Contents Insurance Claim Nightmare!

SteveNic326

Hello all,
I'm new so please be kind
Just looking for some advice, we went on holiday for a week and returned on Sunday the 16th of September to find our house had suffered a seerious flood from the pipes in the loft that went right down through my childrens' bedrooms, the stairs and landing and my living room.
All of the carpets for these rooms were totally destroyed as was the decor and a mattress, bedding, and various items of furniture in the living room which had significant water damage.
Our insurance company were called on the Monday and advised someone would visit as soon as possible. That took a week for an inspector to come out and assess the damage. We were advised not to remove anything so had to live with a large hole in the living room ceiling and stinking damp furniture and carpets.
After the inspector visited we were advised that someone would visit to photograph the items. This took another week.
Then we requested for the items to be removed. This took a further week, and the company who removed the items were meant to take them to be assessed for value. The items were sunsequently disposed of without valuation.
This claim has been laborious, with funds being released to us in dribs and drabs. We only received money for flooring 2 weeks ago, after living with either damp smelly flooring or no flooring at all.
We are still awaiting moeny for sofa, dining table and chairs and a sideboard, the company have said they have lost photographs and are having trouble assessing value.
We have been at our wits end with this for 2 months now and the whole thing is still not resolved. It has cost us far more financially than they they have paid out, and emotionally the impact of the house being upside down for so long has taken its toll.
Prior to the holiday my mother spent 7 long weeks in intensive care and we nearly lost her. Our holiday was family relaxation time as I had barely seen my kids over the summer due to hospital visits and work.
Anyway, I was wondering if we have cause to complain after the claim has been settled or if the length of time it has taken is pretty much standard?
This has been so stressful and feel that the insurance company have strung us along throughout this whole episode.
Sorry for the long ramblings, all advice gratefully received.
Thanks

hugoshavez

SteveNic326 wrote: »

Hello all,
I'm new so please be kind
Just looking for some advice, we went on holiday for a week and returned on Sunday the 16th of September to find our house had suffered a seerious flood from the pipes in the loft that went right down through my childrens' bedrooms, the stairs and landing and my living room.
All of the carpets for these rooms were totally destroyed as was the decor and a mattress, bedding, and various items of furniture in the living room which had significant water damage.
Our insurance company were called on the Monday and advised someone would visit as soon as possible. That took a week for an inspector to come out and assess the damage. We were advised not to remove anything so had to live with a large hole in the living room ceiling and stinking damp furniture and carpets.
After the inspector visited we were advised that someone would visit to photograph the items. This took another week.
Then we requested for the items to be removed. This took a further week, and the company who removed the items were meant to take them to be assessed for value. The items were sunsequently disposed of without valuation.
This claim has been laborious, with funds being released to us in dribs and drabs. We only received money for flooring 2 weeks ago, after living with either damp smelly flooring or no flooring at all.
We are still awaiting moeny for sofa, dining table and chairs and a sideboard, the company have said they have lost photographs and are having trouble assessing value.
We have been at our wits end with this for 2 months now and the whole thing is still not resolved. It has cost us far more financially than they they have paid out, and emotionally the impact of the house being upside down for so long has taken its toll.
Prior to the holiday my mother spent 7 long weeks in intensive care and we nearly lost her. Our holiday was family relaxation time as I had barely seen my kids over the summer due to hospital visits and work.
Anyway, I was wondering if we have cause to complain after the claim has been settled or if the length of time it has taken is pretty much standard?
This has been so stressful and feel that the insurance company have strung us along throughout this whole episode.
Sorry for the long ramblings, all advice gratefully received.
Thanks

Yes, you have cause for complaint, for the delays at the claim's outset if nothing else.

It'll help if you could give a little more info:

Who is your insurer? Who is the "inspector"? Have you dealt with them since they were out?

Is your home rented? What's happening with the buildings damage? Why do you say you had to live with a hole in your ceiling on instructions from your contents insurer?

What are the costs you've incurred that you hven't been reimbursed for?

SteveNic326

Hello,
Thanks so much for your reply, yeah I can give more info.

We are insured with MoreThan and the person dealing with our claim if from Crawco?? am unsure of this as my husband has been corresponding with them. We have been emailing or ringing them almost daily and either get ignored or fobbed off with excuses re the photographs/inspection of furniture.

Our house is rented yes, buildings damage was covered by owners insurance, I was hasty in blaming to insurer for the wait for the hole in the ceiling to be repaired as that took a few weeks but wasn't insurers fault.

Extra costs have been for a skip to removed other items that wouldn't fit in the van of the company who removed our furniture plus to remove rubbish brought on by work being done, numerous phone calls, and some time spent juggling hours at work, luckily I have supportive employers who have allowed me to pop home to see to appointments etc but this has taken its toll as I have claimed less hours at work due to this.
My husband works shifts of either 12 hour nights or days, and has suffered disturbances when he's been on nights.

To be honest we have never heard of a claim taking this long and still ongoing, we thought we would be finished by Christmas but it looks like this is not the case now.

hugoshavez

OK.

Crawco (Crawford & Company) are a firm of loss adjusters, and are handling the claim for Morethan (Royal Sun Alliance)

The skip is a cost they should be reimbursing, so I'd be sending an invoice.

As for time spent at home, and the cost of phone calls. It's natural for there to be some inconvenience, so the key is whether you've suffered unreasonably because of the actions/inaction of the insurer and their agents.

It sounds like you feel you have, so if you decide to make a complaint, make it direct to the insurer, to make sure it's correctly logged and dealt with.

http://www.morethan.com/Pages/ContactUs/ContactUs.aspx?option=Complaints

I'd focus on:

1. The length of time it took from claim notification to the removal and assessment of contents.
2. The number of times you've had to contact Morethan/Crawfords chasing. If you can list them all (and have notes of when they responded), even better.

And I'd mention the skip cost as a PS. That's a gift for a complaint handler as they can tell you right away they're arranging payment while they investigate the rest of the complaint.

It'll get you off to a friendly start with them, make them see you as a reasonable customer with a valid complaint, and make them more inclined to be helpful.

SteveNic326

Thanks so much for the advice, I will do that as soon as the claim is settled.

I just wondered if it was me expecting it to be sorted too quickly!!

Thanks again

hugoshavez

SteveNic326 wrote: »

Thanks so much for the advice, I will do that as soon as the claim is settled.

I just wondered if it was me expecting it to be sorted too quickly!!

Thanks again

No probs. I can't think of any benefit in waiting until after the claim has settled though.