Buildings Claim Farce, Advice needed...

ptee

I'd like some advice if possible? Sorry its a bit long winded...

Back in the storm in Jan our porch was damaged by the high winds.
We put a claim in with the ins company however when the company came to assess the damage we were told we couldn't claim as the damage was due to wear and tear.
Now we bought the house last May and completely rennovated it except the porch, it was the last thing we had to and were planning on renewing it either this summer or next depending on cashflow.

The reason it was put down to wear and tear was some of the wood was rotten, we accepted this but not all the wood was rotten just parts and there was not a chance that the porch would have fallen down without high winds. Anyway the claim was rejected, we accepted this and carried on porchless. We set my dad on the job of naking us a new porch.

Then out of the blue in April we had a call from a company stating they were coming to assess the storm damage. We advised them that the claim was declined and contacted the imsurance company. When we asked them what was going on they said they had no record of the claim being rejected!! And that this company were coming to inspect the damage. I double and tripled checked, even read the rejection letter over the phone to the lady but she said that they would still come.

By this point thinking we couldn't claim we had pulled down what was left of the porch to make it safe as we have two young children.
I advised the ins company of this and they that's fine we'll have to see what the assessor says.

The assessor came and went and a week later I called for an update. We were advised that the report had been sent for higher authorisation as it was over £1500 but the loss had been accepted and we could claim. I asked about the previous letter again and was told that the previous company should not have been dealing with our claim and to disregard the letter.
i also queried what would happen with the work my dad had started and they advsed we could use him or there company, we chose to go wth the insurance companies contractors as the work would have a guarentee etc so I told my dad sorry, we'll pay you for the wood so far etc.

So we're happy now we can claim, my dad not too happy at the time wasted but he'll get over it! :T


Anyway a week passes and we call again for an update, to our surprise (or maybe not knowing insurance companies) "sorry you can't claim, its wear and tear" :mad: :mad: :mad:
I expain what has been said in recent weeks and explain the whole rigmoral we've been through and that we've stopped my dad mid rebuild etc. We're advised that what we've been told is incorrect and the lady just spouts quotes of what was said back in Jan/Feb. I state I know what was said then but we've since been told to ignore this and that we can claim.
She is adamant this is wrong. I asked what the latest report said and she said that it stated the wood was rotten. I asked how they could say this because there is no longer any wood there? She didn't have an answer to this!
At this point I'm verging on furious and demand transcripts of all calls made in relation to this claim as I have obviously been led to several times!

Anyway, my question is do we have any grounds to push this further on either making them pay up for the claim or getting a full apology for the hassle and stress caused by their incompetence? i'm not so much bothered if we can't claim but the service we have recieved has been nothing short of appaling. If the transcripts show that they have told us we can claim and to ignore the previous report will this stand should we make a complaint? Or will they be able to put it down to human error?

Any advice would be appreciated :beer:

Ptee

peterbaker

Sounds like a right royal !!!!-up!

I'd contact the chief executives office of the insurer concerned and send them a copy of exactly what you have told us here. If the porch was obviously a complete wreck at any stage and might have fallen over with or without a storm then maybe you are still skating on thin ice. But depending on who your insurer actually is, you might be able to shame them into getting involved again because of the mucking about you have suffered as a result of the second assessors involvement.

With luck you'll get put through to someone who will see that something has gone dreadfully wrong at the claims handling end. I bet that the claims handling is outsourced and that the assessors are further outsourced. You have probably been dealing with monkeys twice-removed! There might even be two competing assessors dealing with the same claims department! Step aside from all that nonsense and contact the organ-grinder!

losgiganteskid

Do you have any reference to the person to whom you spoke at the insurance company who said the claim would be paid, ie. name, letter, details of phone calls with their office, date and time etc. It sounds like a b**ls up to me by a representative of the insurers - they would/should deal with your claim in view of what you have said. Merely threaten them with the complaints route and see what happens. If your Dad continues to make the porch, keep receipts and a log of his hours worked so you can convert this to £.s.d. at a later date.

mattymoo

peterbaker wrote: »

Sounds like a right royal !!!!-up!

I bet that the claims handling is outsourced and that the assessors are further outsourced. You have probably been dealing with monkeys twice-removed!

Lovely turn of phrase and oh so true

prudryden

Follow the insurance company's complaint procedure - this will eventually end up with an arbitrator - if it gets that far. They will probably offer a settlement before getting there.

ptee

Thanks for the replies, seems my instinct was right.
The company is Halifax and believe it or not both me and the wife are Halfax staff which to me makes it all the more worse!!
We have some details of calls but i know for a fact that all calls are logged on their system with details of exactly who took the call.
As soon as I have written proof of the calls we shall be heading straight to the highest complaints handler I can find!!
I just wasn't sure if I had any rights or chance of them correctint their mess. If they try fob me off I shall pay them a visit in person, I work about 2 mins walk from the Insurance office ;O)

Thanks again
Ptee

mchu6am4

There's me under the impression that big name insurance companies are better to insure with - how wrong am I?