Insurance claim help

mattygg

Hi all,

I wasnt sure which thread to post this in so if its in the wrong one then i apologise.

I was wondering whether anyone could give me some advice on a problem which i currently have. I had a water meter fitting in September last year by the water board on my request. Anyway over time i had noticed wet patches on my laminate floor in my kitchen (where the water meter had been fitted). I thought nothing of it until my mum, (good old mum), came to my house on xmas eve and had a feel around in the back of my cupboards. What it seems to have happened is where the meter had been fitted it hadnt been secured properly and it had leaked for 3 months under my floor. As i had a leak i called a plumber out which cost me £80. He looked at it and said that it had broken underneath the stopcock so couldnt do anything and said to call the water board. I then called them who came out and fixed the problem. They have told me that it is their fault for fitting it wrong.

Since this has happened i was asked to get some quotes as to how much it would cost to replace the floor. My cheapest quote was £600 roughly. I also, in my letter to them, asked for the £80 back which i paid the plumber. I have spoken to them on the phone and they have offered me £400 for the damage which i have refused as that wont get the floor fixed. The man on the phone told me that they had to consider that the floor wasnt brand new when it was damaged. I then told them that although that might be the case its still broken. They have then told me that they would put my refusal to their head office and see whether they would make me another offer.

Whew that was lots of typing. My question is what would you do in my situation. I could just wait and see what they offer, or i could get it fixed and then send them the invoice and see if they pay it. I could go through my insurance company, or i could take them to a small claims court.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Matt

mattymoo

Okay, when you pursue a claim against the third party (water board in this case) you can only recover enough to put you back in the same position you were in before. In other words, the equivalent value of the floor allowing for wear and tear. The water board person did advise you correctly.

If you claim on your own insurance, you are entitled to new for old cover (on 95% of policies anyway) so you will get a new floor laid. In addition, most policies also cover loss of metered water. Never dealt with a claim like this and I'm not sure how they work it out. Used to be based on 12 months prior usage / usage after leak - work out the difference. In your case though, the meter is new. Did you have a meter before or just pay standard rates?

Edit - you will have an excess to pay on your household policy. Send a copy of the receipt (you normally pay it to flooring contractor) to the water board and they will reimburse you.