Flood next door - damage in our house

vaio

Assuming your insurer agrees the plumber is responsible then the £350 excess will get reclaimed.

More generally, the "new for old" rather than indemnity difference could be seriously significant. New for old = new sofa, indemnity = second hand value of sofa and that's before you take into account the FOS protection & general time savings

Dimey

This situation doesn't look like a time to be quibbling over £350. Especially from the way you've described the situation, you will likely be able to claim the £350 excess back from the Plumber's insurer as consequential loss.

The situation doesn't seem in control. I'd be worried and if you leave it any longer, your insurer is going to ask why you didn't report it.

I'd give serious consideration to relieving your stress and get your own insurance company involved. They should handle everything for you.

vaio

vaio wrote: »

Why aren't you claiming on your own insurance? ....

magpiecottage wrote: »

I would use my own insurer in this circumstance .......

Quentin wrote: »

.......You should put this all with your own insurer........

*Scarlett wrote: »

.......I would contact your own insurer.......

Spikey1 wrote: »

.......you should pursue this via your own insurers.........

Dimey wrote: »

......get your own insurance company involved..........

I might be mistaken but I think I see a pattern developing here

dacouch

Your home insurance = claims settled on a "New for old basis" which means they replace / pay out for new items.

Claiming against the third party Insurer = claims settled on an indemnity basis which means they deduct "Wear and Tear" from what they pay you.

For a claim of more than £1000 the new for old claims settlement will far exceed your £350 excess, you can claim the excess back anyway

FlameCloud

dacouch wrote: »

Your home insurance = claims settled on a "New for old basis" which means they replace / pay out for new items.

Claiming against the third party Insurer = claims settled on an indemnity basis which means they deduct "Wear and Tear" from what they pay you.

For a claim of more than £1000 the new for old claims settlement will far exceed your £350 excess, you can claim the excess back anyway

This is what I really don't get. It will be far easier and the £350 will seem like a bargain. The op is also making the error of simply assuming that the third party will simply accept that it was negligence. What specifically happened? What happens if they get get two weeks down the line and then they turn around and say it was negligence? There may then also be an issue with their own insurers and the damage increasing.

magpiecottage

The OP considers there to be a health risk but wants to waste time quibbling over £350.

How much is their health worth?

Spikey1

Jamichi........you asked for advice....please take it.

If you don't this could be a life changing mistake on your part. The costs of repair, should mould develop and spread could easily run into £tens of thousands. If you delay reporting this to your own Insurer any longer they could refuse to help you. That would leave you with no option but to pursue the plumber leaving you in the following position;

i) not knowing IF liability can be proven
ii) not knowing WHEN liability will be admitted by the plumbers insurer
iii) Until this is all sorted out, YOU will have to find the funds for keeping the damage under control AND for your alternative accommodation
iv) if the damage worsens while you are waiting YOU will have to show that you did everything in your power to mitigate the damage. This would entail YOU appointing a specialist drying firm to dry & decontaminate your property (very expensive). You can't just do nothing and think that the plumber is responsible for the worsening situation.

Seriously, drop everything now and make the call to your Insurer before its too late.

Best of luck

jamichi1

Dear all,

First and foremost I would like to thank all the people who gave me a bit of kind advice as of how to deal with the situation. The reason I did start the thread in the first place was to see how people who have been through a similar situation have dealt with it in the past, as I personally didn't have such an experience. I thought - and please excuse my ignorance - that him accepting liability and reporting it to his insurance would be sufficient. As expected, some people have jumped in the wagon in order to make a quick judgment and criticise without knowing the exact circumstances - but that was expected anyway.

The fact that I am not reporting everything to the forum, doesn't necessarily mean that I haven't done anything, neither that I haven't reported the incident to my insurance since we discussed things initially. Things have taken their course: next door's plumber has accepted liability and everything else is being sorted.

Dimey

jamichi1 wrote: »

Dear all,

First and foremost I would like to thank all the people who gave me a bit of kind advice as of how to deal with the situation. The reason I did start the thread in the first place was to see how people who have been through a similar situation have dealt with it in the past, as I personally didn't have such an experience. I thought - and please excuse my ignorance - that him accepting liability and reporting it to his insurance would be sufficient. As expected, some people have jumped in the wagon in order to make a quick judgment and criticise without knowing the exact circumstances - but that was expected anyway.

The fact that I am not reporting everything to the forum, doesn't necessarily mean that I haven't done anything, neither that I haven't reported the incident to my insurance since we discussed things initially. Things have taken their course: next door's plumber has accepted liability and everything else is being sorted.

Don't understand Jamichi, do you mean you have already reported this to your insurance company and they've agreed you just pursue via Zurich, the Plumbers insurer?

If so, then maybe you should go back to your insurance company and explain that Zurich are dragging their heals and you are still living in damp with no prospect of any repair in the foreseeable future.
Ask your insurer to chase Zurich for you. Ask whether your insurer could threaten to make good with their service and charge Zurich if Zurich don't get the job done by a specified date.