was paid would have been a damaged caused by you by accident. For example you dropped the shower head on the tray and it broke.

I'm sorry but you seem to have misunderstood and you have now given them the information they need to refuse the claim.

SORRY THE POSTS ABOVE WERE NOT THERE WHEN I STARTED WRITING :-/

dreamypuma

thefair1973 wrote: »

All 3 tradesman I had round to quote for the replacement have said it's a result of a lack of support under the tray and that's obviously why it's cracked and not down to wear & tear - that's just them trying to get out of paying up.

What part of this is an accident?

Hate to say it but I think your insurance company is right, poorly installed sanitary ware is not an accident. Progressive failure due to poor installation is however wear and tear.

VictorM_2

Faulty workmanship is excluded along with wear & tear on pretty much any policy - they are right in not covering you.

You should be making a claim from the person who fitted it - they should have public liability insurance.

VictorM_2

dreamypuma wrote: »

What part of this is an accident?

Hate to say it but I think your insurance company is right, poorly installed sanitary ware is not an accident. Progressive failure due to poor installation is however wear and tear.

To add to this Accidental Damage is defined on most policies as a "sudden and unforeseen cause".

This is not sudden as it is a progressive failure that has caused stress fractures over time. It is not unforeseen because any competent contractor should be able to foresee that an unsupported shower tray will crack after some time.

As I said it should be the contractors insurance to pay out on this, do you have Legal Expenses cover? Often it comes with a home insurance policy so they will be able to help you.

thefair1973

OK, thanks for the comments. To put it a different way, the water has damaged or affected the flooring base under the tray, which will need to be replaced before fitting a new tray. I'm assuming that they should then pay for removal & reinstatement of a new tray and the required remedial works, but not cover the actual tray itself. The tray is a small proportion of the cost of covering this, it's the removal & reinstatement that costs and that's what I want covered.

mikey72

Any contract would be with the previous homeowner, so the op is very unlikely to have any redress there. As the last post, I would expect the insurance to repair the damage, but not replace the shower tray.

VictorM_2

thefair1973 wrote: »

OK, thanks for the comments. To put it a different way, the water has damaged or affected the flooring base under the tray, which will need to be replaced before fitting a new tray. I'm assuming that they should then pay for removal & reinstatement of a new tray and the required remedial works, but not cover the actual tray itself. The tray is a small proportion of the cost of covering this, it's the removal & reinstatement that costs and that's what I want covered.

That is normally the case yes. Just like if your washing machine broke down and started leaking everywhere they would cover the water damage but the washing machine / pipe would be your responsibility to repair.

Individual policy wording may vary.

mikey72

The other arguement would be if the crack appeared suddenly, and the water damage was immediate, which would be a good case for payment, as opposed to a gradual cracking that caused long term damage, and should have been repaired at the earliest opportunity.